Frost, Retro Fun, Fantails & Curious Coos

Thursday 11 June

Frosty as morning when we awoke - Louis’ boots were frozen solid on the A-frame ❄️

Django was eagerly awaiting us at the Banjo’s door and hopped up the stairs and settled in with us for a bit - while I took a video call from my sister in rainy London from an 80s concert with Tony Hadley & Holly Johnson… relax!

Debbie came looking for her pup and Frits opened up the big barn doors to reveal the most fabulous collection of retro items… what Debbie described as “the things I won’t let him keep in the house!” There was a small sound stage for gigs, walls of religious and music iconography, Dutch paraphernalia, old music gear, a vintage motorbike, a Russian pedal car and soooo much more! An exciting treasure trove of eclectic ephemera!

Louis & Frits spent ages geeking out over music gear from another age - specifically an early 70s guitar amp... while Lauren gently strummed a guitar and sang "New moon arising" and I just fossicked through all the fabulous goodies!

There were so many different eclectic collectibles - everything seemed to have a fascinating back story or link to their travels. The Russian pedal car was flown over from Moscow several decades ago and pedalled around by Frits' son several decades ago. The walls were plastered with assorted hangings - mostly very kitsch - like a leopard rug, a tapestry of dogs playing snooker, a wool knotted African scene, tulip fields lacquered on a mini surf board & wooden inlaid images. Album covers featured strongly - some famous and some weird & wonderful - Earth & Fire (but no wind?), and a creepy looking Lowell George picture which looked like an 80s precursor to AI! I loved that one purple wall was a shrine of relgious iconography, but the other purple wall was a shrine to classic blues & pop music.

After spending an hour or so checking out this retro museum of fabulousness, and watching the piwakawaka flit around, Louis and I had a quick walk around the property (still lots of frost in the shade), lunch in Banjo and then hitched up & hit the road. The braver Piwakawaka was a little dishevelled, with just one & a half tail feathers - not sure if it was a youngster or an oldie on it's way out. One of its friends was much better turned out!

Kinda sad to be moving on, this is a great POP for chilling out, but we found it hard to find good walks and the road outside was not ideal for cycling so we had decided to push on towards Hanmer and the hot pools... with just one more stop along the Inland Road.

We didn’t go far - just half an hour along the road to Rotherham, to Amuri Manor, the old maternity hospital for the area which is now being restored and operates as an AirBnB & a POP. A lovely welcome from our hostess Sarah and Olivia, her fluffy grey pusskin, though I only got a shot of Mr Chill in his tuxedo. After parking up we whizzed into Culverden (home of one of the loveliest ANZAC memorials) for a quick shop then set out on an abortive trip to find a local walk with a view. Eventually Louis dropped me off 3kms out on the gloriously named Flintoft Mouse Point Road and I walked home, much to the fascination of some curious coos. Amazingly even at this time of day - around 4ish - the road was still frozen so the coos enjoyed watching me slip slide my way across it, lined up along the fence then followed me as far as their fencing allowed. mooing merrily!

Out on the main road three bullocks got a fright as I passed by in my fluro yellow jacket, but then the rest of their paddock companions decided once again that I was more interesting than scary so all trotted over and lined up along the electric fence to watch me walk past.

Dinner in Banjo - burgers again... the freezer is gradually being emptied - before we prepped for another freezing night - hot water bottle then pump off & drained the pipes again. If you look closely at the skyline trees below, you might just spot Jupiter and Venus in alignment in the sky.