Barnsley House Beechworth

... Hilton this morning confirming my accommodation in Ca and Utah for next week – pleased because of the noon checkouts – oh my I need a lie in.

I did not have much time in Halls gap so I had to scoot around a couple of places quickly before hitting the road. I have spent the best part of two weeks working my way across Southeast Australia and away from Sydney. As my flight back to Welly is from Sydney I kinda ...

Can't believe how early we had to get up this morning - 3:30am NZ time (which is 1:30am Aus time) to get to the airport.
But it was all good. Watched the Twilight movie on the plane on the way home and now i cant wait to see New Moon!

Coming through customs in Australia was funny as i had to go in the high security line due to my Maouri souviner that i brough back with me that is classified as a weapon. I was just glad that Border Security wasnt there to film me haha.

... at some point find some time to cool down a bit, the last couple of days have been quite hectic, I’ve been given more and more responsibility at work and there just seems to be no time for anything else.

I don’t know exactly how much longer I will be staying in Melbourne, I’m guessing about 2-3 weeks max, I gotta move on!

Alrighty guys, I love you & miss you!! Hope to hear from you..

xox Inka

I haven't been to Beechworth since we were taken up for our Grade 6 school camp (quite some time ago, I can assure you!) so I'd been really looking forward to the weekend away. The closer we got though, the more difficult it started being as the week before was so busy and I ended up shuffling the equipment I needed to pack to work a few days before. As I was going straight from work to Preston to be picked up by my cousin and her husband everything - clothes, sleeping bag ...

We have driven further into the state of Victoria and away from the coast into the bush and mountains. During the drive, we passed several areas that had been affected by the recent bush fires, the trees were all black but begining to regenerate.

We first passed through Glenrowan which was where the famous Ned Kellys shootout ...

... best be gotten rid of, to which I received the response of 'no, I quite like the ghosts' from the lady, while her kids were much less comfortable with them, and I had a great discussion with the kids about Jesus and how He could protect them from the ghosts, and they delighted in telling me all about how they had learnt that Jesus died and then came back from the dead in their school scripture classes (probably a hot topic, with Easter fast approaching.)
In the end, we all ...

... head for X town, turn off for the limestone quarry, then follow the signs to Holey Plains camping area.' In some cases, this would have sufficed, but for the few details it left out... namely 'turn off the highway and head for Y town before heading for X town', always an important one, the fact that the limestone quarry was called Calcimo or something equally helpful, and the fact that once one reached the State Park, there was a 7km drive along a very long and winding road. Hence, by ...

... light piece on the ceiling were plastered with a rose theme and lovingly painted in the pink and green theme of the room. The bathroom was modern but with the antique look and there was a small outdoor alcove with a table and chairs where we sat and watched the birds flitting about in the rose bushes. Breakfast was sumptuous and served with great care from our charming hosts Tony and Lyn. Tony told us a few stories of when he grew up in Rose Bay in Sydney ...

... songs dedicated to it) was no incentive to move-on. We spent the first morning walking a trail to a beautiful winery (Pennyweight Wines) where, due to the fact that we were the only clients of the day (OK, it was Wednesday morning, but we are in vacation, remember?) we really got the royal treatment. Pennyweight is a small, all-organic winery making some decent wine and an even better port. We've got a tour of the facility where the wine is still ...

... D.C. it is its own district. The city was created because Melbourne and Sydney were arguing about which of them should be the capital so they decided to put it right inbetween the two! We were told by Canberrans that Australians make it a national past time to bash the poor city. Lucky for us, I had taken an urban studies class where the prof lived and worked in Canberra so he had made sure to include it in many lectures. Ever since I had a goal to visit the ...