Go Nadal Go

To Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia

Meg and I realized this morning that if we wanted Dex to have any gifts for his rapidly approaching birthday, we'd better get busy. The towns along the Great Ocean Road have been lovely but have offered few shopping opportunities. As a result, we hatched a plan to find a campground back near Melbourne, where we could surely knock out the task before the 24th.

I did get out for a run this morning enjoying the sunny blue skies and puffy white clouds. The dirt roads I ended up on were absolutely beautiful with idyllic fields and low hills on each side. The kids were a bit disappointed when I told them I’d spotted an echidna on the way back home. It’s a sort of spiny anteater, about the size of a soccer ball, at least when curled up in a defensive position. Slow moving, with a thin pencil like snout and small beady eyes, it is one of only two egg laying mammals (monotremes), the other being the elusive platypus.

An Echidna

While Meg and I got gas and did some grocery shopping, Dex and Kylie played on the beach where an open water swimming competition was just getting under way. The countryside around Port Campbell, and for much of the inland drive back to Melbourne, was absolutely beautiful -- rolling hills, dairy cows and sheep, huge round hay bales….  It reminded us of a bit of California north of San Francisco, just much less populated.

Our campground in Warrandyte, a suburb of Melbourne, was simple with a small maze of asphalt roads and was situated near a stream with groves of Eucalyptus. We all played a round of bocci, Kylie and I jumped in the frigid “heated” pool, and then Meg and I cooked dinner in the campground kitchen while Dex and Kylie bounced on the rubber, trampoline-like bouncing mound. We are big Nadal fans, so, with the tennis match on the camp TV, we sat glued to our seats watching him survive his match with Zverev. Whew. With both Djokovik and Murray out, he still has a chance, so we went to bed hopeful. Go Nadal go.