G-n-L Ganesh and Lauren

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Mini-Adventure 8: Phillip Island

Monday, 15 February 2010

Wow... It's been a rather hectic few weeks... With the couch surfer, outings, cleaning up the yard for the first bbq on the mexican chiminea and starting off my involvement in the Transition Town movement - valentine's day was a rewarding and relaxing day of fun...

G and I have agreed that instead of getting involved in the consumerism of the event we should organise to do something together each Valentine's Day... last year we went horse riding through wineries... this year we decided to use our Christmas Presents (jet boating at Phillip Island!)... On the way down to Phillip Island we stopped off at the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens to get ideas for our front yard. An award winning garden it may be, but it was not in the least bit inspiring. It was definitely a beneficial stop though because it turned out to be hard rubbish day in Cranbourne - or a 'Gold Mine' as G termed it. We now have a large assorted array of power tools in various states of disrepair that will soon sit proudly in our shed :-)

The next stop, just over the bridge was the Phillip Island Chocolate Factory. A feast for all the senses we just had to stop for a delicious hot chocolate given the stormy weather. I can still taste the melted chocolate pouring down my throat... mmmm....

We were very lucky in that the thunderstorms held out long enough for us to be thrown around on choppy seas in western port bay... A couple of times we were literally thrown from our seats as the boat swerved over large waves and lept across the ocean. We saved the penguins for next time and headed back to Melbourne to discover free mulch - a feast for the veggie patch! And to implement G's method of super savings shopping... (I've put G in charge of all food preparation this week while I take over the garden and chook care)... should be fun! :-)

Labels: botanical gardens, chocolate, hard rubbish, jet boating, mini-adventure, phillip island

Mini-Adventure 7 Recap: Perth to Melbourne

Monday, 14 December 2009

No set of mini-adventures would be complete without a trip to the desert... Or the nearest limestone plain as the case may be. Xin, Ganesh and I set off on the epic once in a lifetime journey across the Nullarbor from Perth to Melbourne by car - 3456km of mostly desert on Friday the 11th of December 2009... It was a slow start, getting used to the manual camper van and trying not to rip out the gear box by moving from 1st to 4th gear but once we made it out of the city and on to the highway it was smooth sailing.

Checkout our journey below!

View Perth to Melbourne in a larger map

Labels: melbourne, mini-adventure, nullarbor, perth

Mini-Adventure 6 Recap: Kathmandu Maximum Adventure

Saturday, 14 November 2009

Outdoor sports and activities that get me out into the bush are a welcome change from city life so I signed team 'genloz' up for our first adventure series race through Kathmandu Maximum Adventure. The race essentially consists of 28 markers, in this case spread out through Lysterfield Park which you use different means - mountain biking, kayaking, running (or a short swim in once case!) to navigate to.

As it was our first race we weren't trying to come first, just not last! But we were off to a shakey start 5 mins in when, having reached the lake for the initial kayak G decided to change clothes... We waited patiently while all the other kayaks moved off the shore and as we pushed our kayak into the water absolutely last. Fortunately this was short lived. By the start of the first run we'd caught up to larger group at the back and were back in shape!

Our adventure series buddies were Caitlin and Lucy - we seemed to be keeping pace and they were always smiling no matter how hot it got. Both on a gap year over from the US they seemed to be making the most of their time in Australia and certainly looked very athletic and prepared for adventure. All 4 of us found the first stretch of mountain biking the most challenging - though Ganesh was loving it by the end! Mountain biking on small narrow paths through beautiful green bush is amazing fun. What's not fun is the tree crossings. I don't think it had anything to do with my bike and everything to do with me but on the whole day I think I only managed 5 successful log jumps - every other time I just fell off the bike! It's harder than it looks... Because I was looking at my pedals in that first stretch rather than at the road we overshot the elusive marker no. 9... Whoops!

There were a few quite serious looking injuries people had sustained on the course - gravel burns from coming off the mountain bikes - but I was so impressed that people continued on through the entire course anyway... obviously a tough and determined group.

The final kayak was quite tiring but I'm proud to say we finished the 35km course by lunch time, a little tired but very proud!

Labels: bike, mini-adventure

Mini-Adventure 5 Recap: Around the Bay in a Day

Sunday, 18 October 2009

Riding Around the Bay in a Day is actually one of the achievements I'm more proud of this year... Of course we only went 100kms but we did go riding each weekend beforehand to slowly build up a level of fitness that would get us up the hills in Mt Martha! Not only did we build up a good level of 'bike fitness', but we also learnt useful tricks like how to remove bike pedals... the type of alan keys required to turn handle bars parallel to the frame... and the best place to park in the city at 4am on a Sunday morning!

We were off to an early start, and there was a long queue of riders waiting to pack bikes onto trucks and load into the buses to head down to Sorrento... The atmosphere was great though, everyone helping each other to prepare bikes for the trip. 15000 riders participated - that's a logistical nightmare in a city with only 4 24-hour car parks! We arrived a little late in Sorrento, and sadly missed the 8am grand start but we made good time over the first 20km to Dromana for a quick bite of breakkie and some water. The second leg to Frankston was the longest and included all of the hills but we were still hyped on race day excitement so we pressed on after a quick orange stop.

I have to say the 70km point was the worst... My bottom started to hurt... I began to feel my muscles and my wrists were feeling the pressure of the tight grip over the bumps in the road... But a short stop for lunch completely revived us and the last leg of the journey began... We'd done this part of the ride before so it was a smooth run into the city, though it slowed near south melbourne as we began to run into multiple traffic lights and cars. We completed the ride at around 2pm, approximately 5 hours after we'd started... and though tired, I was entirely proud and excited to try for the full distance in 2010!

Labels: around the bay in a day, bike, mini-adventure

Mini-Adventure 4 Recap: Skiing

Sunday, 30 August 2009

It's been a long time since the last mini adventure, but I guess Japan and China count as a whole series of mini adventures! This weekend took us to Mt Buller to ski while the snow still remains (climate change of course). The adventure part of this holiday was definitely the weather. While I won't say it was as bad as Mt Fuji it certainly did send a shiver down the spine. For most of the day high winds meant the summit was closed and a complete white out coupled with icy rain meant frozen fingers and soggy boots... Despite this the skiing was as fun as I remember. There's nothing quite like racing down a mountain as fast as you can on the edge of control! (Or in Ganesh's case possibly out of control though I've never seen anyone improve so fast in just 2 days worth of skiing!)...

This mini-adventure was followed up by a lovely ride almost to Diamond Creek along the Yarra Trail with a friend... Complete with wild kangaroos only 1m from the path, rosellas, cockatoos, galahs and carved trees we really felt like we were 'back to nature'. The ride was followed up by Will's (my brother's) first birthday party. He seemed to have a ball (literally - I found him a 'learning ball' as a gift!) and was extremely taken by his first piece of cake :-)

It's important to keep busy I think!

Labels: mini-adventure, skiing

Mini-Adventure 3 Recap: Artists Trail

Sunday, 31 May 2009

Sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than an adventure in your own back yard... Today, with good friend Grace and Ganesh, we set out along the Heidelberg School Artists Trail on bikes... It just so happens that the famous 'Heidelberg School of Art' is just down the road (well I should say over a very large hill) and the trail featured the works of Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts amongst other artists I studied in school! The art school was really significant because it was the first school to paint the Australian landscape as it is, dry and red, rather than trying to fit it into an english mold...

We also rode through the heide museum of modern art and the giant sculpture garden which included some hilarious dogs barking furiously at tin cows, and a discovery by Ganesh of the same wild berries he used to eat when he was a school truant exploring the jungle! (They were a bit tasteless, but the rich red colour was impressive and you couldn't help but be charmed by his enthusiasm)... I was amazed to see a hidden agricultural paradise just behind the mansions in heidelberg... It was like riding through the english countryside - horses galloping in paddocks... farmers with hay... quaint clusters of houses on hills looking over the yarra and the floodplains... and to top it all off Grace surprised me with a beautiful handmade calendar of her exquisite photographs from Europe... Wow! I'm so impressed by people who can take beautiful photographs. I don't think I'll ever have the patience to master the art!

For more info on the artists trail checkout the official website.

Apart from that it's been a busy weekend... Angels & Demons at the movies... The big fence and gate build and painting... Scavenging for pallets (free recycled timber!)... A couple of website catastrophes... and catching up with work! Looking forward to next (long!) weekend to really get something done!

Labels: art, bike, mini-adventure

Mini-Adventure 2 Recap: Horse Riding

Saturday, 14 February 2009

Extreme relaxation is the only word for today's mini adventure! I hesitate to even call it an adventure because there was no adrenalin rush! Leaving from Springcreek farm, not far from Rosebud, we hired some horses and toured through the Vineyards and Orchards in the area... A slow paced meander through the fruit trees was interspersed with trots and canters in the back streets but overall it was intensely relaxing. We also picked up some more ideas for the garden and were inspired by the strength and resilience of the olives, figs and cherries in an area so obviously affected by the recent heat wave.

Ganesh's horse, aptly named Shorty, was pretty feisty - and always hungry! While my horse, Ellie, was a little stubborn at times and appeared to be playing hard to get with another horse, Copper (who was never far behind). After about 3 hours on horseback we decided to give the horses a break and headed back to Melbourne via a lovely Greek Restaurant amidst all the wineries.

A highly recommended mini adventure!

Labels: horse riding, mini-adventure

Mini-Adventure 1 Recap: Sovereign Hill

Thursday, 1 January 2009

Happy 2009 to one and all! :-) I hope you enjoyed bringing in the new year last night and are looking forward to an exciting and prosperous year ahead... I thought I'd give a small recap of this month's adventure (and my birthday present!) - A night in the museum at Sovereign Hill.

We arrived at the Sovereign Hill Lodge, perched above the mining town in time for a light lunch. After meeting the group we were given our costumes and life in the 1850s began! (Bar 1 minor costume change - the first dress they gave me was extra large and bunched down on the ground)... First instruction on the many many layers of underwear ladies had to carry around on a daily basis, as well as how to get a tiny waist! (It's too late for me apparently - you start when you're 12!) and then instructions on how to greet the commoners (tourists) and basic etiquette. Ladies had to be escorted by a man at all times and men had to always remove their top hats before going inside. The crinoline took a little getting used to - especially lifting it up at the back before sitting down while not looking like you were about to go to the bathroom! All 11 of us decked out in our finery took a tour of the township by coach, panned for gold (we found a few flakes!), chit chatted with the shop keepers, had many many photos taken of us, witnessed $125000 worth of gold being poured into an ingot (see the photo) and ventured 100ft underground on a steep incline railway to visit the mines. Dinner was a 5 course banquet (meaning that the 0.5kg I had previously lost is now back!) including oxtail and pig trotter soup and lambs brains amongst other more traditional items! We dipped paraffin candles into coloured wax to make decorative household items, played parlour games and finished the day with the spectacular sound and light show - blood on the southern cross. What I found most interesting though was that all of the negativity had been removed. Last time I went to Sovereign Hill I distinctly remember the appalling conditions in the mine, the racial tension between the Chinese miners and other miners and the terrible treatment of some of the Chinese miners being emphasised. That had all gone. Everything glorified the period (apart from the obvious corruption of the police force and poor governance that arose from creating an entire regulatory body from convicts!). Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it and my many ideas for cultural world theme parks have been reignited! :-) (Thanks very very much Ganesh)...

Labels: mini-adventure, night in the museum, sovereign hill