Farewell Ballarat

Today I left Ballarat... 

... no it wasn't on this horse and buggy, I'd still be on my way to my next destination if this were the case. I went via shuttle to Melbourne, boarded a plane, and now I'm about to settle in for the night at Beverley's in Brisbane where I will spend four glorious days. I love Beverly, she's just as wonderful as I'd imagined she'd be and we're going to be having us some fun!

Ballarat, Victoria, AU

Today was a trip to Ballarat, the town isn't too far from where I'm visiting my friend and it's a pretty town (city).   

We stopped off at the train station, this is where we purchased a ticket for the shuttle to head out to Melbourne to board the plane tomorrow. 

I'm flying to Brisbane tomorrow to meet a lady I've been looking forward to meeting for a long time now. I met Beverly here on blogger; we've shared emails, encouraged and supported one another, and became friends, virtual friends, who will now be meeting in person. I'm so looking forward to this! This makes two blogger friends I've met in one week, and one friend I reunited with after 6 years, does it get any better than this?

... and the adventure continues

I don't even know where to start, what to post so I'm going to post what has touched me in my daily travels. First there's the parrots, I love the colors, that there's so many of them where I'm situated and even though they don't sit still too long I managed to capture not too bad of a shot of one of these beautiful birds.

My friends have the most adorable dogs, this is Marley... how can one not fall in love with this beautiful dog? Being out here in the country with the dogs makes me miss my Abbie girl, soon enough I'll be home... yup, soon enough.

And tonight we went out to the local pub for tea, the place is quaint and the food is decent.

I've covered a lot of ground over this past 4 months, but onwards and upwards, there's still more to see and do!

Debbie, Davine, and Daylesford

As I'd mentioned in my previous post I've reconnected with a wonderful lady whom I met in Canada, Debbie, and she is as magnificent of an individual as I remember her to be. I'm thoroughly enjoying spending time with her. Yesterday she told me she had a surprise for me, so off we go on a bit of a trip. We drove for about an hour through some amazingly beautiful countryside and arrived in a town called Daylesford; now I'd thought I knew that name but I wasn't sure from where. We pulled up to this charming house and Debbie mentioned that she was going to go and ask for directions, she wasn't sure where we were but wanted to show me something.

As we pulled up a lady walked out from a beautiful garden of flowers, it sure looked like Davine. Now Davine and I met through blogger... wow, it has to be a few years ago now. We've shared comments on our blogs, emailed one another, sent each other things; I remember mailing her a cowboy Santa Clause, she made me a beautiful bracelet which I received shortly before I left Canada and I have it here with me... so I looked at this lady at the end of the drive, and sure enough it was Davine! I quickly got out of the car and went and gave Davine a huge hug, I felt our spirits connect and the three of us spent the afternoon together.

This is Debbie on the right, Davine on the left

We went out to a quaint little restaurant for lunch... 

And naturally we, Davine and myself, had to have our photo taken...

It was priceless what Davine said to me when we first met, she said: "It's Darlene, it's really Darlene"... yes Davine, it's really me and I loved every minute we spent together yesterday. It was just like reconnecting with a long lost friend! Cheers, have a ton of fun at the b'day party. I'll be looking forward to seeing photos! :-)

And thank you Debbie for the wonderful day!

Road Trip

Hmmm or I guess I should say air trip. I flew out to Melbourne and reconnected with a dear friend whom I met in Canada about 6 years ago. We drove out into the country, about an hour and a half, and arrived at my friend's house. They have a beautiful home in the country, it's peaceful and extremely inviting, 

There's a few beautiful horses...

... pet kangaroos...I'm kidding, these are wild kangaroos I won't be approaching to pet!

I'm here for 4 days, then it's off to my next stop, Brisbane!

Sunset Sunday

Yesterday I went down to a place which was once all swamp, you'd never know it from the way it looks now... it's beautiful! This was shot at West Lakes in Adelaide, South Australia.

We strolled along the lake until dusk; bet you can see where I'm going with this! Yup, this brings me to Sunset Sunday which has been inspired by Scott.

(This photo of the sunset is much better enlarged, just click on it and you'll see what I mean.)

Watching the sun go down is amazing, it gives me time to reflect upon my day and think of all I have to be grateful for... when I put my camera down that is,which I actually do.

Happy 2nd Birthday Princess

A birthday message for my beautiful granddaughter.

 The day you were born you showed me a new kind of love, a Grammy's kind of love that makes my heart dance and puts a smile on my face anytime I think of you. 

You are a special angel sent straight from heaven above to bless our family.

It's been such a joy to watch you grow, discover and learn...

 I would have loved to have been there for your special day, I miss you and love you my little princess. Please know how much my heart dances when we Skype, you touch a special place in my heart and for this I shall be eternally grateful. You have a beautiful Easter Bunny! 

(Shayne I 'borrowed' your photo)

Happy 2nd Birthday Elyssa. Grammy loves you!

Love Is...

Love is...

... missing someone whenever you're apart, but somehow feeling warm inside because you're close in heart. 

 ~Kay Knudsen

To all of you back home whom I love immensely, I love you and miss you... you're here with me in my heart. 

Things That Follow You

There's some things in life that follow you no matter where you travel, things such as the laundry (it doesn't matter if you do it yourself or have someone do it for you, it's still there)...

There's also shopping which is to be done (and this doesn't matter if it's a need or a want, we all shop for something or another)...

There's meals to be eaten...

And wherever I go I find that I ALWAYS bring me along; like it or not, I tag along when I travel and I'm learning that I'm quite a bit of fun to bring along (when I let my hair down that is) ...

Now to get a paper written which is due in 24 hours... ready, set... go! 

 Hmm, k that didn't work, I'll have to try that again!

An Acquired Taste

The morning after I arrived in Adelaide I went to the cafe for the breakfast brunch which was included with the cost of my room. I'd heard about this Vegemite, my middle son told me that I should try it so I made myself some toast and applied the Vegemite like I would peanut butter and I took a bite.

Immediately I scanned the restaurant to see if anyone would notice if I deposited the bite in my mouth into a napkin, the place was packed so I toughed it out and washed this nasty taste down with my tea. I was done with this piece of toast and learned a valuable lesson... never try anything without first asking the locals. I have since learned that this is to be applied sparingly, but it's too late now, the taste has left me never wanting to try it again! Vegemite is definitely an acquired taste.