Still raining

The second full day in the Grampians was still a bit middling as far as the weather was concerned. I put off going out until lunchtime and finally headed off down to Brambuk, yet again. This time to do a return leg 'the other side of the creek'. Storm damage was very much in evidence with branches, bark and general debris all over the place. As the walk progressed, the wind picked up again and I was left thinking that once more potentially this could be dangerous. I tried to comfort myself with the thought that perhaps all the dodgy branches and trees had already fallen down overnight. I met only three people on the way and they were right near the beginning. The power of nature is incredible at times. The impact of the high winds was obvious but I was pondering rock falls, looking at cracks in the rocks above me, admiring ancient distributions of huge boulders as if involved in a game of marbles in some long gone era. But then, we still see cliffs crumbling and boulders going through Italian farmhouses, so I stepped out, just in case. That night, I enjoyed the luxury of the room to myself, my previous room-mates having moved on. I keep having to remember that this is Winter in Victoria, not Summer in the Lake District.

My final morning was spent exploring the 'first' bit of town, as you approach by bus. I found a pub, hotel, houses, building plots. There's quite a bit of space up for building in the area. It would be interesting to see the council's plan for what's to happen in the next few years. The area is very beautiful walking and hiking country. I hope they're trying to balance conservation with economics.

The journey back to Melbourne, by three buses, went well although I did try to leave my sunnies at the milk bar in Stawell where I had to buy my 'train' ticket.

I wasn't happy with the Melbourne Central YHA and I'd heard good reports of Melbourne Metro so I changed my single night next week to the other hostel. Central has no real social space, the televisions are in the two, very cramped kitchens and the rooms are really dingy and not nice. I was back in the same room as last week with the nocturnal Dutch girl still slumbering through the days.

I had a very lovely, sociable day on Thursday. I met up with one of the WEC ski team aka one of the people in the group we go on holiday with. Darren's been working in Melbourne for 3 years so it was interesting to get his perspective on living here as well as having a catch up. I walked around Victoria Markets for a while and bought a few things - a gift for a small person, some blue cheese (it's definitely worth the tastings!) and some fruit (two apples and two mandarins for about 40p). You can buy pretty much anything there, I may well return on my present-buying quest. Does anyone want real or pretend uggs? They're everywhere!  In the evening I met up with Melanie and we briefly visited Lauren's place to drop off some of my stuff and then enjoyed a couple of hours chatting over dinner. I hadn't seen her since she stayed 2-3 years back so it was good to spend time together. I've now met up with the whole family again!