Myrtleford & Mt Hotham

Hello! Did a short visit to some local areas with my friend recently: to Reform Hill at Myrtleford and up to Mount Hotham where there are always great views. See the pictures below. But of course I have some observations:

Cyclists
Some of them appear to be a bit confused. When we were driving a cyclist came towards us, on our side of the road, and he very kindly moved over to one side instead of running into us. He didn't seem to be much worried about his safety: black t-shirt and no helmet.
I also saw a cyclist with a large sign on their bike with their name on it. I guess all bikes look the same; they all have two wheels.

Local Crime
Based on the TV news, the Albury - Wodonga area seems to have a ready supply of criminals. These towns regularly have a spate of robberies on shops, including ram raids and then a week or two later the police catch those responsible. Then there is a pause for a month or two and then the cycle begins again.

Miracle Water
I happened to be watching some Christian community TV programme in which they were offering miracle water for free. But their offer got a bit complicated: you had to bring your own water to get consecrated at one of their services and then it would only work miracles if you applied the lessons learned to your life. Seems a bit complicated just to get some miracle water.

Another Plug for My Book!
The publisher, Lulu, is currently offering a 20% discount until Christmas. Just type the following code at the checkout to get the discount: LULU20. The direct link to the order page is: 
https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=ogrizek&type=

Thanks to those who have already bought the book and for their kind comments. Also all the best for Christmas and the New Year!!

The pictures...

View from Reform Hill, Myrtleford

Mt Hotham - Dinner Plain

Canberra

Spending two days in Canberra to break up my return trip back to Bright and to see a few things. But the trip from Port Macquarie was a nightmare. First the train broke down and replacement coaches finally arrived over an hour later. Then we got stuck into horrendous Sydney traffic so I missed my bus to Canberra. Luckily they go regularly and I caught the next one. Then we got stuck in Sydney traffic again and so were late into Canberra by half an hour. I left Port Macquarie at 7.35am and didn’t get into Canberra until 10pm. Again during the trip I was approached by a fellow retiree who despite appearances, handlebar moustache and broad accent, turned out to be one of the most intelligent, insightful and funny people I have met on my trips. But did he like to talk. We shared many stories on why we hate cities and crazy Australian drivers.

The weather has finally caught up with me, it was pouring with rain on Saturday but I did see the Peter Dombrovskis photo exhibition (wilderness photographer) at the National Library and saw the Between the Lines political cartoon exhibition at Old Parliament House (including a tour). Today it was cold and windy but no rain. Went to the Hyper Real sculpture exhibition at the National Gallery - it was weird, creepy, disturbing and explicit (some photos below). I was surprised how many children were there. Also went to see Murder on the Orient Express but Kenneth Branagh is no David Suchet. Also when I was waiting at Donut King (I had to restore my strength after all the walking) a woman came up with hello hair, green eyebrows, red eye shadow with a complimentary colourful outfit. Clearly she likes her colours.

Some general observations from the trip....

Hotels

I have stayed at the same hotel chain a few times. I won’t say what they are called but they have the word “budget” in the title. The more I think of it the more I think that their room design principles are based around enhancing a sealed box. I also think they are really hostels which they call hostels. My suspicion was particularly raised in Sydney where my room had a double bed and a double bunk bed. The one in Sydney also offered breakfast for $1. Based on the quality I’d say that the price was about right. On the other hand, the hotels in Port Macquarie and Canberra were  quite good probably because you could open the windows and see out. However, I ordered the continental breakfast in Canberra and based on the portion sizes, I think it was more of a breakfast sampler than a full continental breakfast.

NSW Trains

When they run (which is most of the time according to other passengers, although have an tendency to run into things) they are much better than the Victorian trains, at least the Albury line. One feature of the long distance NSW trains is that they can travel as fast as a car and you don’t get jolted up and down like you are on a pogo stick.

Local TV News Presenters

I have uncovered a scam. The same news presenters doing the North East Victoria News also do the local Port Macquarie and Canberra news bulletins. I don’t know where these people actually live. They don’t look Philippine.

Back to Bright tomorrow.

Dooragan National Park

Today’s walk was up to the North Brother which involved a steep climb of 450m. It is part of a range of mountains that are a local landmark, so there were spectacular views from the top. Had one encounter with the local wildlife; a leech which wouldn’t let go of my pants. I had to resort to spitting at it and that did the trick. I don’t  know whether I offended it.

End of the National Park tour and returning back through Canberra.

Now the photos....

Sea Acres National Park

Hello, in Port Macquarie now. Nice place, nice hotel overlooking the river and weather has been holding up. Noticeably humid here compared to Sydney. It took a long time to get here by train and bus; 7 1/2 hours. NSW is a big place. Port Macquarie is a nice place, plenty of beaches. They like to look good too. They have a shop called Just Brows. I guess you need a specialist to do that sort of work. Also saw an older man playing with a remote control car in the park near my hotel this morning. Most people seemed to know him. He must be a local personality.

Today I walked along the Port Macquarie coastal walk, part of which goes through the national park. And here are the pictures....