The House(s) of Fran_mart

 A friend who is hoping to get out of hospital soon suggested that people's prayers might help.  That made me think of the tree I drove past every day in Dar es Salaam. People put all sorts of items up on this Baobab to get their message through to the spirits that were in the tree.  I added to the collection as a friend back in Australia was having some health problems.  As I was putting my message up an old chap appeared explaining that he looked after the tree and would appreciate a little "chakula" - Kiswahili for food, but he was actually after shillings which were duly provided.   A nice illustration of religion in Tanzania.  40% are Christian; 40 % Islamic; and 100% believe in witchcraft.  Here is another snap of the site, with a witchcraft ceremony in progress. The red cloaks are the traditional attire of witches.  We went to a performance of Macbeth at an amateur dramatic society.  Half the performance was in Kiswahili and there...

 Thanks to the activities of the Mango Musso and Bibi we have become a little wary of being able to travel back and forth between 'coota and 505 so decided we needed to have decent clothes washing facilities available in 505.  This meant getting a washing machine and a dryer.  Bosch is our go-to brand and we have found Appliances online good to deal with in the past.  So an order was placed. On the day of delivery we got an advice about a 2 hour window when they would be arriving.  It turned out they actually started heading towards us about an hour earlier than that, and had a map of where the truck was so I watched as they drove from Box Hill towards us.  There was a little confusion at the end but they made it.   The installation process was fascinating to watch.  It took them perhaps half an hour and was done in a very calm and organised way.  I suspect that had we tried to do it it ourselves it would have taken 3 to 4 hours and inv...

 We decided to avoid driving on the Easter weekend, and to give ourselves a gap between driving days so headed for Melbourne at 0624 on 12 April.  Thanks to swapping back to normal time it was reasonably daylight by then, albeit rather cool (~7 o C).  Genoa Rd was in quite good condition with a major pothole filled in and many unnecessary signs removed.  We didn't see another car on that stretch.  In fact by the time we got to Orbost (150km) we had only crossed with 10 vehicles, overtaken 2 and been passed by 1.  The weather started to get ungood as we got towards Orbost.  As Frances took over occasional sprinkles of rain began and continued through her 2 hour spell to Rosedale.  We stopped to refill with diesel at a Mobil station in Bairnsdale where the price was only horrendous (309.9 c/l)) - in that town prices varied between that and 315.9c/l. The pumps for 95 octane were flagged 'Empty'.  There was a bit less traffic around, but not as d...

 Mainly white.

 We needed a few things that we couldn't get in Mallacoota so took a trip to Eden.  It was drizzly as we headed off but not heavy rain.  The number of caravans on the road  - in both directions - was amazing.  We initially assumed this was something to do with the time (about 10:00am) but it was the same coming back (about 1pm). We began in Eden by heading to the viewing platform past the wharf.  Nothing of interest there so we headed off towards Eagles Claw Nature Reserve to check the penguin situation.  Enroute we came across a bloke working on a great length of rope beside the road.  On enquiring he was a professional fisherman and was cutting the rope to the length he needed for dropping fish traps down 100m into the sea a few kms off Green Cape.  He hadn't been able to get out for 3 weeks as the current was too fast  and would drag his buoys under.  An interesting conversation followed with him explaining where he sold fish (Me...

 Today I thought I would got to MSAC before it got closed off.  Leaving the tram stop, at least one resident had expressed an opinion about the bogans.  I suspect the majority of locals would agree with their sentiment, if not precisely his choice of words. This is Gunn Island, still well decorated with Australian White Ibis, about 450m away, at 8x magnification. Mud Island with a city backdrop. I met my friend Cathy (who was on a run round the Lake) and she told me she had seen A Great Crested Grebe and Grebeling earlier in her outing at the South end of the Lake.  Here are Ibis, Swans and friends on Mud Island. Great Cormorants: 150m range. I then discovered how to add digital zoom (up to 40x) and got this bunch of Little Corellas. Some Ibis flew by. A Gull passed by some Corellas o the edge of the NE ponds. A Pied Stilt (BAD) with a Silver Gull. The back side of Gunn Island. Oops! Men at rest.  Certainly not working.  This is why they need months to set ...