Recharge and reimbursement

 Time to move on today. We have now spent a week with two of my cousins who are the easiest and most hospitable people you can imagine but we decided to use this travel day as a 'time out' day to just lollop along as the mood took us. Kate and I are both very good at lolloping. As we started to lollop away from Julie's house, we realised how close we were going to Melbourne, on our way to Emerald. (More about that later) 

We made a rash and spontaneous decision. This was born from a deep yearning, on my part, to put a tick on my bucket list which I just missed a few days ago, namely to drink a posh coffee in Melbourne, the coffee capital of Australia. 

In our typical style, we spotted a park and ride on the map and winged it from there. We took a thirty minute bus ride into the city and tried to figure out where to get off. We wanted to reach the centre so when we arrived at Melbourne central, we decided that that was central enough. After a desperate search for a loo (a common occurrence) We found a chi chi coffee shop and allowed Google to talk us to it. I couldn't understand why it insisted we walk up a dual carriageway. Perhaps having the sat nav on car driving setting had something to do with it. When we arrived, we were about 40 yards (OK, 39 metres) from where we started.

But the coffee was great. It wasn't even that expensive. When you are showed to a table and there is waiter service just for two coffees, you start to worry.

What we can't get over is how nice everyone is. Everyone we speak to is genuinely delighted if they can say yes. There have been plenty of times in the UK, where people seem delighted to reply in the negative. Here, the waiters smile and if they ask how we are, they wait and listen to the response. One almost feels obliged to share a few personal problems with them and be assured of considered and deeply wise advice. We walked past someone today who simply asked us how we were. We probably look like we need help.

Not that everyone was in jovial and carefree mood today. As we sat drinking our chi chi coffees, approx. 85,000 protesters marched past. At the time, we didn't know what they were protesting about, but they were obviously jolly cross. It turned out that it was a general workers strike, hence the sea of hi-viz jackets. At first, I thought the protest marshalls were outnumbering the protesters but as it was, they had mostly turned out in their work attire. It kept them safe on the road anyway, which is nice.

When we had eaten a bit of Sushi (what's happening to me?!) It was time to see if we could figure out how to get a bus back the way we had come. I always experience a frisson of excitement when I realise that we don't really know where we are and we have to find somewhere else and we don't really know where that is either.

We have arrived at a little haven of an air bnb. (Recommended by cousin, Joy) It is in the Dandenong mountains which is where my Aunt and Uncle live. We are seeing them tomorrow. 

Do you remember that we got ripped off at the car hirers and charged an extra $400? We were just going to wave goodbye to the money, seeing it as a hopeless case. But cousin Joy was having none of it. I'm utterly amazed and grateful to say, she has seen to it that we are fully reimbursed! Who's ever heard of that?! Is that even possible?

We should be walking round the very pretty little town of Emerald this evening, but we're not. Kate's reading and I'm, well, you know what I'm doing. Except that now, 

I'm going to Stop 😁

Posh coffee. Tick!
Garden of little haven
More haveny stuff
Inside the little haven

Comments

  1. Dunc and Pam18 September 2024 at 08:32

    Everything looks absolutely great and finding a new love of sushi into the bargain. Slightly concerned that one of those protesters threw their coffee narrowly missing you, hitting the wall behind. Must have been very cross. 😠

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Strange milkman

Image
 Yesterday saw a massive tick on Kate's bucket list; We drove up to my cousin, Joy's house and the garage door opened as if by magic as we approached allowing the car to drive into the basement of the house. The trip to Australia has already delivered, therefore.  We have now been upside down for about 14 hours and, so far, the blood isn't running to our heads.  We awoke after a short but inevitable sleep to the sound of kookaburras. It is the most extraordinary bird song I have heard. It sounds like someone whistling softly who has the ability to yodel whilst whistling. Dawn was just beginning to break and I found the sound both spine chilling and hilarious - not something I thought possible up to now. It was like there was a creepy and psychopathic milkman circling the house on his deliveries. The whistling is soft, melodious and mournful - typical of psychopathic milkmen, I find. Brisbane is tropical. The humidity suggests warmth regardless of the temperature. Today, a...
Read more

Signing off

Image
 OK, so it seems that merchandise which winds up in an airport goes through some sort of 'size-warp'. Toblerones are prone to expand and apparently, 'Pringles' shrink. Both in circumference and thickness. But don't worry, the price has increased, presumably to cover the cost of the different sized product, the different sized packaging and so on.... Airports are obviously very significant sources of revenue. It's Brisbane airport that we're sat in now as we await our flight to Dubai, and so, home. It is quite late in the evening and the departure lounge is quiet. The high ceilings which they favour these days, give the space a hushed, almost reverential feel, as people glide by, their cases gliding obediently by their sides. This is the sterile space between worlds where we 'limbo dance' until we reach our gate and exit it. Only people's dress might give a clue to the country that they call home. It's a good time to reflect on the past month....
Read more

Bruce

Image
 This entry starts with an apology to all kookaburras. The birds which sound like a disturbed milkman are magpies! This is much more believable when you consider the nature of a magpie but it is a far cry from their British counterparts. (See what I did there...) Today we climbed a mountain in the Glasshouse range. Saying we had a smashing time would be such a dad joke that I shall avoid it. The mountains are a series of volcanic lumps which stand in a loose huddle, allowing plenty of flat land between each one, ensuring a great 360° view from each one. They all rise to satisfying points with only a few requiring ropes. Satisfied with the view from Ngungun mountain, we climbed down to a pub lunch. I had a sheep. On a plate. I certainly didn't do justice to it but it was delicious.  I also had a small beer. Rather chilly, I thought... I love that we drove down the Bruce highway to get there. I practiced the word Bruce in my best Australian for much of the journey. I don't know ...
Read more