Just finished up five days in the Bolinda/Lancefiled/Riddels Creek area about an hour north of Melbourne - Drove up to Rutherglen tonight on our eventual way to a clinic in Young on the 29th. First, yes, there is a town named Dookie, and I was reminded not only of the Green Day album of the same name, bit of all the other things that fall into the category of Dookie. Gotta love that name! The next town over from where we are tonight is called Howlong. I wonder too.
The clinic in Bolinda went fantastic - such an enthusiastic group and all of them made such progress with their horses. It is really fun to watch the difference in the riders and horses from Day 1 to day 5 of these clinics. It's such an intensive schedule you really get to know all the participants and that is an added bonus - Everyone we've met here so far (with the exception of a certifiable lady walking/yelling/screaming down the street in Sydney) has just been great - I feel like I've made many new friends who seem much more like old friends - Great people!
It's going into fall here, and the leaves are changing colors and the temperature is dropping. So strange to have my body thinking it is spring but experiencing wintry (for Florida, that is) weather.
The skies here have really been amazing - every day was different, and even from hour to hour the weather could change drastically - It was chilly this morning, but the day turned out to be a glorious fall like day - there was a circular rainbow around the sun for most of the day, and that was really cool. I saw a perfect rainbow, gorgeous storm clouds, perfect puffy clouds, frontal storm type clouds and other variations on those themes over the last few days - how cool is that? I'll tell you. Cool. Very cool.
During the clinic, we stayed in Lancefield, a cute little town about 15 minutes from the clinic site in Bolinda. The drive from Bolinda to Lancefield was gorgeous - a two lane country road through rolling hills, lined with mature juniper and pine trees, some beech and eucalyptus (gum tree) too. If it isn't obvious yet, I am quite taken by the landscapes here. I could have spent a week driving around photographing most every field and tree I saw.
As we left the area this evening to drive north, it was more of the same - it is a wine growing region and there are valleys, hills, streams and sheep pastures as far as the eye can see. I was sitting in the back seat constantly thinking, "stop! There's another picture perfect postcard image I could make - let me jump out for just a few minutes. I won't be long." This went on until it was too dark to see... Did I mention it is beautiful here?
We have a relax and recuperate day tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to exploring the area a little after we sleep in a bit! All for now, g'day!
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