Mog's Christmas Greetings

In this final blog of the year I thought I would take the opportunity to wish everyone that I haven't caught up with, a good Christmas and New Year. 

Also I have a few more final observations for the year (that I haven't had the opportunity to document before)... 

The Trip Back from South Australia

I caught a bus from Mount Gambier to Warnambool, then a train to Melbourne. Short break in Melbourne and then train and bus to Bright. A long trip - it involved 12 hours of travel. But of course fellow passengers provided free entertainment on the way. On the way to Warnambool there was one passenger who could not stop talking. telling a stranger (across the aisle) the intricacies of her personal life -  she always had one story better than her fellow traveller. The stories were getting more incredulous by the moment. Thank goodness it stopped when another passenger got on and sat between them. Then there was the person that kept taking pictures of the road - I'm not sure whether she was positing these pictures to her social media network, or what, just to keep them updated on her whereabouts, the important person she undoubtedly is. Regardless, she sure spent a lot of time on that phone. Apparently in Portland they don't have toilets but "amenity rooms". In Melbourne I had an appointment and when I got out (this was Friday) there was an absolute downpour and I had a train to catch. Needless to say I got completely drenched - the umbrella didn't make a lot of difference and I had to wade across streams which were formerly gutters. I have never seen it rain as hard in Melbourne. But I made it in time. However, the train into Wangaratta was late (as usual) and then we had an extra 20 minutes on the bus trip to Bright as we couldn't take the usual route due to a washed out bridge. In the end we were 40 minutes late getting into Bright. When I returned, the daddy long legs had taken up occupancy in my house, again, in my absence. Some of them are quite smart, they hide when I come and only emerge a few days later when they think I'm not around. It was good to get into my own bed - hotel beds are usually hard, roll around because they are on wheels, and/or difficult to get into as they seem to staple the sheets to the bed.

Trip to Melbourne

Before my South Australian trip I went to Melbourne for a few appointments.  The trip is never boring. On the bus to Wangaratta we went through Porepunkah. There I saw a car on platforms (not ramps) in someones driveway. Don't know whether they have a problem with car theft or what. I just don't know how they got it up there. On the train to Wangaratta an older woman (sitting next to me) had her suitcase at her feet and so I asked whether she wanted me to put it up in the luggage rack for her. She said no as she needed access to it. Five minutes later she put the suitcase in the luggage section at the back of the carriage and didn't go near her suitcase again. She also kept standing up at each station and checking the timetable. I am not sure whether she was an undercover ticket inspector or just afraid she would miss her stop (Southern Cross Station).
When I was in Melbourne the entertainment continued. In Hoppers Crossing I saw a person sitting in his driveway in front of an open garage in a deck chair reading a book. Must like the sun but has a shady backyard
In the city itself I was walking behind a couple and I thought one of them was on the phone as he was quite loud. Wrong, they were just Americans. 
I am a bit concerned with those people that carry around a 1.25 litre bottle of Coke. They surely have a bad sugary drinks addiction. 
Another person I saw in the city, had a carnival mask on his forehead. No idea why you would need this at lunchtime in city unless he was part of the Myer window display. I went to Melbourne Central and saw a shop selling freshly shaved ice. Apart from the shaved ice thing, is freshly shaved ice discernibly different from stale shaved ice? More disturbing was getting an email, shortly after, from Melbourne Central thanking me for my visit and asking me to do a survey. I hadn't even bought anything there. I hadn't (purposefully) logged into their free wi fi). So much for privacy.
While I was in Melbourne I went to the soccer. I was caught in a classical wedge. In front of me there was a group with marginal interest in what was going on on the field. Just before kick off two of them got up and went somewhere, they returned 18 minutes into the game. Then, 10 minutes before the game finished the same group stood up and started saying their goodbyes to the others with kissing and the whole lot, while I am still trying to watch the game. The group of teenagers behind me were just as bad. One kept repeating the same inane fact over and over and one of them didn't know whether Melbourne Victory's star player was Japanese or Chinese.

New Phone
I bought a new, bigger phone, because as you get older your eyesight deteriorates and you develop fat fingers.

Telstra
I have had ongoing issues with Telstra. However, its difficult to speak to them as they do everything possible to avoid talking to people (probably because all they get is abuse): they have online chat, online forums (crowd support), help pages. They now even have a virtual assistant, i.e. an automated voice recognition robot that tries to work out what you want and then provide a response. Unless you say the magic words which it can understand then you are likely to be led down the garden path as I was. I had to do a Google search to try to find the telephone number for Telstra to talk to a real person because it certainly wasn't on their website. On another occasion I was told to go to a Telstra shop to resolve my problem. Now that's ironic.

Random Thoughts & Tales (2nd Edition)...Available Now with a 20% Discount
My recently published book is now available with a 20% discount. Just type the discount code TWENTY18 at checkout to get the discount. Order by clicking on this link: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Mogbooks

Photos
In case you are interested, the first photo is of the Adelaide tree, the second Melbourne and the one at left is Bright's Christmas tree.

Engelbrecht Cave

Hello, final day in Mount Gambier was spent visiting the Engelbrecht Cave, eating fish and chips and getting wet. It has been constantly raining here since last night - and windy - so limits on what I could do. However, I took a tour down into Engelbrecht Cave, its only a short cave - well the bit accessible to tourists anyway. The rest of the cave goes for a little distance under Mount Gambier. There was an Indian group that didn't seem much interested in the tour. They talked while the guide talked, their small child interrupted the guide to ask a question, and one even took a phone call. The most amusing part was the photo they took in the cave. The way they lined up it looked more like a police lineup than a group photo. I also had some blue lemonade there: Blue Lake Lemonade which they use to make in Mount Gambier from 1911. It's still made but now in Tasmania (Rocky Red is another flavour)..

Final pictures...

Valley Lake

Hello, today I went down to Valley Lake as well as visiting some old crater lakes (now dry). At the end of the day I went to Umphertson Sinkhole, which is a sinkhole that was planted as a garden. Around Valley Lake there are extensive parklands and a conservation area which is surrounded by an electric fence. It's a sort of protective custody for animals. In the 30s today but with a few thunderstorms. But tomorrow we are expecting temperatures half that with rain. Thankfully it's my last day before going home on Friday.

In other news....my hotel room has some interesting features. The hot water seems to be on a time limit. After about five minutes the hot water stops. In my room there is also random banging and whirring noises. I have no idea what is doing this. I also had a problem with the TV remote. I have breakfast included but it's takeaway. They give you a plastic cube which contains your breakfast for each day. When I had dinner at the House of Schnitzel the other day there was a pile of dirty laundry stacked at one of the entrances to the restaurant. I went down there to eat today but there was no room at the inn. It was empty the other day but today it was all booked out. Must be a schnitzel eating convention on in town or maybe it was the 2 for the price of 1 deal they have on now. I had to eat in the bar as a result - I caught up on what races were on though (and apparently the drinks are cheaper at the bar as opposed to the restaurant). There are a lot of pubs in Mount Gambier competing for people's business - I have counted six so far. But my hotel has all the important services: a horse betting area as well as pokies.

Crater Lakes

Hello, today's excursion was to the volcanic crater lakes on the edge of Mount Gambier: Blue Lake and Valley Lake. I also went up to Centenary Tower Lookout which marks the top of the actual Mount Gambier (190m above sea level).  The blueness of Blue Lake is amazing and apparently it only turns blue in the summer. It's also the source of Mount Gambier's water supply, being fed by underground aquifers. I saw an interesting sign (last photo). I am not sure snakes can read though.

Mount Gambier

Hello, arrived in Mount Gambier yesterday after a six hour bus ride from Adelaide. The trip was pretty uneventful and boring, until we got to the pretty town of Bridgeport (not far from here) which overlooks a very nice beach. Up until then it was brown and dusty. Just before Mount Gambier it greened up with a lot of pine plantations.

Getting back to Adelaide. The bus trip from Goolwa was interesting. Three people (father and his daughter and son) got on the bus on the outskirts of Adelaide, the father was in a wheel chair. The wheel chair kept on moving, the bus driver kept on asking whether they were alright, they kept on saying yes, the wheelchair continued to move around the bus. No one seemed to know how to put the brakes on. Eventually, the bus driver had had enough and moved the wheelchair sideways (instead of facing front on). this didn't seem to help much and so the father moved to a chair and the daughter sat in the wheelchair. After that the wheelchair didn't move anymore. This was all very entertaining but I was concerned, they looked like a family from the Beverley hillbillies and the son looked older than the father. 
In Adelaide I was further entertained. A teenager walked past me wearing a pink t-shirt, long pink and white chequered socks, and....sandals. I think he liked pink. I also saw a shirtless skateboarder. I didn't actually see him until he fell and I heard a loud scream of agony. I guess the lesson is wear a shirt while skateboarding. I also saw a group (well I heard them first) on the pedal pub, which is a large cart powered by pedal power in which the fuel is alcohol apparently. Thankfully, the company provides the driver.

Leaving Adelaide someone turned up at the bus station, for another bus, in their bathrobe and pyjamas (maybe they slept in). They didn't seem to get on the bus and weren't happy about it. Surely, it wouldn't be because the bus you aren't allowed to wear pyjamas? On the bus trip out of Adelaide I saw a sign for the "Hispanic Mechanic". Now I'm not sure if that means they specialise in Spanish or Latin American cars (if there are any), or they are targeting the Spanish speaking demographic in Adelaide.

All the hotels so far have required me to pay on check in. Now I'm not sure whether that's because of the type of hotels I am staying at, it's a South Australian thing, or I look dodgy. The hotel I am staying at is an old pub which added accommodation at the rear in the "casa 1960s" look which features arched doorways and an orange and brown coloured facade. It only gets better: it's located next to the community correctional centre and a bottle shop. Maybe that explains why the room has a front and back door. I am thankful I am leaving Friday morning. On the other hand, the hotel restaurant is called the House of Schnitzel and guests get 20% off.

Mount Gambier is much bigger than I thought and is clearly a regional centre for the area, being very busy. It has a long shopping strip which goes on for kilometres. I visited the Crater Lakes today as well and the next blog will include those pictures. But for now pictures of Mount Gambier including the Cave Garden, located in the centre of town, which features, unsurprisingly, a garden in a cave.