Point Lonsdale is a small holiday resort on the western head of Port Phillip Bay, near Geelong. The family of a friend from work offered me use of the house for a few days, as it’s almost always empty throughout the week.

We stopped in at Geelong along the way to pick up some groceries, as both Sue and I were determined that this was going to be both a healthy and low cost holiday. In many respects, Geelong was a bit like Lismore, a large service centre, but nothing more or less, on the surface at least.

When we arrived we soon discovered a major dilemma: there was no television in the house. Now as much as I realise being on holiday is about getting away from everything – including the television – and that we could have spent our time reading books and playing games, it was Tuesday night, “The Bill” was on and so we had a major crisis, which necessitated a trip back to Geelong to hire a television.

That dilemma solved, we went shopping for mussells (for dinner) at Queenscliffe, and then almost as soon as we arrived back in Point Lonsdale, we headed off to the Front Beach which, on this particular day, was popular with families

The house was a great little cottage with more beds and bedrooms than I thought could be possible in such a small building.

On that first night, we ate dinner and watched television outside on the landing, as we soon realised the antenna was barely strong enough to pick up the signal from Melbourne, and even managed to get in some reading.

In Geelong, I had picked up a copy of “Lonely Planet Guides Travel Photography: A Guide to Taking Better Pictures” which, incidentally I had bought Damien for his birthday. The book contains lots of handy hints, and I found the tips about framing and composure particularly enlightening. Sue had brought with her a book about the experiences of an Australian woman who married a French man and who was adjusting to life in Paris. Unfortunately, I don’t recall the name of the book, but many of the passages Sue read aloud were memorable, especially those concerning food and fashion. I think I will have to ask Sue to bring it with her when she comes to Sydney in a couple of weeks time.

We slept well that first night, getting out of bed at 11.30am, which I blame on the darkened room, not my laziness!

In the afternoon, Sue and I went to Barwon Heads, the nearby town where the television series, Seachange was filmed. The most instantly recognisable feature was Diver Dan’s Boatshed. A while back there was a story about how the shed was being pulled down to be replaced by a rather garish restaurant development. We discovered, however, the development wasn’t that garish after all. We’d brought sandwiches with us, which we consumed while watching the world go by.

We went looking for “Laura’s Beachhouse” at the Caravan Park, and although there was something there called “Laura’s Beachhouse”, it looked NOTHING like it did in the television program.

Anyway, there was nothing to Barwon Heads. And we noticed another nearby town also claimed to be the “Home Of Seachange”. Very confusing.

On Thursday, we headed off to a place called Portarlington, which I think should be Port Arlington, but which, most definitely is Portarlington.

On the wharf, there was a large collection of older men and women, of mostly Southern European descent, purchasing mussels direct from the boat at $4 per kg. It was really good to sit for a while and watch the activity.

We also wandered around the wharf and found lots of starfish squashed on the rocks.

It was a nice place for a relaxing holiday.