Tuesday January 1st - Cricket!

Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Brunton Avenue - Richmond, VIC

About The Big Bash

Distance from Melbourne - a huge 10 minute drive from City Centre

Distance from Geelong - 1hr drive

So, believe it or not, ya gal had never been to the cricket until the other day...

I know right?!

What an event it was, after the night that was New Years and falling asleep on the couch to wake at about 4.30, (starving of course) to then drive to get takeout and then not even have time to eat it because I had to get ready... lordy it was not a good start.

But! I got there in the end, even if I was about half an hour late...

After that, basically it was a pretty boring game, so I spent most of the time (solid 99.8%) talking to my main gal Anna (see kayak post, among others).

The other 0.2% of the time was asking stupid questions, cricket has never been big in my household so I don't really know a whole lot about it...

So really I can't tell you much about cricket.

Melbourne Stars won.. that's about all I know!

Costs

Kids pass $5

Adults pass $20

I got one mid-strength beer at $8.40 and one pack of hot chips at $4.40 and that was enough money to spend..

Until my next adventure,

Alex

Friday 7th December - Good Things!

Friday 7th December

Flemington Racecourse

Flemington, VIC

Distance from Melbourne - a huge 14 minutes from City Centre

Distance from Geelong - 55 minutes

Holy moly this post has taken me forever to write...

Let's begin this at the start of the day.

As with any adventure, things often don't go to plan...

Friday morning I was woken at about 6am by my mum, who had received a call from dad who needed help.

He had run over a tree and some wire had gotten stuck under his car. We grabbed some tools from the shed and started on our way to Hurstbridge, about 30 minutes from home.

Once we found where he was, we waited until the wire was removed and followed to ensure the car was running fine. True to form, dad took the wrong way home which ended up taking longer than the way mum and I had come out. I got home and had about 40 minutes to get ready for the festival before the train I had planned to meet my friends on, was going to be at the station... what a mad rush!

Add into the mix that it was already about 30deg at 8am.. it was going to be a very l o n g day...

BUT! I managed to have a shower and paint my face and make it to the station on time!

Once at the festival grounds, we got some cash out before the mad rush we expected later, and found a shady place to sit for a while. admittedly we could have probably come in a bit later than we did, but we know for next time.

I was excited to see Northlane again, so I was glad we were early.

The day progressed and the heat got worse. The festival had mist tents set up, which were fantastic! As well as water stations and plenty of tables with umbrellas for shade. By about 3.00 unfortunately 3 of my friends had fallen ill from the heat and decided to head home.

2 of us remained, and we decided to pick a spot on the grass between the two main stages and remained parked there for the rest of the day. Far too hot to mosh, sweaty armpits when they're right at my nose height? No thanks...

I managed to catch a bit of WAAX, Make Them Suffer, the tail end of Tonight Alive (wasn't concerned as I had seen them in January at UNIFY), Northlane, bits of Mayday Parade, a few songs from Babymetal (that was an experience..), The Used and felt about 13 again, followed by Bullet For My Valentine, a bit of All Time Low and then Stone Sour and finished the night with The Offspring!

All in all it was a nice festival, good vibe about. Would definitely return next year!

Packing tips

The festival was h o t

I bought a hat and sunnies because of the morning rush, I ran out without them...

Things I wish I had taken

Hat and Sunnies...

Things I could have left at home

I packed very light, so nothing.

Costs including entry, site costs and food (if camping)

Tickets were $178 and I believe a bit extra on the gate.

Until my next adventure,

Alex

Jumping Creek Reserve, Warrandyte - Kayak's maiden voyage

Sunday 2nd December

Jumping Creek Reserve

Warrandyte, VIC

About Jumping Creek Reserve

Distance from Melbourne - 25min Drive

Distance from Geelong - 1hr 39min Drive

Facilities - Toilets, Fire Pit BBQ and wood provided, picnic tables, lookout deck over the river

Accessibility - I managed easily in an i30 towing a trailer. Sealed roads aside from a gravel carpark.

I was joined by one of my best gals on this adventure, Anna (insta - @galswithswags).

There were a few dramas with this one, as any adventure... after allowing dad to secure the kayak in the trailer, by the time I got to Anna's house (12 mins away) it was loose. We added Anna's kayak to the trailer and re-secured the two of them, having no issues from Bayswater to Warrandyte... or back after the paddle.

Once we made it to Warrandyte, carrying the kayaks down to the water, one of the handles on my kayak snapped... turns out they're about $12 to replace on e-bay. But that didnt help us there and then...

Once we made out way down the steps and had lugged everything to the waters edge, we were finally ready to launch! How exciting! My kayaks maiden voyage...

All went smoothly, (aside from our very ungraceful entrances into the kayaks, and Anna sliding down the muddy bank in true Anna style...), and we were on our way to explore the serenity the river offered.

Saturday was a scorcher, but Sunday was much more pleasant, and the river was basically deserted where we went. We were due for some light showers, of which I think we may have gotten maybe a light dusting, barely even a shower. We had the river to ourselves as we explored upstream, then ventured downstream.

We found a little rapid, I suppose you'd call it. I went closer and investigated and decided I did not want to go down it only to have to fight my way back up, and of course made that decision very last minute (true Alex style...) and turned into a panic and mad paddle to avoid being taken down the small decline of rocks and shallow water.

We turned around and headed back to the launching spot, noticing 2 fishermen on the banks, the only people we saw the entire day.

I quite enjoy Warrandyte and have visited many sections of the river to swim in, however having only just purchased a kayak, I had never paddled. I am quite confident I will do more exploring of the river as the summer continues, as well as other waterways.

Even though we had a few hiccups at the start, it was a lovely afternoon spent getting out and about and catching up with a friend.

As stated "It's not called Alexandra's non-adventures" - Anna

Packing tips

This is a little different as it was a kayak trip, but you could visit Jumping Creek Reserve for a picnic, a swim, a stroll or just a relaxing afternoon sitting at one of the picnic tables.

Things I wish I had taken

A speaker to play some music whilst paddling

Things I could have left at home

My lifejacket, clearly winter has been good to me this year...

Costs including entry, site costs and food (if camping)

FREE!

Items/equipment needed

As above. Purely based on your intentions for the day

Sights in nearby towns, attractions and things to do

I would recommend trying a few different places along the river, as they all have their benefits depending on what you are after, some spots even have rope swings!

Things I may do differently next time

I will definitely insist on doing everything for myself...

I will check my lifejacket fits before leaving...

I will hopefully have roof rack holders organised for my kayak...

I will bring food

Until my next adventure,

Alex