kiwibird: Aldinga Beach

This morning we paid our speeding fine. When I say 'our' I mean we do not know which of us was speeding. It happened at Cann River, half way between Eden and Lakes Entrance in the state of Victoria. I drove into Cann River, and we drank our morning coffee at one of the four cafes, and Walter drove out of Cann River. We cannot work out whether we had coffee before 10.30 a.m. or after 10.30 a.m., the time of the offence. Apparently whoever was driving was doing 106 kph on a road that had a 100 kph speed limit.

I might add that this was one of the safest roads we have travelled on, with a very good road surface and passing lanes were plentiful. Yet we have seen 110 kph speed limits on some very unsafe roads. Oh well, we have contributed some money to the Victorian Traffic Police Department. And also contributed money to Apollo's funds, as they charged us $75 administration fee for notifying us that we had been caught speeding. We paid the fine and obtained the details of the speeding offence from the police. Best not to dwell on it all.

It was quite hot today, 32 degrees, but cool in Darren's house, thank goodness. I spent the morning tidying Jay and Jespa's toy boxes, in readiness for the next batch of toys. I did the school teacher bit and rearranged their toys so that they were more accessible. And I had a little throw out too. Although I will not tell them that. And a little tidy up of some of Darren's bits and pieces. No doubt they will all curse me, as they will not be able to find anything. Typical interfering mother and grandmother. But it all looks good.

The picture below was not taken at Aldinga Beach, but at a pub in Adelaide. Christmas drinks, plus a delicious meal, with Andreena and John. Andreena went to N.Z. today to spend Christmas in Nelson. Luckily she flew to Nelson via Auckland and not via Christchurch. Please spare a thought to all the people in Christchurch, who have now experienced numerous earthquakes today. A very terrifying experience.

Today we had a visit from a large lizard, which I cannot identify but it had a blue tongue. It was trying to sleep in the sunshine.

We visited our cottage in the EcoVillage at Aldinga Beach. The Eco Village, consists of a like minded group of people, who have bought up land to develop into sustainable and ecological housing, using natural resources of light, wind and plants. Our semi detached cottage, like all the cottages in this part of the village, is reverse brick veneer, which is brick on the inside, insulated wooden frame and then colour bond on the outside. The roof has sixteen solar panels and a hot water panel, with the excess power feeding back into the grid. There is a huge water tank underneath the house.

When I was here last the cottage area was just a field. We bought our cottage off a plan, and the whole project took about 18 months to complete, and there were some difficulties. However, we have been renting it out for two years now and we are very pleased with the outcome. A very low maintenance investment property.

This photo was taken from the entrance looking into the cottages.

Our cottage is the end one on the left.

The front view of our cottage, which is the one on the right.

This evening I put on sensible shoes, and took Walter with me, in order to see the sunset. I also found the short cut to the sea front, inside of meandering around through the houses. It took less than 10 minutes to walk to the beach.

The view towards the swimming beach at Aldinga Beach. The area along the cliffs is a rock shelf and is a marine park. A little hard on your feet, but a very interesting place for paddling or snorkling.