Drouin East to Lara via a lunch date

Gum flower on the way to
The Kevin Hoffman Walk
My self-catered breakfast this morning was a lot more restrained than yesterday's provided scrambled eggs and bacon etc.  Accomodation arrangements for the night finally made, not quite as originally anticipated, but satisfactory. I headed off around 10, needing to go via an ATM to procure cash to pay for the night's accommodation.  It would have been easier if Maps had told me to stop in good time rather than subsequently deciding I should go round in circles.

It's the first time I have used either of my current cards to withdraw cash, it took a bit to figure out!

Then I was on my way - to meet Susan for lunch. She had promised me a healthy food place that didn't use additives, and I was hopeful that I could find some choices without too much challenge.

The Yarra River at the bottom of Ablington Street


I made very good time from Drouin East to Susan's place in Alphington - I suburb of which I had never heard!  I allowed Maps to take me via toll roads and the journey was really easy - although I still dislike massive trucks that tailgate.  If I can't see their number plate, they are WAY TOO CLOSE!  

It was an absolute delight to see Susan again and to see her newly built house, into which they only moved last weekend are are still settling in.

I was glad that Susan drove us to lunch, she is far more accustomed to the chaos of Melbourne traffic than I am - and to finding a self-made parking space.

Traffic jam and rain - the delights of
Melbourne driving

The cafe was delightful; she is obviously a regular and introduced me to the owner.  I was delighted to find that he was familiar with low FODMAP diets.  Knowing the Susan usually orders a soup for lunch, he went off to check the ingredients in the soups and returned to advise me that the Green Thai soup was safe for me.  Thank you, order sorted.  And it was superbly delicious.  Susan and I had a lovely time catching up. 








After we had finished lunch, she inquired as to whether visiting a nearby dress shop might be of interest to me.  I did indicate that it would not be high on my list of priorities and she counter offered a little walk by the river just down the street from her house.  It was most kind of her as walking any distance is not easy for her.  

On the Kevin Hoffman walk


We did enjoy the short walk, and I suggested subsequent precautions about her shoes as there were roped off areas with signs about Phytophthora having been detected and I am sure she did not want to take any risks with her newly and beautifully landscaped garden.

On the Kevin Hoffman walk






I said my farewells and headed off, hoping, in vain, to avoid awful traffic.  I quietly cursed Maps at one stage for failing to tell me to veer left to stay on the route, and ended up doing a complicated u-turn involving service roads.  

On the Kevin Hoffman walk



Maps took me a rather strange route, via almost standstill traffic near the zoo, to avoid a road closure on the M1, but then took me back to the Westgate Bridge, again in very slow traffic, and the confusing directions in relation to that.  Stay right to stay on the correct road; now stay left to stay on the correct road - all within the space of a couple of heartbeats and with 5 solid lanes of nose to tail traffic.  I was most relieved to hear the instruction 'continue on the M1 for 41km'

On the Kevin Hoffman walk



I reached my destination somewhat later than expected, but that was ok with my hostess, who had not long been home.  I checked out my room, installed some perishable food in her fridge and took myself off for a walk along the Kevin Hoffman walk.  It would have been easier if the 'shortcut' had provided a shorter route, but I took a wrong turning.  I finally found the walk and was delighted with some of the flowers along the way.

On the Kevin Hoffman walk



I returned to my accomodation for the night, by which time it was dark, and prepared my dinner (a quick reheat of leftovers) and my hostess joined me to eat her dinner, and we chatted for quite some time;  she showed me her Indian textiles - a most enjoyable pass time, before I retired relatively early.

On the Kevin Hoffman walk

On the Kevin Hoffman walk

On the Kevin Hoffman Walk


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Melbourne: Godesses and Gardens

Image
While I had thought that I'd never done the ferry crossing from Tassie to Victoria, although I'd done it in reverse after my 2 terms of teaching in Corio North, a vague memory surfaced of having driven out of the old terminal and through Melbourne, presumably on a skiing trip sometime in the '80s.  The trip on the ferry was interesting:  very noisy but most of it was while noise, but around 4am this incredibly metallic noise commenced, something like a sliding door.  There were also the reverberations of the engine, sometimes constant, sometimes not so. It was at the 'not so' times that I could feel them through my mattress, which was not particularly comfortable.  It was those times I would wait for more variation in the reverberations and also be aware of the movement of the ship, which earlier had been pitching and I'd be aware of my orientation in relation to the horizontal - tipping slightly towards my feet then towards my head. In the later hours there wou
Read more

The final leg - back home

Image
  Morning light and valley mist at Meander By 6:15am we were alongside at Devonport. It was a rocking, rolling night after we passed through the heads but at some stage during the night the seas calmed, the wind seemed to abate and when I heard the wake up call at 5:45am all seemed relatively calm and we were sailing smoothly. An initial pervading smell of stale drains in my cabin was dispelled relatively easily by having a hot shower with some nice fresh soapy smells. I guess it was just water that had been sitting in the drains too long. It was still dark as I disembarked around 7 am and my car said the temperature was 9°, but it dropped very quickly as I headed south and inland. Visiting Gray   Dawn gradually spread its light across the sky, highlighting intermittent ,beautiful valley mists, mists that became less attractive as they enveloped sections of the road and slowed my progress. I stopped in Deloraine for a coffee and by the time I got to Meander it was only 2°, although the
Read more

Heyfield to Drouin East via some elusive routes

Image
On the Heyfield Wetlands walk As I sit, drinking my first cup of coffee, I compare the morning to yesterday. It's an almost balmy seven degrees outside. not three. I'm wearing three layers not five. The view is very pretty in a rural sort of way there is mist rising from the creek and I have an invitation to go kayaking on the creek, which I probably won't take up. Not being a kayaker, I think my preference is for warm weather, in case I tip myself in. I am glad I am not camping; it rained last night and with the mist, there'd be no way of drying my awning before packing up. I also reflected on the noticeable change in the time it gets light and gets dark as I travel west. It is later and I did notice the reverse as I was traveling east three weeks ago. That little change in longitude over a few hundred kilometres does make a difference. Morning mist from my window at Abington Farm And now for the decision about what to do today, where to stay tonight, and how to manage
Read more