dips and peaks

i feel like i'm losing a friend.
to be more accurate, i think the tense in the previous sentence should be past, not present.
it's probably something i'm just not wanting to concede, but the sand's getting too shallow for me to stick my head into.

on a more general level, i feel like this sort of thing has been happening too often/regularly in recent years.
it's times like these that i get rather despondent.

- - - - -

on a happier/lighter note, i went on a day trip yesterday. photoblog below...

after various delays, some 20-odd of us eventually head north and congregate at our first stop: eumundi markets. this is a plate of mixed (ie steamed and fried) vegetarian momos (dumplings) from a tibetan food stall. i'd suggest going without the soy sauce - tastes better with just the sweet chilli :)

before leaving, i spent a good 5-10 minutes standing in front of this band listening to their music. they're called oka, and i quite enjoyed their grooves and tunes. so much so that i bought both of their CDs :p this is the second time i've come away from eumundi markets with multiple CDs (last time it was all 3 CDs of piano music by a guy called richard goldsworthy). these guys really looked like they enjoyed their music making, and i reckon i could have quite happily zoned out for a few hours soaking in their sounds :)

before long however, it was time to head off for a spot of lunch near montville, where nza and tez had been hard at work cooking up a bbq feast for the rest of us. good job guys!

we had to compete with a few bold and daring kookaburras for our food though - a few times one of them would fly down and grab food off the tables in front of rather surprised (and startled) diners!

group picture of the day trippers, comprising some CLAY folk, overseas visitors, and associated friends.

in front of lake baroon, where we had the bbq. pity that photoblogger isn't really suited to displaying panoramas, otherwise i'd upload one i took giving a sweeping view of the lake.

with almost everyone there sporting a digital camera, many a photo was taken... and usually it's the subject of the photos who pose for the camera, but here's a shot of the poses of some of the photo takers :p

while the rest of the gang headed off for a bushwalk, i returned home early with a few others. but not before stopping by briefly at a vineyard (while my driver purchased some wine for his parents), where i took this photo. then there was another short stop in montville itself, browsing some of the shops there. i had heard a bit about this town, but until now had never visited the area. will have to come back another time and spend more time exploring... but that's an adventure for another day and time :)

there's a shutterfly album with more pics from other cameras.