Ann & Ian's lovely home at Mt Taylor - it's very environmentally friendly
View from the deck - it's SO green there
Ann at the front entrance
On Monday I made a quick trip back to Bairnsdale to see the doctor. The least tiring way to go was by train so Laurie kindly drove me to Castlemaine station to catch the 9.50am train to Southern Cross - arriving there at 11am - a leisurely coffee at Starbucks then a coach to Pakenham (there were rail works on the Pakenham Line) then the 1.55pm train to Bairnsdale arriving at 4.40pm. Ian and Ann were waiting at the station to whisk me off to their lovely house at Mt Taylor - it's only about 15 minutes outside Bairnsdale but you feel right out in the countryside surrounded by acres of natural bushland. Their property is "Land for Wildlife" so they provide habitat for the abundance of native animals - kookaburras, kangaroos, wallabies, eagles and more AND it's so GREEN down in East Gippsland, especially after the country up in northern Victoria. I was a bit boring and was exclaiming "it's soooooo green" every 5 minutes.
Tuesday morning the doctor was only 1 1/2 hours late for the 10.30am appointment (that's good for him - he gives everyone as much time as they need, so can't really complain) - so after a quick coffee and savoury muffin with Ann at Dahlsens cafe, it was back onto the 12.40pm train. Had a really good trip back - was travelling 2nd class for the first time and think I prefer it to 1st. My travelling companions were an 81 year old woman from Paynesville and a 24 year old Communications student from the Netherlands - we all enjoyed sharing our experiences of travel and our homelands and giving and receiving tips on places to visit - the 4 hour trip passed really quickly. On arrival at Southern Cross (Melbourne) it was only a 15 minute wait for the 4.55pm express to Castlemaine - the train was full - mainly day commuters - it would be easy to commute from the Castlemaine area as it only took an hour (less time than it took me to commute from Seaford to Melbourne) and you were guaranteed a seat! no standing squashed in like a sardine.
Laurie was waiting at Castlemaine station at 6pn and I was safely home in the motorhome shortly after.
