Healesville picnic races

Sunday was a sunny hot day so off to the Healesville picnic races. with plenty of activities for everyone it was a real family affair, with animal corner, donkey rides, bouncy castle for the kids, with hot dogs, ice cream and a bar, there were loads of people mainly families and a really nice atmosphere, we had a nice picnic with a bottle of wine and tried to pick some winners, There were 6 races mainly of around 6 or seven runners on a beautifull grass course, with a bookies area where you could go and pick who to bet with and who were giving the best odds, the races were every half an hour and we managed to pick a couple of winners,
On the way back home Emma, Mary and myself stopped for a walk around a Wurrunjeri aboriginal reserve where there was a marked way with notices describing what various plants and trees were used for, here we learned that the young shoots from the tree fern can be used to rub on insect bites to ease the itching,and as there are plenty of mosquitoes around it might be usefull although we have also found that rubbing a freshly cut onion on a bite takes away the itching almost immediately.

Arrival in Australia

The flight from Gatwick had very few people on board,so was very relaxed, excellent attention from the cabin attendants, arrived at Doha and because we had a five hour wait for our ongoing flight we were given meal vouchers, Mary had chips and samosas i had a curry and rice then we sat it out at this massive airport, the flight was delayed for 40 minutes waiting for the Manchester flight to come in for connecting flights then we set off on this ultra modern Boeing 777-200 with every seat taken, and arrived in Melbourne well on time, It took 30 minutes from landing to be get our luggage and clear customs, so arrived at Emmas around midnight. As we walked up the path to the house there was the possum that lives in our daughters garden sitting watching us no more than 8 foot away. The grandchildren woke up and we had an hour with them before bed.
Slept well,In the cabin that Emma and Warwick have furnished for us to use, Awkke to riotous dawn chorus the bird life is incredible here, after breakfast, a walk to “the Bakery” in Warrendyte for Coffee and muffins , We have had heavy rain showers on and off for most of the day and through last night and its still raining, but it is very warm, almost tropical,in the middle of the night some thing quite large jumped out of the trees onto the cabin roof and walked along it sounded like an elephant to me, but Mary reckons it was a possum!

Start of the Australia trip

Bec and Quin drove us to the airport this morning, Bec threw water after us which is the Spanish tradition of saying goodbye and to bring good luck and safety on a journey, We left a bright and sunny Alicante on an Easyjet flight that departed 20 minutes before time and arrive 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled arrival time,35 minutes from landing we were in our overnight accommodation at Horley near Gatwick, We are staying at the Castle Lodge Guesthouse which is very nice, They picked us up from the airport and return us in the morning, despite our early start a substantial continental breakfast will be available before we are dropped off at the terminal ready for the next leg of our journey. We have Lunched at a Wetherspoons, had a walk round the town of Horley and now relaxing ready for our flight. We have already checked in online so so hope everything goes smoothly.

Iberdrola contract renewal

Panic over, Whats the problem you may be asking. Well it all stems from an article and subsequent letters in one of the english language free "newspapers". We were informed, not reliably it seems, that change was afoot with our electricity suppliers. Those of us who did not hot foot it off to a far flung Iberdrola office and renew there contracts would pay dearly, no literally, hard cash up to 20% more than we need to, well that was the story. Fearing a price hike they could not afford many brit immigrants have in the last few weeks sought out the office in Pilar de Horadada and signed on the dotted line.(but what for we ask) We took the easier route and rang the company, no need to do anything we were told, you are on a free contract.

Little Weed

Though the nights and early mornings still have a bit of a chill we are once a gain seeing some lovely early spring sunshine. The oxalis on the edges of the farmers fields by Los Palacios are a welcome sight. We always looked for celandine as the harbinger of spring when living in UK, here it’s another gentle little yellow the above mentioned Oxalis. This lovely cheering plant is I understand classed as an agricultural weed, but then as the saying goes a weed is only after all a flower in the wrong place. A member of the sorrel family we have seen it growing in many Mediterranean countries having first noticed it whilst on holiday in Malta. We shall be keeping an eye out for this plant on our Australian trip to as it appears they are classed as somewhat of a nuisance there. One species of concern in Victoria is Soursob, Oxalis pes-caprae which invades coastal heath vegetation, grassland, woodland and dry forest. It also occurs along roadsides, and in gardens, crops and pastures. It is distinguished by the three heart-shaped leaflets with or without stalks which fold in dull days or at night. Flowers are bright yellow in colour and open in sunlight and close at night. There are masses of underground bulbs which are spread by water, birds, in dumped garden waste and during cultivation. This sounds just like the flowers we are see here from spring onwards. I am sure to they are in the same family as the wood sorrel that we had in our wooded garden in Scotland, the locals called them sour sucks, very like the Aussie Soursob, which children would pick to suck the plant stems. I do not know if this yellow one is edible too so at present will not be adding it to my salad. I will have to ask Joaquin, who is pretty knowledgeable about wild plants, if you can eat them. Meanwhile we will just enjoy the look of them as they brighten the path from winter into spring