Five years and counting

G'day

Been a bit quiet on the blogging front recently, primarily because winter in Melbourne doesn't offer much in the way of diversions. That said, I did have a visit to the zoo the other weekend, and on the 21st May 2011 I completed five years at Lonely Planet so made sure the whole weekend was suitably fun. Am off to the Northern Territory this Saturday for a trip that will take me from Darwin in the far north to Alice Springs in the very centre - hopefully something blog-worthy will happen over those 10 days so come back soon for more.

Day at the zoo
Melbourne Zoo is, I think, the third or fourth oldest in the world (is there anything in Melbourne that is number ONE in the world? Everything's third this or fifth that). A lot of the enclosures are as progressive as possible in a zoo - but not all of them. Still, it was enjoyable, especially the chance to see more wombats.

A crocodile - they're going to much bigger and much more dangerous when I get to the Northern Territory

Sleeping wombat. Aww!

This bird is real and huge. Black cockie (not sure about the spelling)

An echidna. One of those odd 'only in Australia' animals.

Five Year Celebration
So five years ago when I started at LP I didn't think I'd last five months, let alone be singing karaoke in Melbourne sixty months later. But I was.

Total Eclipse of the Heart. Several notes were not reached.

Daylesford
And still suffering a little bit from drink/the sound of my own singing voice, I had a day-trip out to Victoria's premium spa town, Daylesford. Weather wasn't great but it's a lovely place with some interesting old buildings, some great places to eat, and shops with fantastic names (see immediately below).

Just to the left of the still-slightly-hungover Cliffy is a cafe/delicatessen of the same name.

Pudding in a lovely winebar with a lovely real fire. In the background is a creme brulee with a rather extravagant biscuity thing on top. In front is my brownie with Persian fairy floss (the fairy floss is that blue stuff that looks like something you'd find on the floor of a barber's shop after Papa Smurf had had a haircut)



Enormous bric-a-brac place in Daylesford with a wedding dress for the bride who has everything but taste. Despite its enormousness I still couldn't find a lampshade for my bathroom. Sigh.


G'bye for now. See you post Northern Territory.

The original Cliffy