Home Away From Home

Mountain Ash, Yarra Ranges National Park, Victoria

There are a few concepts I'm struggling to get my head around in these early days of my holiday. The first is that it is winter down here. The second is that I'm actually away from home. More on that later.

An early start with MrRosewarne picking me up at 7am and we headed east towards the Yarra Valley. As we drove out of the city I was struck by the varied architecture. Away from the tall structures of the CBD, the city is fairly low level and as you pass out of the centre there are some rows of old buildings that are reminiscent of American old west towns. So far it's one of the most obvious difference I've spotted between Australia and Scotland, since for winter, the weather has been typically... summery by our standards. I lost count of how many times I had to be corrected over that today! :-)

Our first stop was for breakfast at Marysville. The town was completely destroyed by the Black Saturday bush fires of February 2009 and there are still signed of ongoing reconstruction but one hearty country breakfast later and we were on the road again, heading up into the Yarra Ranges. We had already passed by many areas of Mountain Ash blackened by fire damage on our way up from the city, but as we rose high into the hills, the tree lined roads were complimented with the fresh green fronds of fern trees. It was a stunning sight. The regenerative powers of the Ash is amazing. The blackened outer bark is being shorn from the trunks from the top down. The upper halves of the trees are silver once more, leaving the discarded burnt outer skin hanging in sheets like a peeled banana, the high canopies of life generating leaves reaching high into the sky.

Heading back out to pick up MsMun and the kids for the footie, I was lucky enough to spot a few of Australia's native wildlife too. A couple of Kookaburra and most luckily a lyrebird wandered into our path and we went on a wee hunt around where Jason stays to find some kangaroos shooting the breeze in a paddock. Less fortunate was the wombat that we saw, the unfortunate victim in a roadside accident. It was a lot bigger than I expected. For some reason, I thought they were the size of a badger but this was the size of a reasonably sized pig and according to Jason, it was a small one at that!

One thing that struck me as we made our way back, was the fact that the roads here seem to be just laid on top of the land, with no thought to cutting or filling to level off the surface. As a result we drove up, over and down some of the most amazing hillside roads I've ever seen. There was one last diversion. To the real Willie Wonka's! An unassuming sign leads you down a road to the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie. If you follow either of the Rosewarne journals you will al,ready have heard about this place, but omg! it doesn't prepare you for the lush chocolate heaven you enter. If you have a sweet tooth, beware. Wall to wall chocolate and chocolate products. I only bought a couple of things (it would be rude not to) but there were people there with baskets full of the stuff. A hasty exit before I blew all my spending money on chocs!

Back up the road where I met the rest of the Rosewarne family for the first time. I arrived to be met by a heady mix of brown and gold as everyone was kitted out in team colours for the match. A wee refreshing cuppa and it was off to the match. A crowd of just over 64,300 watched the Hawks unfortunately get comprehensively thumped by local rivals, Richmond in a pretty one sided affair. The final score of 107 - 66 pretty much sums up the Tigers dominance. By the end of the game I had more or less got to the bottom of the rules, although where were still a few decisions from the officials that I didn't understand. Judging from the crowds reaction, I don't think that was necessarily down to my understanding though! ;-) However, it wasn't all bad news. It was a weekend of upsets so overall the Hawks are still out in front and one of the favourites for a top two spot and a bye week in post season.

The weather turned a little halfway through the game and it started raining. By the end of the match it was coming down a little harder and the poncho sellers were doing a roaring trade for the departing crowd. Honestly you'd think these Aussies had never seen the wet stuff in their lives! I was in my element. It was just like being back home! ;-) It was a drenched crew that returned to the car and the planned dinner in town turned into fish'n'chips and a good natter back at Casa Rosewarne so everyone could get dried off. Oh, and homemade alcoholic ginger beer, which was absolutely delish! I got a bottle to take away with me and I'm just finishing off the last of it as I write this up on Sunday.

Thanks so much Jason, Mun, Dylan and Bella for welcoming me into your home and sharing your day. I had a wonderful time and it was fantastic to meet you all. I'll keep my fingers crossed and tabs on the Hawks progress through my trip. It was just a glitch!

Thanks everyone for your continued comments. I'm not sure if or when I'm going to be able to get back to you, but know I appreciate each and every one! :-)