Bags are packed, I'm ready to go (Mornington Peninsula)

It's true. We packed our bags early, not that we will be rushing to get away. As we left the unit for dinner, we were set to leave. Sadly.

So, potentially, this is my last holiday post for a while, unless I relent and write about the long, boring drive home. All 10 hours of it. Assuming the fires allow us to get through. The serious fires today were away from the Hume, but there has been fire activity by an arsonist/s in different areas alongside the freeway. Having watched the Blue Mountains fires late last year and seeing the TV footage of the fires down here, I do not understand how anyone could light a fire - let alone in the current heat wave.

As I tap away at the keys tonight, the cool change has finally arrived. It was like waiting for that visit from a special uncle when you were a child - you built up his arrival in your mind and you knew it was always going to be better than reality, but you did it anyway. And then ... either he didn't turn up or, when he did, you were over the wait and it was anti-climatic. Tonight's change was a far cry from the blustering southerlies of my childhood in the south-west of Sydney, and even of those that have ripped through Melbourne on previous visits, but we are on the Mornington Peninsula where life is a little more relaxed - and so the change in wind direction and the drop in heat has also been a tad more ... well,  casual. In all seriousness, the heat this week has been unrelenting. Everyone has been waiting for the weather change in the same way that the far north waits for the big wet to arrive. The build up was there, storm clouds, lightning strikes, the tension, but little rain and no change in temperature. Even this morning, and I was riding at 5:20 it was 23º and that is the coolest it has been by a long way.

Interstingly, I was reading in the SMH during the week - a newspaper that protests its independence, yet is becoming more and more right-wing like its only Sydney rival - and some climate-change denier was banging on about the the ship that got caught in the Antarctic ice. Apparently the fact that it was on a voyage to investigate the melting polar ice cap and that it got iced in means there is NO CLIMATE CHANGE. Of course! How stupid of me! Presently I'm sitting in Victoria where we have just recorded a series of major heat events and, yesterday, Adelaide was the hottest place on earth (please no jokes drawing parallels between Adelaide and hell, I have friends in hell and they would not be pleased with the comparison) and a ship stuck in ice means there is no climate change. I'm glad Tom Switzer has that sorted. Now if he could just explain all the other record breaking heat/cold/rain events around the planet I'll sleep easily.

It is easy to be critical of what people write from the safe distance of keyboard anonymity. Indeed, social media has encouraged keyboard-cowardice commentary. I'm not sure that Mr Switzer's master's degree in International Relations (got to love wikipedia) provides him any more of a solid basis to write about climate change than does my doctorate in Education. However, his political associations and resultant friendships, have perhaps, allowed him a forum that most of us can only envy. The SMH appears to value the 'opinion' piece or the 'comment' article, perhaps it's a form of cheap journalism. Curiously, many of these pieces "seem to be" (thank you Hamlet, I know not seems) of a right wing political bent. Ultimately, is it any differnt from reading the back of a toilet door? Or listening to talk-back radio? We all have opinions and as one wit remarked, they are like ... we don't need to plumb those depths. And yes, I understand that my blog has a readership of 2.27 people as opposed to the squillions that read the SMH, but, the little people need to feel that they are being heard too. Are you still listening? well reading? And as the media slides forward on its collective belly towards another Abbott government press conference that says, nothing, I'm reminded that it is January in Australia and we are on holiday and should not be disturbed by serious concerns. After all, in a few days it will be Australia Day, or Survival Day or Invasion Day depending on your perspective. Even after more than 200 years of white domination we still can't acknowledge our past and have a national day that celebrates who we all are and what we have achieved - I'm not sure that January 26 can ever be that day. One day, we'll be grown up enough to see that. Hopefully.

Anyway, this morning was very hazy after the smoke form the fires. Even at the half way point of my ride, the moon was more visible than the sun.

Following the ride we did the obligatory 6k walk and had breakfast at Biscottini. It was then back home to get ready for another lunch at Yabby Lake. The food is excellent. The wine is good, but the food is something else. As you may recall, we had lunch there yesterday and were so impressed with the menu we thought we would  return today.

Despite vowing to bring the camera and take some shots of the vines, I left the camera at home. The vines are interesting. They are the tallest vines I've ever seen - here in Australia (across 5 states and at least 1 territory) or overseas. So, imagine a vista looking down hill across some tall grape vines, row upon row, to dust-dry brown paddocks and gum trees. The latter being moved in place through a heat haze. It was pleasant, but not, if that makes sense. The green of the vines contrasted with backdrop of the cliched Australian sun-burnt country, but it was not a partnershp, more of a contrast or at best a juxtaposition of opposites. I always get the feeling that this continent of ours merely tolerates us and at any moment can and will turn. The fires and the heat this week have made that point. Emphatically.

Lunch was delightful, as expected. It was around 45º when we left mid-afternoon. The roads, once again, were melting. We headed for the coast road seeking relief. Not so much. The temperature dropped to 38º. We drove down the Espie and checked out some possible accommodation for 2015, but decided that where we are is probably a better position.

Back at home the air-con went on and we divided our time between the cricket, tennis, a novel and a nanna nap. Really we were just killing time before our final pizza at DOC.

The final pizza has been devoured as the cool change made its presence felt. DOC, as usual, was crowded. Great pizza. The salads are pretty good too. No more until next year.

We had decided that this would be our last trip to Morinngton for a while - 2 years in a row was enough to see what we wanted to see. The heat this time around altered things for us and we didn't get to do a number of things because of the extreme heat. On a positive note, Mornington forces us both to relax like no other place I can think of - and that must be a good thing. So, as I finalise my words for the day, it is safe to assume that we will be back here next year, looking forward to an unchanged menu at DOC. Seriously, their pizzas are the some of the very best I've ever had - in Australia or Italy or France - come on, pizza is the international food.

I'm happy to report - it's raining.

And we won the cricket ... yes, it's a one day game, but we beat England.