Critters

Domestic, industrial and wild.

Jass, eventually ripped this apart but it entertained her for a couple of months when we would get it out.

I'z got itches dat need scratchin'.

The is perhaps the best magpie carolling short recording I've heard and seen, by Peter Virag. Humans might sit in the evening with a drink or two and sort out the world. The Australian magpies do it first thing in the morning. It is a bit unusual for there to be five magpies together. It could be parents with three young. 

GOR Pt 3a/3

Too many photos of the day for one post, so there is a and b.

I was very glad we arrived when there was a high tide and the waves were so strong, as the water boiled, because we never saw high tide again. It arrived when we were out all day and arrived again at 4.00am, not a convenient time.

With Phyllis at the wheel and me pressing hard at times on my imaginary foot brake, we left around ten to travel further along the Great Ocean Road. Twisting and turning again and again. We made a toilet stop in Lorne, and proceeded on the Twelve Apostles.

From there we went on to see Loch Ard Gorge, which was closed for some reason. Thunder Caves were nearby, so we travelled to there, and then on to Port Campbell.

On our way back I received a message from apartment management. The mezzanine lighting and overhead fan needs an electrician to attend and will visit tomorrow. (Not much use to to us who will check out at 10.00am tomorrow.) The range hood lights and bathroom heat lamps are specialised and we have ordered new globes. There is a rubber encased button on the back of the solar charged decking lighting to turn it on. (Ok, I missed that. Pity it wasn't in information about our apartment.) Our maintenance team will attend to the seized balcony door lock. The failed lamp in the floor standard lamp has been replaced. (I replied, also the fridge leaks water onto the floor. I will guess this is during the defrost cycle.)

I don't know its name and it is not easy to find out, but there was gorgeous and lush valley we drove along for many kilometres. 

Huge works have been undertaken at the Twelve Apostles and we had to be booked into the car park. I believe in the future there will be a charge. I think a charge of say $15 might be fair. The facilities are very good, but the landscaping is so bare. It would be difficult to grow large trees at the site, but there are coastal plants that could offer some shade but there wasn't evidence of any being planted. There was plenty of outdoor seating and some solid picnic tables, but in the sun, none of these were really useable. 

These etched into the concrete paths were rather cool. 

A pair of joy flight helicopters were annoying but they did cease. I guess they get busy when a tourist coach arrives. 

First named the Sow and Piglets, then The Pinnacles, and in 1920 for marketing purposes, renamed the Twelve Apostles.  

Here they are, the Twelve Apostles, now only seven, originally nine. The remains of some of the collapsed limestone towers can be seen. I last saw them in 1983, and my goodness, I forgot how stunning the scene is.

Towards the top of the photo you can see the viewing platform. 

Looking east rather than west. I am not sure if these are included as two of the seven. 

Still looking back east, there are people on the beach.

The end of the rock that supports the viewing platform. 

Too many photos, I know, but the Twelve Apostles are worth all the praise they receive.   

Monday Mural

With Sami and others, here is my mural post.

A utility box. Pretty good really. 

It can be hard to take photos of murals in Hosier Lane because of the number of people and tourists, but these two were up high. 

So where is square? 

Sunday Selections

I'm joining in with River and others for Sunday Selections, and here we go.

Jass has a new water fountain, which can be washed in the dishwasher.

This Victorian mansion remains but it might not be seen from this angle for many decades. The built to rent apartment buildings in the three high rise towers, yes three, are close to completion, but the mansion front can still be seen from Queens Road.

I've shown this sculpture at Middle Park Beach before and it's called Tommy's Story. If your Google is broken, let me know and I can help you find out about the sculpture. This amused me, "At one stage a local wag made a sign that read: BACK IN 5 MINUTES, and propped it up next to the boots."

 

We don't get fogs (or frosts) in Melbourne like we used to as the heat in the city now wards it off.

The real point of this photo is the man on a unicycle juggling while balancing a soccer ball on his head, but the billboard ad is interesting too, blood orange sparkling water? Maybe Jackie's husband John would like it. I can't work out the last word in the brackets. It looks like tall, but that makes no sense. Later: It must be tan.

My typical view looking down below. There are three air conditioned articulated B Class trams to be seen, the first appearing on the rails in about 1985 and a smaller Z Class built in 1979 - 1984. Aside from lacking air conditioning, the most comfortable is of course the oldest, so quiet and so smooth. I've only ridden our newest once, the G Class, and my first feeling was that it might match the 40 year old Z Class for quietness and comfort.

 

I've never seen this bus before.

Interesting clouds.

And clouds with a moon.

Jass lying on her sunning shelf. Only her nose is at risk of skin cancer and being dark, not much risk really. After three melanoma surgeries, and a couple of risk areas surgeries, along with numerous dry ice burning of sun damaged areas, I've just had a Basel cell carcinoma removed from inside my left ear. I was never a great one for the sun but I did get minor sunburn a couple of times when I was young and I did sunbathe a bit in the 1980s. The Australian sun is a killer, and it is not great that Australia leads the world with skin cancers. From my skin doctor saying that looks suspicious, to surgery was one month. Hospitals know there is no time to waste, and I was treated well by our public health system at no direct cost to me, as you would be in almost every civilised country in the world.

20cm or 8"? Call me.

I cannot smugly sit here in Australia saying we are fully metricated. In fact we have gone backwards.

There is some reversion to pounds for baby weight, but none of us would know what we weigh in pounds. Hectopascals for tyre pressure has gone and we are back to PSI. Calories are back for energy intake rather than kilojoules. I knew tv screens and my waist and leg measurements in centimetres, but those have now reverted to inches and I've forgotten my stats in metric, aside from the obvious that eight inches is twenty centimetres. 

I remember writing about our conversion of a 44 gallon drum to 205 litres, and there was confusion until I realised we used the UK imperial gallon, not the American gallon. What a mess, but not quite as bad as the UK. I was freaked out when driving in England and saw a sign with yards where I had to turn. Yes, I know a yard is a bit less than a metre, but in a stressful driving situation, my brain could not compute the yard distance.

This video is a bit amusing but there are errors. 

GOR Pt 2/3

Phyllis and Kosov don't quite roll their eyes yet, but are amused when I say, "You know I am not the type of  person to complain, but...."

"Hi C. While in many ways we love our unit 9, there are some deficiencies, mostly lighting. The stair light does not work nor the mezzanine bedroom overhead light. The ceiling fan does not work. The bathroom heat lamps don't work. The decking light doesn't work. The range hood lights don't work. Only one of the two lights in the standing living room floor lamp is working, and to wrap up the the bedroom balcony door lock is seized up and can't be locked. We will be out for most of the day, Friday. Perhaps these issues could be addressed in our absence."

She replied with that neither housekeeping staff or guests had reported these issues and she was unaware of the problems. She would send someone on Friday.

Upon our arrival, the gardener was busy making a noise on a ride on lawn mower, then whippersnippering and then used a leaf blower. I guess he was in his thirties and the sleeveless top he was wearing displayed his golden tanned muscular arms with a sheen of sweat  glistening in the sunlight. I ran into him later and he was very friendly and chatty, and with a knapsack on his back was off to do some weed spraying, so he was wearing a mask and I couldn't see his face. That may have been a good or bad thing. Even so, my imagination was working. Later he walked along the lawn in front of our balcony while I was standing inside looking out at the sea. He waved, I waved back and he gave me an extra big wave. My Trip Advisor review, go for it YP, gave him compliments.  

My bedroom. I thought the sound of crashing waves would disturb me and I did wake a couple of times, but fell back to sleep immediately, loving the sound of the waves.

The decking from my bedroom.

Late afternoon rest on my bed.

The kitchen with P&K's mezzanine bedroom above.

The kitchen included a washing machine.

The living area, with an old Indian lady wrapped in a blanket sitting on the decking.

The mezzanine bedroom. Kosov managed to find two bibles in the accommodation, pretty well unheard of these days, and no, they weren't Gideon. 

Yep, always conscious of the joe blakes.

The gas fire made the place cosy the first night before it became too hot, so I switched it off. The heat rose to the mezzanine bedroom, too hot for Kosov, and he brought out his rechargeable bedside fan with a misting facility. 

The games room where Kosov had just made a killer shot. I sat for a couple of minutes and noticed a pile of dirt in a corner, but I no complain. 

Phyllis had brought chicken biryani for us to eat that night. Tasty enough.

The next day was going to be a big one, with lots of driving.

Political Colours

That was an interesting result in the US election. Even more interesting will be seeing a lame duck president trying to rule when he does not have the numbers in both houses of parliament. 

US politics are difficult to understand, made worse by colours.

US, conservative red, liberals blue.

Canada, conservative blue, liberals red.

Australian, conservative blue, liberals red.

UK, conservative blue, liberals red.

Just one more area where the US is out of step with the world. 

Around the western world the parties pro big business and private profit for rich people use the colour blue and the pro worker, average person and a caring society use red. But not so in the US where the opposite is true.

Did the Republic Party never hear of the red communist menace, or the term 'reds' for communists? Reds under the beds?

I guess there is probably a long history behind the US colours, maybe back to the Civil War.