BradnJayne's blog: It's always darkest before the dawn (Mornington Peninsula)

It's darker down here of a morning in comparison to Sydney. I was prepared to ride at 5am, but it's just a little too dark, so I settled for a 6am start, despite the fact that the sea gulls had been whingeing for hours. It's also a tad cooler down here of a morning. I wore my undershirt yesterday and deliberately didn't this morning because of the increase in temperature - hmmm, it took a while to warm up.

I had no particular plan this morning other than to ride. As I headed up the road toward Dromana I was met with the sun, blindingly sitting on the road at the crest of the headland. This hadn't been an issue yesterday because of the cloud cover, but today it made me wonder whether I would be visible to any cars coming from behind me. So, I stopped at a section of road where motorists view the scene and had a drink and headed back to Mornington determined to ride a few of the headlands on the other side of the main street.

This was my last stop before home. It's on the headland next to Mornington Park at the end of Main Street. As you can see, it was a beautiful morning. Yesterday's cloud is well and truly gone and we are expecting the temperatures to begin climbing today.

After getting home and a quick change of clothes, it was time to walk with Jayne for an hour or so prior to breakfast. We walk along the coast road for 30 minutes and then back and then up Main Street to the other end of town to Biscottini for breakfast. Great coffee, freshly squeezed juice and all the usual trappings. Then home to read the paper and clear the email and the usual domestic chores before venturing out again.

The next walk took us down to the pier to check out the restaurants. Much like last year, we read the menus, wandered around and headed home. When it comes to seafood, my grandfather taught me, let the seafood speak for itself. It doesn't need fancy presentation or sauces. So, we won't be eating at The Rock. As for the kiosk, we did that last year and it was nothing to get excited about.

Back home for a while to read more tourist brochures, we decided to stay close by and walked up the the Grand Hotel for lunch. 'Twas a touch grand, or perhaps over stated on the website. The food was OK, but ... if you talk yourself up you need to be able to hit the mark. Anyway, it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon before wandering back home to watch the tennis and the passing parade beneath our balcony.

Last evening Jayne noticed that the fridge had some dents in the door. Today, while viewing it from the balcony it became visible for what it really is - there is an alien life form trapped in the fridge. The face of the alien is quite clear - Mulder would be excited!!!

Who put this sticker on my head?

So, after a cruisey afternoon of watching the tennis and reading (and cheese, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and crackers and maybe a glass of wine) I thought we might walk down to the park and take a few sunset shots. There wasn't a lot of cloud, so there isn't a lot of colour. It is still quite a moment watching the sun sink below the horizon and then turn around and see the purple shadow of the planet on the other horizon.