Saturday, 31 May 2014
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
Spotted in the garage - Ozzie the Possie
Our 'tame' opossum, Ozzie, found perched on the freezer and chewing on an apple - perfectly oblivious to the human photographer.
Ozzie normally resides in the spare kayak in the roof... having been displaced from the house roof-space, he has decided to take up residence in the garage.
Monday, 26 May 2014
Up the Creek without a paddle...
Saturday dawned calm and clear... I know this because I had already been up for several hours in preparation for the Victorian Sea kayak Club's (VSKC) Paddle the Bay in a Day expedition.
This year the planned route crossed Port Philip Bay from west to east - a distance of about 35kms. The plan was to start 5kms up Werribee creek at Ninety Degree bend and then paddle down the river and across to Sandringham Yacht club. Accordingly the most Reverend Dr Bob and I rendezvoused with the six other paddlers at Sandringham 0630 hrs in order to load kayaks onto cars and trailer for the 50km trip to Werribee.
We decided to leave Bob's Caddy at Sandringham and hopped in Helmut's car, diverting to the city to pick up his partner (an essential part of the car shuffle needed).
It must have been a mere 5kms from our destination when the light dawned almost simultaneously for Bob et Moi... Whether it was the sleep deprivation or the unfamiliar nature of the boat transport, but whatever the mitigating circumstances, we had both managed to neglect to bring an important article with us on the paddle - namely the paddle!
Perhaps, we mused hopefully, others had brought spares?
On arrival at the assembly point, our predicament predictable became the source of much amusement for the assembled mob. The former vice-president and current president had been found out - up the creek with out a paddle! No doubt we will hear about this for some time...
Alas, only one spare paddle was found and so Plan B was called into action - we would nobly return to Sandringham, locate the missing paddles and set out from the previously assigned destination with a view to meeting the pod half-way (or thereabouts)
We finally got on the water around 10 and set our course to intersect with the Westerners ending our way...
A slight chop soon disappeared and flat calm benign conditions meant easy progress out past the Faulkner weather beacon (about 6kms offshore) and then we stopped beside the "Astro Sculptor", a 250m behemoth oil tanker, for lunch. No sign of the others, we headed further west for another 3-4 km, searching for any signs of paddles flashing in the sunlight.
Well, we thought, we have either missed them (possible, but with clear visibility???) or they had turned back/chosen another route.
With a couple of basking seals for company, we slowly hauled our way back the 13.5 kms to Sandringham... to be greeted by members of the aforementioned pod which had arrived 45 mins beforehand!
"Oh", they said, "we started off too far south and had to make a course direction halfway..."
Unbelievable that we still hadn't seen them, even if they were several kms south of us while we were resting at the tanker??? Guess it shows how short your horizon is when you are a couple of feet off the water...
Nonetheless, we still managed to have a very enjoyable, albeit somewhat tiring, 28kms of paddling on one of the calmest days seen on the Bay
This year the planned route crossed Port Philip Bay from west to east - a distance of about 35kms. The plan was to start 5kms up Werribee creek at Ninety Degree bend and then paddle down the river and across to Sandringham Yacht club. Accordingly the most Reverend Dr Bob and I rendezvoused with the six other paddlers at Sandringham 0630 hrs in order to load kayaks onto cars and trailer for the 50km trip to Werribee.
We decided to leave Bob's Caddy at Sandringham and hopped in Helmut's car, diverting to the city to pick up his partner (an essential part of the car shuffle needed).
It must have been a mere 5kms from our destination when the light dawned almost simultaneously for Bob et Moi... Whether it was the sleep deprivation or the unfamiliar nature of the boat transport, but whatever the mitigating circumstances, we had both managed to neglect to bring an important article with us on the paddle - namely the paddle!
Perhaps, we mused hopefully, others had brought spares?
On arrival at the assembly point, our predicament predictable became the source of much amusement for the assembled mob. The former vice-president and current president had been found out - up the creek with out a paddle! No doubt we will hear about this for some time...
Alas, only one spare paddle was found and so Plan B was called into action - we would nobly return to Sandringham, locate the missing paddles and set out from the previously assigned destination with a view to meeting the pod half-way (or thereabouts)
We finally got on the water around 10 and set our course to intersect with the Westerners ending our way...Well, we thought, we have either missed them (possible, but with clear visibility???) or they had turned back/chosen another route.
With a couple of basking seals for company, we slowly hauled our way back the 13.5 kms to Sandringham... to be greeted by members of the aforementioned pod which had arrived 45 mins beforehand!
"Oh", they said, "we started off too far south and had to make a course direction halfway..."
Unbelievable that we still hadn't seen them, even if they were several kms south of us while we were resting at the tanker??? Guess it shows how short your horizon is when you are a couple of feet off the water...
Nonetheless, we still managed to have a very enjoyable, albeit somewhat tiring, 28kms of paddling on one of the calmest days seen on the Bay
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
Thirty years ago... a pictorial tribute to our darling daughter!
This past Sunday we were still awake not long past the witching hour of midnight and reminiscing...
Thirty years ago almost exactly Amber Catherine Stewart entered the world and greeted her excited parents with howls of delight (at least that was how we interpreted her birth cries!)
She soon captivated our hearts and became the much photographed/videod/coddled first of the Stewart clan's grandchildren.
Her latter auburn locks were preceded by a fine ginger dusting which nicely matched her proud father's beard.
Thirty years on and we are still immensely proud of our darling daughter - and it was a treat to celebrate with the rest of the immediate family at Healesville's Giant Steps on Sunday night.
Aunty Amber received a special gift from her favourite and highly talented niece Arieta of a painting she specially crafted for the occasion...
Not to be outdone, Nephew Samuel presented her with his own creation - a necklace to be treasured!
Thirty years ago almost exactly Amber Catherine Stewart entered the world and greeted her excited parents with howls of delight (at least that was how we interpreted her birth cries!)
She soon captivated our hearts and became the much photographed/videod/coddled first of the Stewart clan's grandchildren.
Her latter auburn locks were preceded by a fine ginger dusting which nicely matched her proud father's beard.
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| Dedication day |
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| Big sister and little brother |
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| Early fascination with primitive i-phone |
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Early driving lessons... |
Aunty Amber received a special gift from her favourite and highly talented niece Arieta of a painting she specially crafted for the occasion...
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