Settled.......well almost.

Well after a couple of months settling into the new house, I have Finally got around to setting up the internet at home. I have been rather busy running around buying all those things you need for a new home and changing addresss with all the utilities. It is so refreshing to walk into the Vicroads office and have your number called before you have even sat down!! and the Medicare office has 3 ladies ready to pounce on you, with no waiting at all......amazing! Of course this time- saving now allows for leisurely breakfasts at Metung, cycling and midweek sailing.


East Gippsland launched their new website and slogan last night. The slogan is 'Naturally magic' which sums up this part of the world very nicely.
http://www.discovereastgippsland.com.au/default.asp

Being a website junkie I also attended an information evening on obtaining geographic domain names for local communities run by auCD
The aim of auCD (au.Community Domains) is to provide support services to communities who want to register their geographic domain name for a community website portal and process applications based on policy and guidelines for the purpose of preserving Australian geographic names for use by the relevant local community.
One of their shining examples is http://koonwarra.vic.au/
This can be a great way of uniting communities and using their 'own' website for useful information like news and events or a local Fire plan.

Arrived!!

After a few hectic days packing, I finally waved goodbye to all my worldly possessions (they arrived safely at the storage unit in Bairnsdale) and hit the highway for glorious East Gippsland.

Glenda was a great help and I could not have done it without her organising me!

This is the most beautiful place to live and there is always something new to see each day. We get up bright and early and take the dogs for a walk along the lakes edge, this morning we saw thousands of cormorants and pelicans herding fish.

Carpe Diem!

Waiting

12 hours and the removalists will be here. Will all these boxes finally disappear?
Last day of packing was spent cleaning and moving boxes around to more appropriate positions.
Luckily Jay arrived with his Allen Key to dismantle the bed.
What glorious weather as Spring approaches, can't wait to get back on my bike in Paynesville.

Packing aaaaaargh!

Boxes, boxes and more boxes, we are drowning in them. Glenda arrived, immediately took control and started organising me into some sort of methodical packing. She did have the odd de ja vue feeling whilst packing, wondering if she should really be unpacking!! having moved into her own lovely new home last weekend!
We had a quick visit to the shopping centre during the day and decided the the Country Bumpkin road is the one we want to take, too much traffic........ we are out of here!!


Last night was my surprise Farewell dinner at Pho the yummy Vietnamese restaurant in Preston. Lea and Zac had organised Catherine, Sue and Dianne to come which was great. I will miss my Vietnamese restaurants in East Gippsland but will have to start my own Asian cuisine.

Garage Sale

Aaaargh, how exhausting is having a Garage Sale?? especially when they come knocking on the door the day before!! Lea and I opened the gate at 8.30am to let the hoards in, I was so glad Lea and Zac came to help me as we had quite a steady procession of people most of the morning. Well it wasn't a bad days work, but not sure if I want to do it again in a hurry!

I think I might still have a few things to donate to charity, but a big chunk of clutter has now gone, it feels quite freeing actually, all this decluttering!

My next project is 'packing' now thats a daunting task, but I shall endeavour to tackle with as much vigour and determination as I can muster........look out Paynesville, here I come!

Seahorse Riddle solved

Walking along the beaches of Lakes Entrance recently with Helene Blowers and Lynette Lewis, we noticed several sea horses washed up. I have never seen a sea horse in the wild let alone 11 of them. They were quite large and some were still alive (good spotting Lynette!).
Apparently the recent floods have lifted the levels of fresh water in the Gippsland Lakes and this is the cause, which is quite sad. Hopefully enough managed to survive to fight another day.






Our Lakes Entrance trip also involved a boat trip (with onboard wine tasting!) to Wyanga Winery, where we enjoyed dinner with Denece Sippo from East Gippsland Libraries.

How about the groovy wine label designed by the talented owner?

Fish to Fry

House hunting in Paynesville can always be suspended for a quiet afternoon on a brilliant sunny day in the middle of Winter on the Gippsland Lakes to do a spot of fishing for a few bream (6)
'Fisherwoman' has had a steep learning curve in catching, killing, gutting, scaling and cooking.





Before I reluctantly left today, I bounced out of bed to the most amazing sunrise. This really is a magic place to live.

Location, Location

Well here is where you can find me. One the most beautiful parts of Victoria, East Gippsland and the little lakeside village of Paynesville (near Bairnsdale), The area has so much to offer, from remote beaches to absolute high country wilderness.
The largest regionals centres are at Bairnsdale, Sale and Lakes Entrance.



My plan is to spend a lot of time communing with sea eagles and pelicans but I hope to have some time to explore library world and tourism in the area.

Libraries play a pivotal role in the provision of Community information services to the remote areas of East Gipplsand and it is all happening with the 'Building Online Communities Project' in the East Gippsland Shire.
Check out the Blogs as the particpants progress through the Learning 2.0
23 Things program at the e-learning egipps Blog.
It is quite remarkable that a program develped in North Carolina in the USA has found its way to East Gippsland. The Grand Architect of the programHelene Blowers recently visited Australia and Denece Sippo from East Gippsland Libraries was proud to show her the Community Learning Centres in Mallacoota and Cann River, which are probably about as far as you can get on the planet from NC, USA before you start heading back around the earth again!

Ending and new beginnings

Yesterday 27th July, 2007, I finally left Yarra Plenty Regional Library after 32 years of service. Wow it seems like such a long time, and it also feels like yesterday. What a wonderful time I have had and what wonderful people I had to work with, but I like to explore new horizons so it was time to 'let go' and move in a new direction.
One of my finale highlights was meeting with Helene Blowers from PLCMC, North Carolina, the grand architect of Learning 2.0 which has consumed my life for the past year.




But now the House is on the market, Paynesville awaits me, who knows what I will be doing in 6 months time, I'm up for the challenge, bring it on...
I also finished at the Melbourne Visitors Centre today after 10 years dispensing the delights of Melbourne to visitors and locals alike. I will miss this side of my life but hope that tourism opportunities await me in the beautiful Gippsland Lakes and the wilderness of East Gippsland.

Welcome to my Blog and my NEW life

New life, New Blog, I was hoping to be 'Girt by Sea' but that ID was taken so my persona is:
'Girl By Sea!! ....or I will be as soon as I get my act together.

And here is where I will be. looking toward Raymond Island from Paynesville at dawn, July 2007. Pre floods!