I started the week well, resting up and trying to get better. Even taking the public holiday on Tuesday as a lazy day to try and recoup, rather than doing something intersting with it. Then 'me-ness' took over and that didn't really happen. Gladly, I doubled-checked the day I was due to start coxing at Melbourne Rowing Club, otherwise I would have gotten up at 4.30am a whole day too soon! After a few sessions, it's been great to be back in a boat, even if it is in the wrong seat ;)
The public holiday was for the Melbourne Cup. I did find it a bit weird that you'd get a public holiday for a horse race, but it's tradition, and the Victorians have missed out on a fair few public holidays that the other states have been getting recently so I guess it makes sense. Actually, the horse races go on all week, but the big one is on the 4th of November. I guess it's kind of like the Derby, or Ascot. It's all about the high fashion, dodgy hats, and ludicrous amounts of drinking. I (and not just beause I was on antibiotics) didn't partake. I was told yesterday that not going to the Melbourne Races (or Spring Carnival as it's also known) was like going to Dublin and not drinking Guiness, but what can you do?
The weather has taken a magnificent turn for the better, and you can imagine my glee when I looked at the forecast for the week, and discovered that for the next 7 days it is not likely to get below 30. How's that for spring? Yeehee! Cathy, Jen and I decided that nice days should be celebrated with adventure, and a trip out of the city. And what do you know? Sunday's are just made for that purpose. Cathy saw a travel section in the newspaper (actually it was a car ad, but they talked about the road they were testing the cars on) talking about a day trip from Melbourne and we thought it would be worth a go. 275km round trip South East (past Phillip Island where I was a few weeks ago) to South Gippsland to a short but beautiful piece of coastline stretching from Cape Paterson to Inverloch. We decided to check it out.
The sun came out to play, and the beaches are really pretty. We jumped off the Bass Highway at Cape Paterson and headed down to the beach for a while before following the coastal scenic drive around the various beaches to Inverloch, trying not to get sunburnt along the way. The coastline there is a series of cliffs and beaches. We headed back through the beautiful rolling mist-covered hills, which really reminded me of home, especially in their green-ness, presumably because of the rains in September. I wonder how long the green will last, since the rain has stopped and it looks like the heat is here to stay for a while.
