sabbatical

noun

: a period of time during which someone does not work at her regular job and is able to rest, travel, do research, etc.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Day 73: Lorne, Victoria

Lemonade Creek Cottages - ok -- so this is my favorite place -- even better than Kangaroo Island (just by a hair).  Another "off the grid" place:  water - rainwater & spring water, solar power, propane for heat, etc. -- no TV, no phones, no internet (and no cell signal in my cottage -- could get a couple of bars if I stood in the middle of the field behind my cottage).  Not as remote as the cabin on KI (which is good and bad).  Hospitality at LCC was amazing -- the fridge was stocked with lots of breakfast foods (bread, butter, yogurt, fruit, cereal, milk, cheese, crackers) & wine & chocolate --- and the owner Liz stopped by to welcome me to the place (because I arrived after 5pm -- no one at reception -- there was a chalkboard with a list of cabin #s / names -- keys to be found in the cottage door -- not sure if this would work in the US -- but common practice in Australia).

I didn't do that much today.  I went for a hike to Erskine Falls in the morning -- I could have driven right to the falls -- but instead I hiked there from the cottage -- pretty easy path (about 3 km each way) -- although it was very muddy from the rain (and I wiped out 1x when I was taking a picture instead of watching where I was walking -- fortunately I didn't slide down the side of the hill).  The walk was nice -- regular forest & rainforest (lots of ferns and fungi).  After the walk, I drove down to the town center -- had lunch and walked around for a bit.  And then back to the cottage for the rest of the day.

There were lots of kangaroos around the cottage in the morning & evening --- I'm sure there were also wallabies -- but I didn't see any of them (and like in Port Fairy -- swamp wallabies -- they are solitary animals -- don't hang out in a pack like the ones on Kangaroo Island).

Trivia for the day.  Collective noun for kangaroos:  a mob.  And -- kangaroos can't move backwards -- also, on land -- they can't move their hind legs independently, only together -- but when they are swimming (and they are good swimmers), they kick their hind legs independently.

Weather:  mix of sun & clouds, 45 - 63F
Miles Walked:  6.6
kms Driven:  19

Book/s Read:  The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane; strong start, weak finish, rather predictable (in an odd way), well written

Pic notes:

  • 1, 23:  a sulfur-crested cockatoo and a white-winged fairy wren at the bird feeder in front of the cottage
    • there were a lot of cockatoos on the property -- they make quite a racket.  At times, there were 3 - 4 cockatoos at the feeder, but most of them would fly away if I walked out on the porch --- except for this one -- it would just stare at me and continue to eat.  Cockatoos are known for their curiosity and intelligence.  In the wild they can live 20 - 40 years (in captivity -- even longer -- up to 70 years).
  • 2 - 3, 25:  eastern grey kangaroos
  • 4 - 14:  walk to Erskine Falls
  • 15 - 18, 24, 26:  cottage
  • 19 - 23, 27, 28:  Lorne - town center






























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