So what happened between August and now?!
It's February and we are camped beside a tranquil beach with quiet and time to think. Even the waves are simply a gentle lapping. Where in the heck are we? We're camping at Yellow beach, Flinders island within sight of Cape Barren island - in very rustic and rudimentary bushcamp-style and the peace and quiet is heavenly. It's just what I have been hanging out for - my mind is always so noisy!
What have we done since I left off in Georgia - on the travel side of life that is?
Well .... we first we took a short caravan trip to get some dust in our hair, (test out a few modifications to the caravan) and to get a big eyeful of the glorious night sky in Innes National Park on Yorke Peninsula, SA. The NP encompasses a rather awesome ship wreck coast - yet another one along the southern shores of Oz. It's a wild sea we border to our south! But the coast is awesome - rugged cliffs from which birds hurl themselves only to be picked up and dumped right back by gale-force winds roaring in from the Bight. Cliffs that have been carved into fanciful shapes, tower over a turquoise sea and send out tiny gleams of glitter from remnant shards of gypsum embedded in the tracks - tons of gypsum were once 'collected' here some of which ended up in our schoolrooms. Remember chalk, the not so nice chalk dust, cleaning the blackboard ? seems a long while ago.

The patterns give pause for thought - I need Geology 101!

Then we hopped on a train and went to Sydney for a month. Boy talk about contrasts! From gypsum-encrusted lakes and gale force south-westerlies blowing in from the Southern Ocean to Potts Point, the Vietnamese fish markets of Cabramatta (don't ask - it was on the to do list!) and driving south-easterly winds piling in from the Pacific Ocean sculpting similar phantasmagorical works of art in east-facing sandstone cliffs - this is one small corner of Australia. Wonderful is it?!
In Sydney we joined a group of birdwatchers and headed miles out to sea to the edge of the continental shelf. Boy were we sick ... ugh! It was way too rough. We were on the trail of the pelagic birds that sail over those waters waiting for the rich pickings welling up from the deeps. And they're not the only ones.... we saw humpback whales, dolphins and an enormous sun fish - a first for me and what a huge, strange creature it seemed to me.
And before we returned to Melbourne, we completed our walk around Sydney harbour, wahoo! According to the map, we'd walked 60km PLUS 50-60 ks of side loops as well as some repeated favourite segments over 4-5 years, a little bit at a time in snatched escapes to Sydney. Who knows how far we actually walked. The harbour is superb, an experience which takes you clambering over rocks and through tidal pools one minute and then up steep steps to burst out into suburbia and fragrant gardens the next. And always the vistas are beautiful, awesome, and spectacular. We enjoyed every step - almost!
Now we are exploring Tassie and some of its island. It promises to be a journey to remember. Talk to you anon!
[Posted some time later when we have internet access  albeit intermittent - such are the joys of travel! And incidentally we left Flinders Island in 60 k/h winds.  What a contrast]

Tomorrow and many tomorrows - Tasmania! 4 Feb 2016

What time does the sun get up? after us for sure tomorrow ... ugh!  We load the van and months worth of gear and food etc and head for Tassie for a new voyage of discovery - Tassie's islands, Bass Strait islands, coastal and mountain wilderness, lakes and rivers, 'bush walking' and  .... general gypsy-like days of bliss.  I'll catch up with you along the road somewhere.