Christmas in July

Just north of Antarctica.

We've done a bit of travelling in Victoria State going right down to the Great Ocean Road where the beaches were wide and deserted and stretched for miles and the sea was deep turquoise blue. It's over 150 miles long so a day trip of 300 miles is a bit of a challenge but we got nearly half way down. There is a Great Ocean Road Marathon but I don't think I'm quite up to that sort of thing these days.

Who's a pretty boy?

This part of Australia does not seem to be too infested with seagulls and we're not missing the huge Herring Gulls of the North Wales coast. But nature abhors a vacuum and into the gap on the south coast of Oz steps the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo; not quite as big as Herring Gulls they nevertheless roam the seaside towns in great numbers and are considered a pest. This one seemed very friendly though and sat just outside our car at Lorne in Victoria state.



Up in the Dandenong Ranges, a ridge of hills to the east of Melbourne, we came across a village called Sassafras with a tea shop called Mrs Marples advertising 'Christmas in July',  Seems like this is common practice in Australia in the depths of their winter - this place had Christmas decorations, carols, roast turkey, etc! There was even false snow on the roof!

Where's my cracker?