Leaving Australia

I can’t believe the time has passed so quickly and that in 36 hours I’ll be somewhere in the sky over the red centre of Australia, on my way back to London. (As I write, it’s nearly 5pm on Monday 28th March).

I’ve just been looking again at the photos I took at the McClelland sculpture park the other day and have to include these two. A solid circle of stones – small boulders really – suspended on strong cables about a foot above the ground. It’s only when you position the camera under the stones that you get a shot showing that they are suspended, and if you look closely, or enlarge the photo, you will see Ben at the other side, also taking a photo!

I spent part of yesterday beachcombing down at the sea again, one last time. Not much glass to be found, but that’s probably because my assistant Lucy was there before me, and as she’s nearer the ground than me, and has better eyesight, she got the pick of it all. Lots of interesting stones though… they might just be hardened mud, time will tell. If they’re reduced to powder by the time they get to Barry then they won’t be next season’s new jewellery line! There were only a handful of people on the beach – mainly walking dogs or jogging along the water’s edge. And no sounds apart from the bizarre cries of birds in the trees and a couple of guys racing each other on their jet skis.

On the way back, I stopped on the bridge over Kananook Creek to take photos of ducks swimming in geese formation, when all of a sudden, this boat appeared from the cover of overhanging trees. With a huge megaphone/speaker type thing at the prow I thought…. (it turned out to be a tuba)…. and 5 or 6 men on board. As I took their picture, the music started up – big band jazz stuff! By this time a few people had appeared in their gardens at the water’s edge and a group of walkers had joined me on the bridge, snapping away just like me! I was told they were on their way to the Kananook Day celebrations and invited to walk along with them. But I hadn’t had breakfast, or my tablets, so had to get home.

Later that day we went to an afternoon party hosted by friends who wanted to celebrate the fact that Ben and Jo are not leaving the area to live near Castlemaine. Lots of food, lots of kids (and their parents) in a meadow of a garden, with a hammock and a little bouncy castle. I found it hard not to do my child observation stuff – years of earning a living scrutinising kids is hard to shake off! Even at a young age you can almost tell which are going to be surfers in 15 years’ time, and which are going backpacking as soon as they can. Should I share this with the parents? Maybe not.

Today I did a lot of sorting out, last lot of washing in the machine, then off to the beach cafe with Jo for lunch. It really is the most gorgeous spot, with a small pier, pale aqua sea merging into darker blues once the sand falls away underwater. Little sandbanks with seagulls parading and pecking at snacks in the sand. Magic.

So tomorrow I’m off. I fly out of Melbourne at 5 past 1 in the morning of the 30th, and after a 3-hour stop at Singapore and about 22 hours in the air I get to London at 3.30 in the afternoon of the same day. There’s more magic! I’ve booked two nights at Heathrow (in a hotel, that is) where I’ll meet up for chats etc. with Victoria and Marilyn before flying off to Warsaw on April 1st. No jokes please. (Although I don’t trust Victoria to let an April Fools’ Day go by without attempting some sort of hoax. Maybe I should publish a list of her tricks over the years…)

I’ll drive with Jo into Melbourne tomorrow afternoon, meet Ben from work and spend the evening with them before they deposit me at the airport. Next blog post will be from somewhere in Europe…!