Geelong

Yesterday, I decided to take a trip to Geelong, down the west side of Port Phillip Bay. I took the V/line 'velocity' train from the jellyfish station.

It is only about 3/4 hour from Melbourne. The guard helpfully announced that, as we would be travelling at up to 180 km/hr, if we wanted to move around the carriages we should hold onto the handles on the seat backs as ..."There are some rough spots on the line and you will fall over"

After the previous day's lovely 27 degrees C, yesterday was more like spring back home - barely 15 degrees and a biting southerly wind. So there weren't many people swimming (only 1, actually) and the many lifeguards had nothing to do.

Well, yes they are not real. A great feature of the town is Jan Mitchell's 104 painted Bay Walk bollards. I managed to find (and photograph) about 70 of them - I must have missed some by not going very far along the Western beach.

I had fish and chips for my lunch at the cafe on the end of the pier and walked along the front to Limeburners' Point. On the way back I visited the lovely Botanic Gardens. The rhododendrons and azaleas are a their peak now here in Victoria - here is a specimen from the gardens in Geelong.

The '21st century' garden at the entrance features plants for a dry climate, including lots of cacti.

Returning towards the centre of the town via Eastern Beach Rd, you can see what great views the houses there have.

Then it was back on the train to go and Skype home to the family.

You can find more of my pictures of Geelong here on Flickr.