Anyone Game? It’s my Sep 2013 Blog! I'm home; with a TR link in #1189, 10/14

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


NightJar Market




Irrespective of how bad or how hot it was outside, eventually, we have to eat.

Our destination of choice? A little night market down the road from Geelong in a town called Torquay.

The NightJar market is only held on Thursday nights in January and we figured it was a good enough place for us to head to. Entry is by gold coin donation; which is to say....it cost us about $1 or $2 entry fee. Whichever we gave was up to us.


Afterall, it did promise local entertainment….

….buskers….

…shopping of things made by local craftspeople…..

…and all the colour and motion normally associated with the gathering of people.

I had my suspicions about the prohibition of photography once I realized that there were serious artisans in this place. It seems like there is a growing trend of not wanting people to take pictures of individual handicraft for sale simply because the artisans do not wish to be copied. I can respect that view.


But I did try to take some of the decorations around the place…..

We did find a nice variety of food stalls here; enough for us all to be happy with the choice. But there were heaps of people (it is the only night time entertainment for miles!!) and very little space; so no food porn. The adults all ate food from the Curry Hut and the kids got gourmet sausages.

On the way home, we stopped by a look-out to enjoy the sunset.

Despite DS not feeling the best and the heat of the day, we’d still managed to have a great outing in the morning and evening. It had been a super relaxing day today!

 

[zanzibar138]

Sounds like you were really able to make the best of a not-so-perfect situation. And I'll have all these things to look out for next time I head west! I'm not much of a beachy person, but that one you visited in the morning looks pretty cool.

 

[dgbg100106]

I hope DS feels better soon.

It looks like you all had a very nice time and spent some quality time together.

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like a nice relaxing day. What a concept! I would enjoy that, but not know what to do with myself!

 

[leshunlenese]

Sounds like you all had a wonderful time. I hope your DS feels better!

 

[Dean1972]

Great photos PIO.
Pity about the heat wave at present. At least you were able to make the most of your time.
The Yacht club food looks delicious.
Hoping your DS is feeling better with the cool change ( just a tad cooler )

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds like you were really able to make the best of a not-so-perfect situation. And I'll have all these things to look out for next time I head west! I'm not much of a beachy person, but that one you visited in the morning looks pretty cool.

Eastern Beach exceeded our expectations. It was quite nice to hang out there. The only thing wrong with it was that the cafe was too expensive. It was fine for drinks and coffee....but not for lunch.

I hope DS feels better soon.

It looks like you all had a very nice time and spent some quality time together.

Thanks. He's better now and we did have a nice time.

Sounds like a nice relaxing day. What a concept! I would enjoy that, but not know what to do with myself!

Thank goodness for the picnic blanket. My friend and I just stretched out and closed our eyes for a bit. It was very relaxing.

Sounds like you all had a wonderful time. I hope your DS feels better!

Thanks. He's better now.

Great photos PIO.
Pity about the heat wave at present. At least you were able to make the most of your time.
The Yacht club food looks delicious.
Hoping your DS is feeling better with the cool change ( just a tad cooler )

We went to the Yarra Valley with these friends last year. All 3 days were over 40 C. Seems like the time of year for this kind of weather!

 

[PrincessInOz]

A Mini Staycation in Geelong – Day 3



Day 3 of our staycation and it was a hotter day than day 2. Temperatures were expected to be in the 100’s and no one wanted to be out at all.


Last night had been touch and go for DS…….he had wanted to go home; but we persuaded him to stay as we had already paid for the night’s accommodation. The great thing about staycations is that you’re never too far from home so we stayed.


Boom Crash Soap Opera in the Night

In hindsight, maybe we should have listened to DS and packed up. We might have gotten more sleep!

Shortly after midnight, we were all rudely awaken by sounds of shouting in one of the motel rooms. And if we hadn’t been fully roused by the Booming yells, there would be no doubt of it when we then heard the sound of a high revving car closely followed by a loud Crash.

Fearing the worst, every room door opened. We were shocked to find that a fellow guest had crashed a 4-wheel drive up on top of the passageway and straight through her room window. And she was still yelling at the top of her voice as she fled the scene of destruction.

Well….between the police, the tow truck and emergency services arriving to clean up the mess, no one really got much sleep that night. It was better than a Soap Opera!




Pick-Me-Up Breakfast

Perhaps it had been good timing on our part that we’d discussed what the plans were going to be for breakfast this morning before the crash in the night. Given the Golden Arches breakfast we had the day before, we all figured we wanted a better breakfast this morning.

I had fortuitously been provided a recommendation by a fellow Aussie Dis-ser for a breakfast place.

Athelstane House is located at 5 Hobson Street, Queenscliff. Queenscliff is about 20 minutes away from Geelong and sits at one of the heads of Port Phillip Bay (the bay where Melbourne is situated).

It is a Bed and Breakfast establishment and if you go looking for reviews on Trip Advisor, you might find that the reviews have been extremely variable. I did wonder about the wisdom of trying out this place but I had checked the reviews only AFTER I’d rung the place to make a booking for breakfast.

Don’t get me wrong. I would have cancelled my breakfast booking but for an interesting piece of information I learnt when speaking with the proprietor.

Turns out, he’d recently bought the place in the last 3 weeks. He sounded really earnest and with his heart in the right place over the phone and I figured it was worth trying.



As a B&B establishment in Queenscliff, this place might be worth a stay. I haven’t checked out room rates or anything; but the place has a homey Victorian charm about it.

I didn’t grab any pictures of the sitting rooms; but the outdoor spaces were delightful.

We were seated in yet another outdoor area, under a very shady tree. This area felt similar to being in a casual and relaxed backyard.

Turned out to be a good decision to stick with the place. Breakfast was delicious!

And there were soft boiled eggs underneath those super cute pixie hats!

The best bit? Decent coffee!

(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


Too Hot for Anything




Did I mention that temperatures were expected in the 100’s today? We finished breakfast just around 10 am and it was already mid 90’s by this stage.


DS had woken up asking when we were heading home and all through breakfast, he’d asked the same thing.

Our friends and us made one last ditch effort at sightseeing. There is an old fort in Queenscliff and we figured it was a good place to go see with kids.
Fort Queenscliff was originally built in 1860 to defend Port Phillip Bay from foreign invasion. I figure that anyone who would sail all the way to the bottom end of the world and manage to find the port opening either had to be incredibly determined or brave or stupid or all three.

These days, the fort has been converted to a museum and during the school holidays, they run tours at 11 am.

Well......They would ordinarily run tours…..except that when we pitched up, it was all locked up and closed. We called the listed number and eventually got through to someone who told us that it was too hot to run the tour.


Seems like they weren’t the only ones to think that! This beach should be teeming with people……but it was probably too hot for anyone to be out and about.

Yup. I guess we were the only incredibly-determined-or-brave-or-stupid-or-all-three people around in the hot sun!




And with that, we decided to call it quits on this staycation. We said our goodbyes and made the usual promises to catch up during the year (we are so overdue for a visit to Sydney!!!).






One Final Thing

The trip home was fairly uneventful until we got to within 1 km of home. We stopped off at the local supermarket to pick up milk, bread and some basis groceries. Would you believe that my car wouldn’t start??? It pretty much died in the supermarket parking lot!

We had to call for the Autoservice and one of our parents to come take DS home.



The cause?

My battery died. Of all the cow timings…..it died at the end of the staycation; rather than during. As it was over 6 years old, we’d gotten really good service out of that battery.



It had been a pretty reasonable staycation this year; filled with ups and downs. We didn’t get round to doing all the stuff we thought we would do; but there is always next year.

For there was one thing we all agreed on……..same place, next year!
Our staycation for next year will either be Queenscliff or Torquay; whichever we can find accommodation in; so that we can enjoy more sights in this area.

Thanks for reading!

 

[dgbg100106]

(Continued from Previous Post)


Too Hot for Anything




Did I mention that temperatures were expected in the 100’s today? We finished breakfast just around 10 am and it was already mid 90’s by this stage.


DS had woken up asking when we were heading home and all through breakfast, he’d asked the same thing.

Our friends and us made one last ditch effort at sightseeing. There is an old fort in Queenscliff and we figured it was a good place to go see with kids.
Fort Queenscliff was originally built in 1860 to defend Port Phillip Bay from foreign invasion. I figure that anyone who would sail all the way to the bottom end of the world and manage to find the port opening either had to be incredibly determined or brave or stupid or all three.

These days, the fort has been converted to a museum and during the school holidays, they run tours at 11 am.

Well......They would ordinarily run tours…..except that when we pitched up, it was all locked up and closed. We called the listed number and eventually got through to someone who told us that it was too hot to run the tour.


Seems like they weren’t the only ones to think that! This beach should be teeming with people……but it was probably too hot for anyone to be out and about.

Yup. I guess we were the only incredibly-determined-or-brave-or-stupid-or-all-three people around in the hot sun!




And with that, we decided to call it quits on this staycation. We said our goodbyes and made the usual promises to catch up during the year (we are so overdue for a visit to Sydney!!!).






One Final Thing

The trip home was fairly uneventful until we got to within 1 km of home. We stopped off at the local supermarket to pick up milk, bread and some basis groceries. Would you believe that my car wouldn’t start??? It pretty much died in the supermarket parking lot!

We had to call for the Autoservice and one of our parents to come take DS home.



The cause?

My battery died. Of all the cow timings…..it died at the end of the staycation; rather than during. As it was over 6 years old, we’d gotten really good service out of that battery.



It had been a pretty reasonable staycation this year; filled with ups and downs. We didn’t get round to doing all the stuff we thought we would do; but there is always next year.

For there was one thing we all agreed on……..same place, next year!
Our staycation for next year will either be Queenscliff or Torquay; whichever we can find accommodation in; so that we can enjoy more sights in this area.

Thanks for reading!

Even with the heat, it looks like you had a nice time.

Good food and friends.

Sorry about the battery but at least you were close enough and not out in the heat far from home.

 

[ACDSNY]

What a soap opera night! I hope next year is a little cooler

 

[zanzibar138]

Wow you certainly had some excitement on your staycation!

Where you had brekky looks like a nice spot, we'll have to check it out next time we're over that way.

Too bad you didn't get everything done that you wanted to, but it means you'll have another great time if you go back next year

 

[franandaj]

I wanted to see shots of the car through the building!

I will remember not to make our trip there over New Years, so maybe your generous offer of Christmas Dinner will have to be taken as a rain check. We may choose to travel in the more temperate parts of the year.

We definitely have to make a trip down under sometime soon!

Loved the breakfast food porn. Was that streaky bacon?

 

[PrincessInOz]

Even with the heat, it looks like you had a nice time.

Good food and friends.

Sorry about the battery but at least you were close enough and not out in the heat far from home.

That was such a blessing, Brandi. I was really glad that if the battery had to die, it chose that moment to do so. The autoservice came within 10 minutes of us calling and even beat the family member who came to take DS home.

What a soap opera night! I hope next year is a little cooler

I hope that next year is a little cooler as well. So far, its been hot and dry!

Wow you certainly had some excitement on your staycation!

Where you had brekky looks like a nice spot, we'll have to check it out next time we're over that way.

Too bad you didn't get everything done that you wanted to, but it means you'll have another great time if you go back next year

Surprisingly, Geelong had quite a few things to keep us occupied. I think we need to hit the Adventure Park at some stage and get back to Queenscliff. As you said....next year.

I wanted to see shots of the car through the building!

I will remember not to make our trip there over New Years, so maybe your generous offer of Christmas Dinner will have to be taken as a rain check. We may choose to travel in the more temperate parts of the year.

We definitely have to make a trip down under sometime soon!

Loved the breakfast food porn. Was that streaky bacon?

I certainly thought about it the next morning. But by this stage, the car had been removed and as I was looking at the room and window; with the police tape, the owners of the motel came out. They live there and manage the motel mostly by themselves. They even do the cleaning! They were such nice people and stayed and chatted with us for a good 20 minutes or so. So apologetic and so concerned that we didn't get much sleep.

In the end, I didn't have the heart to go all paparazzi on them. Even after they went back into the reception area, I knew they were there and could see the room.


That's Australian bacon. We have the streaky bit like you do; and also include the meaty bit like Canadian bacon. This place just wrapped it up in a roll and cooked it that way. Interesting presentation.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Playing Chicken with the Airlines



It's the middle of January and my credit card is itching to burn a hole in my pocket. Its definitely a case of playing chicken with the airlines.

I've been patiently sitting here waiting for a flight sale to happen for the timeframe I wish to travel in. And there have been deals.....just not in my travel period. I'd like to think that I could add a yet to the end of that statement; but as I'm travelling during the school holidays, I really don't know.

As it stands, my flights are going to not just burn a hole in my pocket but completely drag me over that virtual line in the sand where I have thus far refused to blink past when playing chicken with the airlines. And I refuse to hand over my hard earned money when I know at any moment, the cost of the flight might drop by $$$$.

Do you hear me...Qantas, VAustalia, Air New Zealand and United? How can I do proper planning if I find that I will not be able to afford to eat when I arrive? Where's the fun in having a holiday without food porn???



Waiting....waiting.....waiting......for a deal to come my way.

 

[Minniemum]

This is so me! I want our flights booked and paid for so I know there is no backing out. At this rate I'll have my ADR's booked before the flights.

 

[dgbg100106]

I hope you get the deal soon. I know how it feels, and we all must have food porn, it is a requirement!!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

This is so me! I want our flights booked and paid for so I know there is no backing out. At this rate I'll have my ADR's booked before the flights.

See next post!

I hope you get the deal soon. I know how it feels, and we all must have food porn, it is a requirement!!!

See next post!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Playing Chicken with the Airlines results in the Chicken Dance!!!!


I am so doing the happy dance here.

Qantas Airlines went on sale today and the prices were what I was prepared to pay. So, we've got out long haul sorted out from Melbourne to LAX return.
I'm so glad that I didnt have to play chicken with the airlines for too much longer.


Im more than happy to admit that Im doing the chicken dance over here!!

I just need to sort out the internal flights next......but that means that my schedule internally needs to be locked down. In the meantime, I'll be watching AA, SouthWest, United etc for deals. Any recommendations on internal airlines?


Let the planning games begin!








ps. I forgot to mention that today is Australia Day. Definitely Happy Australia Day to me!!

 

[ACDSNY]

Yeah for booking the long flights!

I'm right there with you on the CA to FL flight for the fall. I haven't seen anything good yet.