Eureka Day 10 Buzzing off to the Gold Coast

Eureka Day 10 Buzzing off to the Gold Coast

I did actually sleep in a little since I was going to head home to the Gold Coast from Melbourne. I did first have to pack my clothes and other goodies from the trip. I did end up with several books about the gold mining areas in Victoria , Sovereign Hill and about the Deborah mine in Bendigo. I do hope I have shown people something different to look at in the various places that I have visited as I think my blogs could inspire people to learn more about their locations or drive them to visit them regardless. I could say the same of myself about where I live.

It had been suggested that I wander over to the Chadstone shopping centre and I was looking at the time and knew I would not have time at all to get that far and back before having to leave. I was going to just take a walk through Oakleigh before heading off to wait for Margie to get back so that we could head towards the airport. I wanted a pie and found there was a nice decent bakery that did potato pies in the shopping centre and that would be my first stop. They did seem to be really nice people the day before. I did walk in the direction I thought the shopping centre was, but I found a church / school and some more decent graffiti art that you do not see elsewhere. On the walk back to the house I noticed that in the little plaza type area that one fast food restaurant had not lasted and was just an empty shell and that was Subway. I am guessing that the local community like the café type locations better that you can sit and drink coffee.

It didn’t take long before I was off to the airport and learning about the different sculptures in the city of Melbourne especially the main freeways. The Ferris wheel did look pretty big when you passed it, but it was better than passing it beneath Costco. From a distance it takes up a bit of skyline. The plan was to do a dump and run at the airport and I had not expected to be dropped off, but it was good to ride to see what the local area was like. We did make the airport with plenty of time to spare and I think I had around 10 or so minutes left to spare, but at least I could check in and then zoom off to the departure gate to wait for the plane to be called. I did read something recently about not wasting time waiting in places like airports. I would never think I am as I have a book and music so I am pro active with my time. Once on the plane I found I was in the middle of two elderly ladies and one mentioned that I was the rose between two thorns. The plane was a little noisy too with a group of young ladies who were chattering away like what you hear in a class room and one had a decent camera with a zoom. It didn’t feel that long of a flight and I landed to blue sky and warm weather instead of being cold. My gear that I was wearing was actually feeling pretty warm.

I had one of the marine rescue people pick me up as he works with mum. It was pretty funny as I was going to have a coffee to wait for mum who had to finish work, but I got the offer to be picked up and I took it. I was not going to say no to getting home earlier than expected and I did have to stop at mum’s work to get keys to the house. I did have one dog that was both very happy to see that I was back and was in shock that someone was coming home. I was happy to be home. I did have to take her for a walk and I think that was something we needed to do.

My trips usually have the return in the mornings and on a weekend. This time around I am coming home on a weekday in the afternoon something I don’t usually do. I have noticed many things on this trip to the southern State of Victoria and that is I will be back. Someday I will have to catch a game of AFL somewhere like the MCG or another stadium. I didn’t visit museums this time round and I just wanted to see the buildings and other things like statues. They all tell a story of a city and locality. It is why I am in pursuit of anything that I find to be interesting. I really do like the public transport even if there are times where it can be squashy. I take the good with the bad as it is always some sort of experience and where are we without experiences? We could do worse and I love going at my own pace, but can handle doing the same for others too.

On my trip thus far I have seen some of the Gold trail and been down in mines to see how the people bought the metal to the surface. I have been to locations where there have been uprisings and stockades built where legends grew. Australia is a bountiful country with many learning experiences if you choose to find them. Places like cemeteries are locations that have some rarely seem architecture and information about their lives that will surprise people later on. Others have monuments to their achievements or even ill fated explorations that captures the public's imaginations