Time flies, is a common saying that I can easily subscribe to, as those last couple of days have past by in a flash. The day before yesterday I was still in Melbourne, this evening I am spending in Ballarat after a more than pleasant stay in Geelong.

I wonder whether I have gipsy blood running in my vains? Fact is that I am enjoying travelling to the most. Those last couple of months, I have been living out of a suitcase, something which, to my big surprise, I do enjoy. When getting on a bus, a train or a plane, I know that at the other end of the journey, a new adventure is awaiting me.

Let me step back in time. Melbourne has not been able to charm me in the same way as Canbarra has done. Sure enough the city projects a certain grandeur, the majestic buildings are witnessing a grand past but nevertheless, there is something lacking. Hard to describe: perhaps this city is just too big for me? Perhaps too impersonal? Whilst I had the feeling of space and countryside in Canberra, Melbourne is enclosing me just too much…

So I left the city behind without regrets. The feel was one of “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt” so time to move on to the next stage. Not without almost having experienced a heart attack though. Just before leaving Brent’s office, my little notebook decided to give up on me. No sign of life, no matter what I tried. I can assure you that this must approach an “close death” experience: all my contacts are saved in that little device. How on earth am I going to plan the rest of my trip???

Panic has never been a good advisor. An attitude of “ for every problem, there is a solution to be found”, takes you a lot further. In the literally meaning of the word, it means: Geelong. To Flemish standards it would be classified as large. city. Geelong, with some 300.000 inhabitants is situated at a bay with fine sandy beaches. As most cities in the around here, Geelong too has been designed to a grid pattern: large square blocks, cut up by endless roads. Julie was supposed to meet me at the railway station and since we had never met before, I adviced her to look for a giant bright red suitcase. Not as romantic as a red rose but sure enough as efficient. Still we managed to miss each other, walking around in circles until a friendly clerk connected the 2 of us.

Even before I had said “Hello”, I had asked whether there was a pc shop nearby. Top priority was to get my laptop up and running as I do need it badly for my presentations. What a relief to learn that the problem was situated in the battery cable: a new one sorted it out and most of all… restored peace in my heart! Once this had been dealt with, Julie took me for a ride in Geelong, giving me plenty of historical information. She probably doesn’t know how much this meant to me. After this wonderful introduction, she took me to her home : a wonderful house on top of the hill with a breathtaking view across the city. There are worse places on this planet to end up!

Once arrived, I got to know Glenn, Julie’s husband. This cheerful man was more than busy in the kitchen, preparing a meal which would soon prove to be the first “European style” dinner, I was about to enjoy in Oz.  Although the bush telegraph seems to have been very active, informing my new hosts of what food I can eat (and more importantly, what I DON’T eat), I wonder whether they have been informed that I am not the biggest eater on this world. The food he cooked would have been sufficient to feed a whole army section! Porc, baked potatoes, cauliflower with while sauce, pies, parsnip ( a vegetable barely eaten in my home country, but ever so popular here) and – believe it or not- French red wine. This country has thought me to enjoy red wine: no need to get some from the other side of the world, the quality here is so much better!

After a relaxed chat, it proved to be bedtime.  A wonderful room with, seldom seen in Oz, heating. I have already stepped away from the belief that it is always hot in Oz. On the contrary: nights down under prove to be bitterly cold. Something which is only made more prominent by the almost complete lack of double glazing and insulation.

A wonderful warm night sleep, a great breakfast : my batteries are all charged to deliver my talk at Matthew Flinders school.  It meant a happy reunion with some teachers whom had been to Varlet Farm in the previous years. Two very interested groups of youngsters listened to my lectures. What a great feeling to see that the young generation can be fascinated by that bit of history which both our countries have in common. After the talks, I ended up being invited for a lunch with 3 teachers of whom one proved to be an English lady, teaching French in Australia!

Time to say goodbye in order to move to my next appointment. Johnathan stayed with me some 2 years ago. He wanted to return the hospitality he had experienced while visiting the Salient, so I was being invited for a cup of coffee. A chat of 3 hours (with a couple of more coffees) both told us that life isn’t always as easy as it seems. But, to end on a cheerful note: we have both made it to the other side of the tunnel. Now we sit and laugh and share our positive view on the future which lays ahead of us.

Had I been chatting too much that day? Fact is that I had a bit of a sore feeling in my vocal cords. The coach trip from Geelong to Ballarat ( a good hour) was going to be invested in silence, at least that was the plan. It didn’t quite work out, as I established contact with a wonderful lady sitting next to me. Before I realised the bus pulled in the railway station of Ballarat, bringing me to Mandy, whom I had last seen almost 2 years ago. All I knew was that my vocal cords were not going to get any rest at all, once we had met again!  I really needed to look twice, when spotting Mandy from a distance: how on earth she managed is a miracle: she seems to be 5 years younger now compared to 2 years ago!

Her enthusiasm just shines through in the same way as her energy does! Without delay I was taken to a restaurant, which I will gladly grant the label of first  “top class” restaurant I have seen in this country : wonderfully decorated, excellent service, wonderful presentation and a meal which was top of the bill all the way. After this more than satisfying experience, we set off for her home where we were being welcomed by 5 cats and a – let’s say: slightly overweighed- border collie. It has turned out to be an evening of catching up… very long catching up since the clock had gone past 2 am by the time we turned in.

At that stage my legs felt as if they were made of lead, soon to become even heavier. All night long I have been shivering with fever in order to wake up this morning with a throat, which doesn’t allow me to swallow at all. Wrapped in 2 blankets, I am seated on the mat in front of the fireplace, set on maximum, and yet I don’t manage to get warm. After rainfall, the suns starts shining… I can only hope that my sun will start shining really soon.

Shivering regards

Charlotte

Copyright : Charlotte Descamps 2012

A lazy Friday it has been: time to work on my blogs as I started to get hopelessly behind. I enjoy the rest in the house, the hospitality of this family, the freedom to do as I please.

After another excellent night sleep (I wonder how many different beds I have been sleeping in since I started my journey?) the day comes too soon. My hostess had suggested that we would go for an early morning walk and that meant getting out of bed , sooner than I have been used to the last couple of weeks. Sure I love walking but long gone are the day that I got out of bed at the crack of dawn. Although the idea of an early start didn’t appeal to me at first, now all I can say is that I am so pleased, I let myself being talked into this. We set off for a short drive, direction Red Hill. At first I thought that “hill” was a bit of an overstatement but soon I came to realise that it did involve a fairly steep climb. Good to get warm as the mornings in are cold. Climbing up, Jacques Dutronc’s song “Il est cinq heures, Paris s’éveille” popped to my mind. With a bit of alterations, it could have applied to this morning too with that difference that one has great views here, big skies and silence which was only  broken by an angry Mack pie, upset over the early disturbance of his territory. Wet grass under my feet, a rainbow in the sky and wind that all of a sudden swept over the top of the hill: what else can one dream off?

Saturday evening was going to show me another aspect of the Australian culture. It was my first (hopefully not my last!) introduction to a party, in this case the 50^th birthday party of a lady who stayed with me last year. The theme being a Venetian evening, meant that everyone was supposed to wear a mask. I have to be honest in saying that it doesn’t make it any easier to talk to someone as often you have no clue whom you are talking too! A practical problem (it is fairly difficult to empty a glass with half of your face covered up) came at my rescue : those masks soon disappeared in all directions! Snacks of all kinds were being served,  many of which I had no idea what they could be made off. Those who know me, will be familiar with my ground rule when it comes to eating: what the eyes don’t like, doesn’t make it to the mouth… Good fortune was the light was dimmed: in other words, the looks didn’t stop me from eating. All in all an Aussie party isn’t all that different from an European one: there is some dancing (but not as much as I had hoped for) and some drinking (and for some: more than I had hoped for!). In Belgian terms, Aussies would be referred to as “not dead from the first drink”.  I got “home” at a civilized hour in order to go to bed,  dreaming of a wonderful evening.

One can not always party, and that I have known! On Sunday my hosts have invited me along for a special activity: picking olives. A friend of theirs has several olive trees which need to be harvested before the severe frost sets in. Neighbours, friends, relatives: anyone who was in for a combination of fun and work, was more than welcome.  Never having seen an olive tree from close by, I had no clue what the procedure was. One bonus: one doesn’t need to present a degree to do the job, a bit of logic thinking and good organising, takes you a long way. The olives are actually not being picked by hand but are literally shaken off the tree by men operating “shakers” . The others were positioning nets, clipping them, unclipping, handpicking the last olives, moving the nets forward and reorganising them around the next group of trees, once a lot had been done. We soon proved to be a good oiled machine, advancing at good speed.  At lunch, the whole group was invited to the farm for a meal which, I swear to God, was the best I have eaten since a very long time. The mushroom soup was beyond superlatives, the lamb was so tender… and having worked: I felt hungry so I did honour to the cook! Drawback of spoiling the group to that extend, was to be seen in the afternoon: we could barely bend over! Another couple of hours of picking, to end up at a table with home made pie… there are worse ways to pass a Sunday!

It had been a long time, since I did such physical work. Having said that, I enjoyed it to the most. It brought back long time memories: where are the days gone to, when we had a large group of locals helping with the harvest of cauliflowers on my home farm? The long table, full of food, the cheerfulness… I had a blast from the past yesterday.

Not the best night sleep has rounded of my stay in Canberra. I honestly wonder whether I will find any better on this planet. Perhaps I will, as many of my Aussie friends keep on saying that I shouldn’t take any decisions as to where to settle, until I have been to New Zealand.

An early flight was awaiting me on Monday morning, taking me away from the city I came to feel so connected to. Chris was so kind to take me to the airport where I could board the plane less than 40 minutes later. At the beginning of my trip, the fact that I arrived less than an hour in advance, would have made me incredibly nervous. In Canberra, it never crossed my mind that I could miss my flight… Is this the Aussie mentality nestling under my skin???

Melbourne has neatly build its airport out of the centre, but not to worry as there is a bus service which takes you right to the main station in some 45 minutes. Once arrived there, it was only a matter of finding the train to Malvern ( a suburb of Melbourne). No problem there too (after all I am an experienced traveller by now) . After a short walk, I arrived at Brent’s office where - thank God- I could leave my suitcase ( which seems to get heavier from one city to the other) behind.  Back on the train again, direction city centre as I was eager to explore what Melbourne has to offer.

Of course I knew that I am biased in my opinion: now that Canberra has stolen my heart, I was having very high expectations of Melbourne. Clear enough that this city not only differs in scale (360.000 inhabitants in Canberra versus 4 million here) but sure enough also in atmosphere. I am writing this blog, sitting on a square, right in front of St Pauls cathedral. Sky scrapers (although not half as high as in Toronto) and old buildings (going back to the 1800’s) are standing side by side. While looking at the cathedral, one could easily dream to be in Europe, when looking across the street, it immediately becomes clear that this is not Europe.

This city claims to have the second most extended network of trams (only to be beaten by Lisbon) in the world. I can only confirm this statement must hold some truth as one can barely take a picture of a historic building, without a tram flying through the image!

And yes, they cater for their tourists here. Not only by offering a square with free WIFI but also by providing a tram which tours around the whole city. This old tram (and I mean: really old) stops at numerous places, giving you the time to explore sightseeing places around. It was my very good intention to do the full tour to start with, then deciding where I would like to spend more time. Not all intentions make it to reality, nor did that one!  After 2 stops I couldn’t resist to get off,  to visit the parliament house. And hurray, since I arrived in perfect time to join a guided tour. What I have learned from that guided tour is that timing is everything in life.  On July 1^st 1851, the state Victoria was born ( previous to this was part of New South Wales) … and just a fortnight later gold was being discovered. The gold rush was a good news show for Victoria as the young state could start off without any financial worries at all. In Dutch, there are several sayings to make clear that someone who is well off, likes to show off as well but I have no clue how that translate into English. I do have an impression though of how it looks in reality. Both the lower and the higher house have been decorated with gold and one has to admit: when sitting on the source of it, it wouldn’t be correct to be tight. A rule, which was very well understood here, since not less that 12 million dollars were invested to make sure one would notice this state produced gold.

At the beginning of the tour, the guide had inquired where his audience came from. Apart form Africa, every continent had it representatives. Our country, being a small nation such as it is, had one single person to defend the colours… In the library, all of a sudden the guide, inquires where the Belgian delegation is hiding and then he points up, saying “Made in Belgium”. A crystal chandelier of a size which is too large to even describe proved to be coming from our tiny little country. No doubt that the firm, Val Saint-Lambert, must have known that money was not an issue, when designing this chandelier. I guess they have lived up to the expectations as the light is now breaking into the room in a ray of thousand colours. Did I suddenly feel  a glance of national pride???

After the tour, it was time to rush back to the railway station as the office of my new host (in Malvern) is a good 45 minutes drive away from his house. The reward he obtains for commuting such a long distance, lays in the fact that his house is situated in one of Australians nature parks. Needless to say that it feels as if I have discovered another part of heaven…

My hostess cooked a delicious meal (I am spoiled rotten in this country!) after which we had a serious discussion on the way the aboriginal inhabitants have been dealt with. I openly admit that I haven’t got sufficient background knowledge to judge really, but having said that, as much I try to understand her arguments, there sure are some I don’t agree with. All I can conclude is that this issue must be such a risky one for any politician that wants to sort it out. Should I recommend some of their Belgian colleagues to come and give some advice????

A sound nights sleep, a good shower and on to the next stage this morning : 2 lectures in a girl’s grammar school. Was it me, or was it them but somehow I had the feeling that they were considering me as coming from Mars… I have had better days, no doubt about it. However, it can not have been all that bad, since I was kindly offered a box of chocolates. My hosts will be pleased… no way I can fit an match box in my suitcase, let alone a box of chocolates!

And that is how far my day has stretched. Finishing my blog page in the centre of Melbourne before embarking for a new exploration of this ever going city.

Best wishes

Charlotte

Copyright: Charlotte Descamps 2012