Flinders to Flanders

The weekend was to be a cycling, socialising, wine and foodie type of weekend.
We were to meet at 7.30 am and ride as a group to Flinders (a distance of 80 kms) situated on Westernport Bay opposite Port Phillip Bay. It was not to be as at 6.30 am I could hear rain hitting the skylight.
Plan B - drive to Flinders in the early afternoon and meet up with friends to start the socialising part of the weekend.



Matthew Flinders - From whom the township took its name.
The above picture comes from a free ebook on the life of Matthew Flinders
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7304/7304-h/7304-h.htm
Its a little ironic that Matthew Flinders earlier ancestors in fact were Flemish.

 As we left Mentone for Flinders the showers developed into huge downpours.

Currently I'm reading a book written by an American cyclist who raced in Belgium and constantly talked of the rain and wind in that region, hence the title of this post - Flinders to Flanders. Despite the wet conditions, the region takes on a different beauty of its own.



 In summer, (tell Huey, it almost is now) Flinders is a lovely holiday destination but on this weekend hardly anyone was to be seen with the constant rain.

Vineyards now cover much of Mornington Peninsula and the vines produce some lovely crisp dry whites and soft Reds these days.



As far as the eye can see is a blanket of vines - it reminds me of Chablis or Napa Valley.

 A little history from Wikipedia.
The town was named by George Bass after his friend, the explorer and British naval officer Captain Matthew Flinders. Settlement commenced in 1854 and many pioneers and settlers are buried at the Flinders cemetery. Flinders Post Office opened on 7 March 1863 as the population grew.


The original Flinders Hotel was built in the 1890s as a large
double-storey wooden building that could house 100 guests.



Across the road was this beautifully manicured hedge of contrasting greens.
By this time the heavens really opened up and the whole area was covered in low lying mist.



Even the ducks had gone into hiding from this pond just down from the hedge.



On arrival in Flinders we stopped at this totally deserted Cafe in search of a Devonshire Tea.
And still the rain fell.

A lone couple walk back along the jetty to shore.



Flinders sits within a small cove within Westernport Bay.

This was the second time that we had stayed a weekend in Flinders and on both occasions the sun decided to hide but I'm sure in the middle of summer this sleepy little hamlet's population swells to twice its size or more. Dotted along the shoreline are both modern and historic holiday homes with fabulous views over Westernport Bay. Along with the good weather will come the crowds - maybe a wet weekend is a nice time to have been here - anyway it was relaxing before going back to work on Monday.

3 FUNKY GUYS

Here we are - 3 funky guys who enjoy their bike riding and socialising together.

Yes we are wise and we do like to monkey around.

But Sue has a differing opinion

The weekend is not looking good with heavy rain forecast however we are joining about 20 couples for a weekend on the Mornington Peninsula. It will be a coffee, wine and foodie experience in a really nice part of the world with fun people.

VENICE

Our week long stay in Monticchiello had come to an end. The little Citroen C3 was chokkas full of our cases - why is it that on your first big overseas trip, you pack more than you need. We travel with less these days.
I think Tuscany was sad to see us leave as the sky was crying. We had rain most of the way but by now I was comfortable driving in all conditions with the steering wheel on the opposite side.
The drive took us by the many towns we never had time to visit. The signs enticed us to Cortona, Arezzo, Prato, and Bologna as we drove along the A1 before diverting to Venice on the A13 to Padua.
We decided we wanted to be in Venice as early as possible to explore as soon as we arrived - well that was a silly notion. I think it took as much time to find our hotel as it did to drive to Venice.


What more can I say - this is Venice as we all imagined!!



The view from San Marco on a rainy day as the water encroaches on the Piazza.



The bridge of sighs where between the Palazzo Ducale and the prison.


On arriving at the Tronchetto parking island we were escorted by what we thought were very thoughtful and courteous valets to our waiting water transport to Venice proper. WRONG!!
These guys were Venice Cowboys soliciting motor boat transportation at incredibly high taxi fares compared to the normal water buses. We were ushered down flights of stairs and out of the car park to some shaky wharf to be whizzed off with one or two other couples. Oh, well - you live and learn. And we did because on our return journey a few days later we took the water bus.



And how lovely is the Rialto Bridge across the Grand Canal?

 We arrived just near Piazza San Marco by the cowboy water taxi and our first view was of Palazzo Ducale.
With my hand in my pocket, I paid our fare and before I knew it, the water taxi was gone to look for other unsuspecting souls like us.
With map in hand, we walked the labrynth of Venice with no idea where to find our hotel. Sue need to stop and absorb her inner self before returning to the map. Being the Mule, I quite enjoyed the rest and took off my back pack and leaned against a wall for less than 5 minutes before we were off again. Before I knew it, I was less one backpack. PANIC. I couldn't remember what was in it. Our travel documents, I don't remember. Back and forth but no backpack to be found.

These two photos were taken from either side of the Rialto bridge

We finally found our hotel and reported our stolen/lost backpack. Sue hates me, I feel so miserable.
The people at the hotel when told of our predicament were so helpful and our room was lovely after a full on stressful day.

The following day we emerged from our hotel to discover Piazza San Marco flooded. The Piazza was set up with trestle type walk ways so the tourists didn't get their little cotton socks wet, while the locals wore gum boots.

We were walking on the trestles when confronted with a swarm of Japanese tourists, all with cameras raised at eye level. We turned and scampered away before almost being pushed into the knee deep in water.

We spent the whole day just wandering the streets and taking in the truly uniqueness of Venice. Our afternoon coffee was interrupted by the familiar accent of Aussies and we couldn't help ourselves in joining in with them. They were a bunch of mature women enjoying a crusine tour and cooking classes.

That evening we had no idea where we would eat so we decided to just stroll the narrow passageways and let our noses choose the way. I can't remember our meal but I do remember striking up a conversation with a couple from California, well San Francisco really. I do like their relaxed accent. I told them that I spent a summer there in 79 and they said that I was fortunate to be there at that time. They had recently move to one of the outlining wine growing valleys and had become disenchanted with SF city life.

Our stay in Venice was short but very moving and the photographs bring back pleasant memories despite the trauma of losing my backpack and the documents that I believed may have been inside. But this all had a very strange twist to it and more will be revealed next Wednesday.

As Weekends Go!

Melbourne - Our Home is now 12 months old. We progressed on from our travel blog of the not so popular (by Sue) of Leaping Leon's French Fancies. I must admit that I'm a bit embarrassed by the title now.
It came about because its my nick name with my cycling friends, the Bayside Bandidos (mid-life crisis cycling gang).
 After we returned from our 2009 trip to France we change the blog to Melbourne - home, mainly to share our weekly experiences in Melbourne with the people we have met on our travels.
Sometimes I wonder who reads our ramblings but people keep diaries - this is just a diary but a shared one.
We seem to have created a little interest out there as we have just passed the 20,000 hit mark on our 1st anniversary.
Please don't be shy - say hello by posting a comment as we love to share comments from people in all corners of the world.

Anyway - back to our weekend.



After being tailed off from the fast boys, I took time to take in the view of Melbourne - our Home.
Port Phillip Bay on a sunny Saturday morning.



I haven't been able to ride as much as I would like lately as my L5 disc is giving me a fair amount of grief with a bit of leg discomfort but we are working on it. Saturday morning was just one of those perfect mornings with the bay looking like a mill pond at 7.30 am. I made an exit out the back of the bunch once the fast boys stepped up the pace and decided to take in the view at a more leisurely pace, hence a photograph that I have included.



5.30 AM and following the riders on their 24 hour epic fund raising ride.
The sun is starting to rise over the bay.

And daylight appears as the riders pass the historic Ëdgewater" Mentone Hotel.

The boys and girls of our cycling group are a very community conscious group and this weekend they organised a fundraising 24 hour charity ride to raise funds for our local hospital. I believe their target was $30,000 and that they were very close to that.

Yes, I know it was last year's jersey but the tradition continues.
RIDING for GOOD.

As I mentioned my cycling is slightly curtailed at the moment so I volunteered myself for the safety car roster for a couple of hours.

The group were amazing! not only did they raise a fantastic amount of money for the hospital, but they collectively cycled an amazing distance over the 12 hours. One of the riders, a lady in her 50s travelled just over 200 kms and this was just after she traded the mountain bike for a light weight carbon road bike.



The end of 24 hours in the saddle and the riders enjoyed the welcome by family and friends, and a nice cool beer (or three)  I suspect.

I'm very proud  to be part of these wonderful people.

BTW, it wasn't all fun and games this weekend - there were some chores to be done as we will be away next weekend with our cycling friends once again.
The lawns were mowed, the garden beds were weeded and I clean up the garden path. It had weeds growing up through the brick work joins so it was time to add some sand and mortar to give a new lease of life. The house is about to be given a lot more attention with the coming good weather.



Later on I cleaned up the surfaces of the bricks.
Sue has a herb garden she is developing either side of the pathway.
Hopefully I can post some pics in a few weeks time.

 

Not perfect but we both like that "go with the flow" feeling with most things in life!



That was our weekend - Don't be shy, tell us about your weekend on comments.
Venice on Wednesday.

Funky Friday

Funky Friday turns into welcome weekend

and the chance to use the new BBQ

Notice the mushrooms above the grill.

It only proves that I'm a Fungi.

(that's a really bad joke but it is Friday)