Day 28 - 22/02/12

I enjoyed my first day in Bendigo so much I thought, why not stay another?
I didn't have any troubles parking by the lake and woke up really refreshed and to this lovely view first thing in the morning:

Lake Weeroona first thing in the morning (and by first thing, I'm talkin' 9am)

There is something about the cool, crisp, fresh mornings that you only get in the country and this morning was one of them.
I went for a walk along the 7km Bendigo walking trail which stretched from the Lake to the Botanic Gardens and another great example of some really good community infrastructure.

Bendigo walking trail

Botanical Gardens...not a patch on Wagga's

Unfortunately the Botanical Gardens were not all that great, and these birds realised that so decided to give me at least one good photo op:

"Ok, our Gardens are lame so we're gonna sit still and let you take a photo of us to compensate, ok?"

The gardens are obviously no place for a stag party either (ha, ha, ha):

And without further ado, I give you, Stag.

The track wound back past the local pool and I observed one of the teachers giving the kids lessons on how to do bombs...he went through the entire arsenal including, the can opener, horsey, jack knife.....that sorta thing never happened in MY day! When did school become fun?!?!
By the time I got back to Freda it was midday and time for lunch and to head into town to the library (time flies when you're on holidays!).
I've often wondered what it would be like to be a full-time writer, working your own hours, and just writing all day so this afternoon I dedicated some time to this pursuit by writing a piece on the Numerella Folk Festival which I attended in January. It was really fun, sitting and writing once I got started. By the time I finished the first draft I had more than 1000 words and eventually managed to edit it down to about 600. Just before the library closed I emailed my piece off to all the Folk mags around the country and considered my time at the library this afternoon well spent.
I picked up some supplies for dinner - and may I say that since my tummy troubles of last week, I have not been inclined to eat anything cooked or processed and I'm feeling a lot better for it. I don't know how long this will last and whether eventually I'll get back to my old eating habits but for the moment it feels really good to be buying and eating fresh vegies, fruit and nuts as I feel like it. Though I did indulge in a sneaky Yoplait Choc-Coconut LeRice snack after dinner:

No! Duckys that's MY LeRice dessert snacky

Oh I should also add that my camera tripod is broken so you may be seeing less shots of me until I get a new one.  It was a complete pain in the arse to set up shots of myself when I had the tripod but now it's becoming even more frustrating. Example:

No tripod and the camera topples like a house of cards..ugh...(and no, i'm not scratching my arse!)

By sunset I'd finally managed to prop the camera in a position where it actually got me in the frame. Never mind the fact I would have looked like a total weirdo to all the joggers, walkers, picnicers and anyone else in the vicinity trying to set up the shot. UUUUUGH!