Leongatha

Chris and Pam Pascuzzi, Matt's parents, kindly invited us for the weekend, and we may never leave. Their hospitality is legendary, their cooking fantastic and their lovely old house in rural Leongatha is like Alladdin's Cave.  They have an antiques shop in the township, to which the overflow progresses, but this house contains so many quirky little treasures and artworks that it would take weeks to see it all.  Sons Matt and Noah now both live in Melbourne, both are artists, Matt is a post-production compositor in film and Noah is studying and establishing himself as a street stencil artist -Seldom Seen.

 Pam (R) at Kongwak markets where she has a weekly spot, selling antique clothing and interesting little things.  She is doing the full KD Laing cowgirl thing today, and lent me real fur coat to wear so I could a) look the part and b) keep warm. We bought gifts for Julian, Keliyah and Linda (if I can bear to part with it). Nicole (L) who sold me Linda's gift said, Ooh I nearly didn't put that on the stall...but you can't keep everything, can you?

Some of Seldom's stencil work, on a wall at Kongwak.  He can also be seen in Melbourne CBD.  Chris and Pam's house is full of his and other young artists' work.

Leongatha in South Gippsland is only 20 minutes from the sea.  But this is not a beach like those on the south coast of NSW.  Facing the Bass Strait it is big, wild and windy, and at 18degrees water even in summer, it is wetsuit territory. Very beautiful though.

Sheer cliff face at Eagle's Nest near Inverloch

Understory of melaleuca, right on the inlet

The vegetation tells the story of how damp everything is around here. The scenery is almost luridly green, with huge trees growing in red and black soils that seem to go down, and down, and down. It is a dairy and food crop area.

I love this shot of Chris Pascuzzi and David being old men of the sea.

This is me in the fur coat, on the beach.  Appropriate?

Lian is happy.  That makes me happy too.