All Things are Subject to Change Without Notice

I went to Geelong on Saturday for lunch at Irene's house. The Sunday Lunchers usually meet on Sundays but on this occasion it was more convenient to meet on a Saturday.

It was a Christmas Sunday Lunch. On a Saturday. And it was magnificent. Scallops wrapped in bacon. A mini broad bean salad. Salmon with new potatoes and one of the best summer puddings I think I have ever had.

 

I had gone to Geelong on the train, and then to Irene's place by bus. All went well, except that I missed the bus stop and had to walk back. This was not a disaster. It was a pleasant day, it wasn't far, my ankles and legs were feeling reasonably happy. We had a convivial afternoon. Then Gillie took me back to the station for the return trip to Melbourne.

There was a train leaving about 10 minutes after I got there. Off we went, trundling along. Until there was a muffled announcement, from which I distinguished the words "incident" and "Little River". The train stopped at Little River (which it does not usually do). We waited for a while. Then an announcement said "We will continue to Wyndham Vale where this service will terminate. A replacement coach service will come from Geelong and take you all to Deer Park." There had been an incident, I think somewhere around Tarneit, which required the emergency services.

We all got off the train in Wyndham Vale and waited for the replacement coach service to arrive from Geelong. We waited. And waited. Some people got on a local bus and went away. Other people were picked up by family or friends and went away. Slowly the large group of people dwindled. Then a local bus to Werribee Station pulled up. I got on it. So did enough people to fill it. And off we went to Werribee, where we more or less walked onto a train that was just about to set off.

Sunday's forecast was for wild, very wet and very windy weather. Freyja, Simon and I went out to Eltham on the train as planned, to inspect the Eltham weekly farmers' market. It was a fun train trip and the market was fun - but probably not enough fun to make it worth going past the Alphington station to get to it. It wasn't significantly bigger, better or more varied than the Alphington market.

The rain arrived while we were at the market, but not too badly. It rained with enthusiasm during the afternoon, but I was well and truly home by then and watched it from my windows. Then it went away, at least in Docklands and cleared to a pleasant evening.

We were supposed to be at a Christmas party and market at Werribee Zoo on Sunday evening. In light of the dreadful forecast it had been cancelled and all the tickets transferred to Saturday. None of us could go on the Saturday so we cancelled our tickets. Oh the irony. I was (unexpectedly) in Werribee on Saturday evening and could have taken a bus out to the zoo, had I not cancelled my ticket. And the weather on Sunday evening wasn't as bad, in the Melbourne area at least, as had been feared. Oh well. Perhaps next year.

Brunch in Eltham

Old signal display at the Eltham Station