I awoke this morning to the cry of seemingly dozens of kookaburras – an initially disorienting yet familiar sound – and, as I crept past the sleeping inhabitants of the house and settled down on the front deck at Ross to enjoy the sun rising over the not-too-distant hills of the Yarra Valley, I experienced the most wonderful sensation: I was cold.
Hard to believe, given the -15ish degree weather prior to leaving home and the frost of England just two days previously, that I would relish being chilly, but given the oppressive heat of yesterday’s 41 degree weather (which had the courtesy to grace us with its presence until late into the night) the idea of needing another layer of clothing was almost blissful.
This morning started significantly earlier than it should have (5ish due to being too tired to root around for the melatonin last night), but it consequently consisted of rabbits on the lawn, sunrise on the Yarra hills, Beau and Humpty (horses – Ross farm’s only full-time residents) breakfasting outside my window, and the graceful swoop of brilliantly colourful birds across the lawn. When you know the rest of your day is going to involve books by the pool, wine straight from the vineyard and, undoubtedly, great food, an accidental early start is hardly a problem.
Yesterday was a great start to the trip. The suspicious flu symptoms that had plagued me since the 2nd were gone; the man having a suspected heart attack on the train platform bench beside us appeared to be okay and in good hands; Luce met us at the station with “icy poles” (freezies!); promptly after ditching our stuff I our room, we changed into our batters and dropped ourselves rather unceremoniously into the freezing cold pool with a view worth selling your firstborn child for. The one unsettling detail was the weather – and not just the temperature. The wind was a hot, swirly, gusty Northerly, and the foliage here is drier than my mouth after a night of drinking cider, all of which combines to make excellent conditions for a repeat of the Black Saturday fires that swept through a large part of the state a few years ago. With the scars of the tragedy still plainly visible on the hills across the Valley, I found myself scanning the horizon regularly for smoke.
Total sunburns: 1
Things I’m grateful for: Australian Strongbow; air conditioning (which would’ve earned bonus thanks if it were installed in our bedroom last night); magnificent views
