Death from above in Victoria's Mountains

            Last weekend I spent Mother’s day away with Penni in the Victorian alpine towns of Beechworth and Bright.  This was a nice weekend away where, thanks to Penni’s parents looking after Ambriya, we were afforded the luxury of sleeping in; which we both did until 9 am, I time I don’t remember being in bed since possibly last decade.

            When awake we spent two pleasant days wandering through the towns and driving along the Great Alpine Road.  The towns themselves are reminiscent of Banff and Jasper back in Alberta but much smaller and less alpine.  The non-native leaves were in full autumn glory and provided a lovely backdrop for our trip.  More than anything I have experienced on my trip so far, this reminded me of Canada.

            Most interestingly, in the town of Bright, we were confronted with a sign that warned of the danger of massive falling pinecones.  Upon seeing the sign I thought to myself, “How foreign can these fir trees be that the Australian’s need signs warning them of pine cones?”  Not readily seeing any cones on the ground I was then of the belief that these cones were so massive as to disintegrate upon landing.  You can imagine my surprise when I was confronted by 60 cm + cones that had seeds like jagged shark teeth.  To be honest, if these things were falling from trees back home I would be angry that there weren’t signs warning me of impending death raining on me from the forests above.

            After returning to the safer confines of Bendigo I cannot begin to say how surprised I was to find that I was not the only celebrity wandering the streets of this central Victorian town.  Turns out that another one of Rosedale’s teachers is doing his part to make this city, and country a better place.  In fact, he is so important here he has been canonized.  However, if you want to find out whom you will have to read the article attached. 

 

While we walked on beaches of (the) Gold (Coast)

                  It is hard to argue with someone who laments on the beauty of this stretch of Australian Coast line.  It is also hard to argue with someone about how the lack of a centralized plan, or controlled building regulations hasn’t spoiled some of it.

                  I must admit that I spent an enjoyable week staying on Broadbeach, which is one of numerous beaches along the Gold Coast.  The most famous (and busy) of these beaches is Surfer’s Paradise where the aforementioned building explosion took place, leading to the skyscrapers casting a shadow over the beach during some seasons by mid-afternoon.  Broadbeach was delightfully slower and much more family-friendly which has become the tone of many of our holidays these days.

                  It is also very easy, when coming to a place like this, to recognize how the climate of a city can so easily dictate, well, the climate of a city.  In that, I mean that the geographical location, weather patterns and temperature experienced by a city can influence the lifestyle enjoyed (or despised) by the people who inhabit said city.

                  Hanging out for a week in the Gold Coast it was really easy to fall into the lifestyle of morning walks on the beach, afternoons in the pool or ocean and evenings strolling along the café and restaurant lined streets to indulge in something tasty on an outdoor dining area.  You can imagine how different this would be from huddling around an indoor fireplace to escape the frigid winters of some of the Canadian cities (or Melbourne) back home.

                  Interestingly, the Gold Coast is also hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2018 (see website here: http://www.gc2018.com/) and the city was abuzz with infrastructure projects.  New hotels, roads and even a light rail system are in the midst of being constructed and disrupting traffic and annoying residents.  It reminded me of Calgary (and every city I have been to that has hosted the Olympics, Pan Am games, Expo, World Fair, etc…) and the legacy, both positive and negative), that world events like that leave on a city’s blueprint.