When Does The Sun Rise And Set In Melbourne?

Stumbled on this nugget while trying to find out what time sunset will take place in Q2.

This page works out the times for sunrise and sunset when you select the month and year you want.

For example, if I select May 2010, I learn that the sun rises between 7.01 and 7.25 (rising later as we progress into winter) and sets between 5.33 and 5.10 (setting later as the month draws to a close, meaning the days get shorter).

It's very handy when you need to make decisions like 'Which are the months to avoid if I send my child to sports activities, given that I can't see well enough to drive once the sun sets?' and 'Should I sign my child up for the 6-7 pm class or the 6.30-7.30 pm class?'

Answer: Avoid Terms 2 and 3.

Next thing to do: Get a pair of glasses with yellow lenses to improve night driving capability.

Thoughts on our first family camping trip

9 Jan 2010 will remain one of our family's fondest memories.

That was the day we finally - after months of talking and surfing the net and planning - experienced what it was like to go camping like any regular Aussie.

Imagine a whole bunch of strangers congregating in one sprawling tourist park for the same reason: pitching tents, setting up deck chairs, grilling dinner over a Weber, gathering around a fire to sing American Pie to guitar accompaniment (very good singing and strumming it was too), teens trying out dance moves and doing handstands, kids running barefoot, friends drinking beer and chatting late into the night while the sun refused to go down till after 9 pm.

The most magical moment must have been when we were snugly tucked in under our quilt listening to all the activity that was still going on outside. Knowing that we were not alone, that we were part of this massive meeting of strangers-with-a-common-purpose, at whom we smile and nod but will probably not see again.

Wow.

Even the accommodation options were amazing.

There were caravans and campervans. The van next in the next space proclaimed Wicked Campers. (We later saw a number of Wicked Campers vans on the GOR on our way home.)

People who had brought only their tents (like us) and people who had brought their entire outdoor furniture sets.

People who had their own BBQ equipment and were barbequing like old pros, and people who used the camp kitchen to rustle up instant noodles and luncheon meat (like us).

People with boats.




The Great Ocean Road Tourist Park is perfect for first-time campers. It's got cabins, a central brick building housing the bathrooms and laundry, another building for kitchen and indoor games, a playground, and a huge grassy area for the powered and unpowered sites with the numbers of the lots painted on the grass.





And the cost?

$42 for one night for the four of us. You can't get much cheaper, unless you go bush (no thanks....yet!).

We're thinking Wilsons Prom next.

And Philip Island. Anglesea. Lorne. Torquay. Warrnambool.

Travelling in Australia is double the fun when you can save heaps of $$ by camping.

The savings can go to special treats, like Timboon Fine Ice Cream - Mmmm!

2010: A New Decade Begins

It doesn't seem so long ago that I was counting down to the new school term.

We're now two days into 2010 and I'm thinking: where have the hols gone? A couple of weeks more and we'll be back into the grind of morning rush hour, afternoon swim lessons, Sat keyboard and Chinese class...

On 30 Dec, Mandy organized for the Sunday School kids to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, at Werribee Regina Cinemas. My good intentions of going for the 10.45 Body Vive class at Fenix Fitness were scuttled when Beth insisted tearfully that I be with her for the movie. This is my second visit to the cinema in three years, a record I am proud of. Cinema tickets cost a fortune here. $16 for an adult ticket! And a medium popcorn costs $6.50. How do ordinary families afford it?

On New Year's Eve, we invited our friends Michael and Clara over for dinner. On the menu were Hainanese Chicken Rice (anything is possible with Prima Paste), Thai green curry, fish assam pedas, pappadum and a lovely choc mud cake with ice cream after the countdown and the TV screening of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (a movie Michael commented never seemed to end).

We had such a good time that the following night, it was our turn to be guests at Michael and Clara's. Pizzas, heaps of cushions, a game of Monopoly between Michael and Beth, and two movies: Monkey Magic and Forbidden Kingdom. Both movies had Sun Wukong as the central character. MM was pure comedy (audio in Japanese) , FK was drama/fantasy with a nice spin. An American (Anglo Saxon) teenage boy is magically taken back in time by the staff of Sun Wukong and is dragged into the conflict between the evil Jade Warlord and the fearsome Witch reared by werewolves on one side, and an unlikely trio ( two monks and a young girl bent on vengeance) who are trying to defeat the Jade Warlord and recover Sun Wukong's missing staff before it falls into the enemy's hands. The boy eventually helps to resurrect Sun Wukong, who has been turned into a stone monkey by the Jade Warlord.

Today, we drove to Abbotsford to check out the Convent Arts Precinct and Collingwood Children's Farm.

We particularly enjoyed lunching at Lentil As Anything, a vegetarian restaurant staffed by volunteers where you pay as you feel. They were running a buffet lunch when we were there and the kids loved the food, which is saying something as there were no pizzas, pasta, chips or fries in sight. Beth had the privilege of putting our contribution into the wooden money chest on the counter. There's something very special and inspiring about coming to a place where nothing is expected of you, everyone is friendly and you know you're doing your little bit to be part of something that is creating a greater good.

Another reason we're grateful to be living in AUS, where there is always something new to see and do every weekend.