_I rarely leave the country these days.  When I went to Melbourne last week to the writer's seminar I enjoyed the usual experience of music buskers that I had on my previous visits years ago. There was a difference however. With the aid of portable batteries or mini generators electronic guitars even gibson les paul custom   were a part of the busking experience out in the open and away from power supplies. 
It was impossible to miss the theater tickets sales booth it is a huge out of context to it's surroundings building directly opposite the historical Finders Street Railway Station. A perfect location for tourists and travelers to gain fast access on arrival in Melbourne to any music performances in the city. 

Finders Street Station is still that same beautiful building as shown in the photo above.

Behind this building was the modern building of the newest art gallery and it is a credit to the designers. The street scape opposite was another for Melbourne to be proud of. St Paul's cathedral has been completely restored since I had last seen it as had the facades of all the historical buildings that line Finders Street in this first block leading up the hill from the cathedral. To be able to wander along this block and enjoy seeing Melbourne as i never have before to the background of busker music, was very pleasurable.

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On my return walk I walked back along the pavement on the side of these historical facades where I could look into to see who occupied the buildings rather than the external view and it was a mixture of run down old theaters desperately needing internal restoration to the most modern of interiors as in the new Apple computer store.  I wished I had more time and more stamina to explore Melbourne. 

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I journeyed to Melbourne by car from the Goulburn Valley and though the Dandenongs. I stayed at at one of the outer south eastern suburbs overnight and took the train into Melbourne rather than worry about trying to drive and park the 4Wheel drive in the city. This was all a pleasant experience. I walked a huge block of streets covering about a quarter of the city. There were some strategically placed bench seats which i confess, I took advantage of as the hills of Melbourne are a lot steeper than when I was younger. 

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I called into a small restaurant for lunch. It did not look expensive and the clientele looked 'everyday,' dressed.  For $15. I got an opened tin of sardines on a plate with 2 slices of dried up white bread.  I wasn't impressed. That was the cheapest thing on the menu. next time I will carry a water bottle and a cut lunch or nuts and fruit and sit on a bench outside to eat and listen to the music of one of the buskers. 

The only negative I experienced on my first visit to Melbourne in over a decade was the presence of so many people smoking cigarettes on the side walk.  I needed to hold my breath as I walked on many occasions. Possibly why I found it hard getting up some of the hills. it does help if you are breathing clean air. 

If I lived closer and had the time I would visit Melbourne more often, explore more of the side streets, park lands, attend the theaters, taking advantage of the free music performances or the half price last minute ticket sales.  It is a beautiful city historical city if you have the time to look a t the buildings and a wonderful place to experience a wide variety of music.

Yes Melbourne is a modern city and most photos shown of it these days feature the modern sky scraper skyline reflected in the Yarra River but just as it is a mixture of modern and classical music, Melbourne is a mixture of the new and the best of the old architecture and that is what I focused on during this visit.

For those who love the modern here is the distant view which focuses the modem skyline. You can enjoy this view from so many vantage points along the river and dockland or cruise along the river in one of the party boats at night and dine and dance to the accompaniment of music.   For someone who normally avoids cities, I did enjoy my re visit to experience the sights and sounds of the city I visited regularly in my youth.

_ The topic is the 3rd act and aging. And it was an excellent talk.
I loved this talk by Jane Fonda who is a wonderful promoter of the qualities of the largest demographic in the world - older women. She is leading the way in striving to overcome ageist attitudes. She is so 'spot on' that this third act of life is the BEST. Well worth watching.
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I was amazed at the comments following the video and fail to understand why people cannot accept toe positive message within this speech for what it was.  Heaven forbid that I be still damned for things I might have done forty five  years go that I cannot even remember now.

Jane Fonda Third Act of Life Video

_I have created a new time management rule.  I will do my blogging, essays, short story writing ans small income writing jobs until my Grocery Run email alerts me it is time to knock off and enjoy an active afternoon.  It is officially knock off time :-). I will return later to devote myself to my novel writing. My small jobs writing and PR work has taken a steep upward step following applying a lot of the skills I learned at the Writer's Conference last Wednesday.

I am using the Grocery Run mail order discount shopping service to stock up on non perishable items that are light weight and suitable for our caravan holiday.  If I pre buy what I can I can reduce my weekly housekeeping expenditure while traveling and have money over for the caravan park fees.   How do you budget for this?  I am also striving from now until we leave to save some money each week towards that holiday.

Do you on line shop for basics?

_Welcome the year of the dragon. :-) In Chinese Astrology 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Dragon will start on 23 January 2012 and end on 09 February 2013.
This is the year of forgiveness according to the Chinese New year.
Reg is a dragon. Dragon people are said to excel.
According to the Chinese calendar I am a dog. lol, this dog and dragon have been kenneled together for into our fifth decade now and the kennel is still intact.
According to the Chinese the only enemy of the dragoon is the dog. And a dog should never kennel with a dragon. lol
Just as well i do not follow horoscopes Chinese traditions or otherwise but believe in making my own future.
On the economic front they say the year of the dragon is breathing new life into gold prices.
Novelists will no doubt hope the current young adult fiction boom for dragon based paranormal romance novels will last.
For the lucky tourist who is around to see it there should be some fabulous firework displays and great food celebrations to enjoy. There is certainly something that feels positive about any new year or a good happy dragon celebration.

Summer in the Dandenong Ranges is beautiful. Everywhere I saw splashes of bright blue hydrangea and agapanthus contrasting to the brilliant coral orange of the wild tritonia in flower and the green of the tree ferns at the base of mountain ash, just beautiful.  I thoroughly enjoy the route I always choose to drive back to Northern Victoria from the south east suburbs.  I never drive back via the city - not while a country scenic route is there for me to take.

I adore the variety of garden nursery displays in the Dandenongs. We often get out of the car and walk around. Most allow us to enter with our dog Indigo either on her lead or in our arms, we always ask first before just assuming she can enter.  

You can still see evidence of the last severe bushfires as you drive from  the Dandenong Ranges towards the Goulburn Valley but nature is regenerating and the new growth on the burnt tree trunks is beautiful
We stopped to admire the Sylvan dam. And drove past the Sherbrook Art Society where I was once a member and guest speaker and held a featured artist exhibition way back when my children were younger than my own grandchildren are today. 

Today as I drove though the winding hills I had a truck driver tail gating me.  I stuck right on the speed limit and refused to be forced faster than the legal speed.  It is ridiculous to speed on winding mountain roads. It struck me how narrow based this truck was and how tall it was and it was whizzing around corners once I have moved over at the first available spot to allow him to pass.  I thought he was an accident looking for a place to happen. I wondered what drugs he must have been on. He was a certainty to roll over taking the bends at speed.   I was pleased that I never allowed him to rattle me nor have him spoil my enjoyment of a beautiful drive.

When the road straightened out to a long flat stretch I could see a large grouping of stationary cars ahead and flashing lights.  I slowed right down and approached - sure enough, it was a truck rollover on a perfect stretch of highway. Nothing other than speeding to blame.  I am glad I was well back behind him when he when over.

I do find the drive home tiring towards the end of it and I have those coffee lollies and bottle water to refresh me as I drive and get out and walk several times to break the trip.   This is the only time I have coffee lollies, they do help keep me alert, I don't have many and I think staying wide awake on a three and a half hour drive is more important than worrying about nutritional value.

The scien below is the view of over the suburbs of Melbourne as you descend toward Fern Tree Gully from the ranges.

I will never tire off driving though the Dandenongs even if the traffic these days is nothing like the traffic free country drives I remember from childhood.

As a senior I must admit it is thirty years since I last attended a 'summer school.'  I will be doing this once seminar on Wednesday, however I intend to bring a grey nomad flavour to it and create a pair of grey nomad cartoon characters as a result of winning a place in this seminar.   I used some open sourse web illustrations for today until I create my own characters in the train trip on Wednesday morning.

I am looking to create a pair of gray-nomad cartoon characters to take with me into a cartoon writer's seminar and emerge with me into an unknown world I am sure they will love as I am planning to tour north again this year and have a wonderful location to use as the base for our adventures - but more about that in this blog once I write and confirm the bookings.

For now I am planning a trip from Northern Victoria though the Goulburn Valley and the Dandenong Ranges to visit my family in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne and to attend a Cartoon Writers seminar that I have just won.   This should be a great way of combining my artist skill with my novelist and travel writer professions. Writing and illustrating a children's story book that tackles some of the aspects of learning difficulties, has been a plan of mine for a while though my Australian novel has rather taken over from this, in importance this year. This will be a good break from writing and planning the pitch to publishers of my completed novel.  

If you were to spell Kathy in an exaggerated form - as in a cartoon - a little like Coo-eeee ot Crikey! How would you write it? I'm playing with the idea for an Indigo, Red (always accidentally spell Reg and Red) and Kat-eeeeeeeeeeeeee, I want a long drawn out Eeeeeee sound at the end so thought I would ask for advice :-) on how you think it should be spelt.
Oh and their daughter Dyslexia and son.....Hoolie?  Plus a couple of gray nomad grandparents, Excenrica and Detour

Thank you Writers Victoria. I just won a place in this seminar and I am TRILLED. Organizing the trip to the big city and my notebooks, now :-).

I had best go pack out bags, leave tomorrow, home on Thursday. Need to be a big girl and learn how to catch a train from the outer suburbs into a city I usually avoid like the plague...lol...'country girl here.' :-).
Will be staying over nights with our daughter in the suburbs and Reg can stay with her while I take off for the day.. :-) WOW! Haven't done anything like this in a couple of decades. summer-school-cartoon-writing

My novel is going well.  I have finished it and while it is now with the Beta readers for proof reading I am writing the book proposal to go to the literary agents. I have also booked into another seminar, this time one within my comfort zone, in the country.  This seminar is about pitching your novel to a publisher and agent. Great timing for me.

This is a part of the 'pitch' I am planning. 

“Children begin and then try to stop an escalating culture of payback in this compelling story of treachery and love during European settlement of Australia.”

My book is calledDreaming Billabong. It is complete and consists of 100,000 words.

Dreaming Billabong fits firmly into crime genre.

Type of Book:  Crime fiction involving an inland Australian family.

Readers of my book would also read,
The Help by Kathryn Stockett,
A Painted House by John Grisham and
To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee Harper.

Brief 150 word description of the plot:

            1880-81, The Peaceful inland settlement of Fife Springs erupts following a chance encounter between a naked Alan Fife and Charlotte both 10. Following the birth of his half brother, Aboriginal Australian Kanga, Alan swears vengance.

            1945s -1953’s --- Eight years in the life of Kanga’s grandson, Jarrah 13. --- Eight years punctuated by the Stolen Generation and post-WW2 European migration. Alan and Kanga are now embittered old men. Alan’s grandchildren Emily 8, her brother, Harry 14 are in danger. Alan’s son, Ian Fife, the Cattle King, wants to protect them but it is Jarrah’s cultural heritage and Emily’s innocence that combines to end the terrible culture of payback.  

            Dreaming Billabong explores big themes, and Shell chooses to tell it by showing the effects crime has on children. The result is a tough and tender novel of the struggle for justice for race and gender, and the pain of growing up.

_I did strive to run a Life Balance group once but didn't have enough to make it worth while given I have so many other things I do but I have always recommended a good trained physio therapist  I am all for the word  yo yo to represent fun and a physical activity a part of enjoying life and now going from the extreme of self neglect of over eating and under exercising one moment to dieting and excessive injury sustaining exercise the next. So you will never hear me say I am begining a diet. I will  howerver strive each day to care for myself and do what I believe is right for my body and mind in order to be at the best fitness I can be and as creatively fulfilled and emotionally happy as I can become.  That of course does involve having rewarding relationships with others so self care is never a selfish thing to aim for as your goal.  . 

I see one a physiotherapist myself and a certified practicing dietician whenever I seek good physical health advice. I am more into striving for lifestyle improvement than expecting drugs to cure the ailments of an aging body.  Oh I am bot dead against taking medication when it is actually needed but I do believe prescriptions are issued rather too readily because few doctors have the time to give lifestyle advice and most patients attend a doctor wanting a quick fix and not a lifetime healthy eating and exercise program advice.
When I was fitter there was one excellent sports medicine trainer at my Gym who understood seniors bodies. The osteoporosis associations usually have some good exercise links on their websites to suit seniors.

Those who study seniors fitness though are few and far between.  It will change but as the first of the baby boomers, lol, it usually changes after I pass though each stage not while I'm there yelling for it to change.

_ Stretch your body and mind. Choose daily pursuits that keep you physically, mentally and socially engaged.

There's abundant evidence that continued physical activity helps people live longer, feel better, avoid depression and keep their mental skills sharp.

"Functional disabilities shouldn't keep you from exercising," says Dr. Amy Ehrlich, a geriatrician with Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y,

She puts frail elderly patients on a walking program. If they can't walk, she puts them on a swimming program. And if they can't swim, she has them take a water aerobics class.

Studies show that people benefit from efforts to stay cognitively sharp – from doing a daily crossword to playing games to reading. Maintaining social ties also is critical. Older people who volunteer in schools, for example, feel happier, more useful and more satisfied with their lives.

__Willie-wagtails flit and flutter wag their tail. According to some Australian bush yarns they can lead children astray into the bush.
Their stores are deeply intrenched in Australian Aboriginal Dreaming law. The white stripe is the white ochre paint from the ceremony and that tail is the burnt  remains of the spear that struck him when he lept though a camp fire in an attempt to avoid punishment by his clan.  You can tell to look at his cheeky dance he is a mischief maker.

The Willie Wagtail y dancing messages to people.  You have to be  wary of what they say. Then again they sometimes come to tell you about a very serious issue you should be aware of. Because of this they are said to be the messenger bird or the gossip monger. bird.

The Willy Wagtail is very important in the Indigenous Australian Aborigine Dreaming Law of many of the clans because his story teaches obedience to elders. His in particular is about children not answering the false call to wander into the bush and become lost. These dreaming laws helped to keep the young children close to the camps.

In my novel Dreaming Billabong, my hero Jarrah enacts the Willie Wagtail dance by jumping over a small fire during his preparation for initiation.

I was motivated to include the little Willie Wagtail into my novel because I see hm daily on my  summer walks. He is considered to be both the messenger and the mischief maker. You have to be very attuned to what he is saying to decide if he is deceiving you as he dances his massage around you.  He is certainly one of the most friendly wild birds you can meet.

_The Willie Wagtail is up at the crack of dawn and is the last day bird to retire at night and they  never stop catching insects even late into dusk.   Never still,until late at night,  he is sometimes called the restless fly catcher especially  in the Northern parts of Australia.