Franklin 22 – 25 December 2007

Saturday morning we visited the Salamanca Markets and after a few purchases (including a cute hat for Laura), we headed out of town again and up the never ending rising road to settle on the river at Franklin.
On our first day we explored the area around Hastings Caves. We enjoyed a wonderful walk around the Thermal Springs before going into the caves. We explored some 4WD forest tracks and passed through dense green fernery. The weather was doing its usual trick of being changeable, so when we arrived at Duck Hole Lake it seemed like the best idea was a short peek on the track in the drizzle. But it was immediately beautiful with the path following a river that passed through ferns and bubbled over rocks and the senses were all activated. The strongest was the myriad water sounds, then the vision of patchwork greens, the smell of wet fernery and damp mulch and lastly the texture of the mosses and ferns, some as soft as a pillow. The vegetation changed a few more times in density and type but kept us moving to discover the next corner. We were rewarded at the end by a small but beautiful deep lake surrounded by white blossom trees that we thought were leatherwood. The sun came out and the openness contrasted with our dark trail. We thought we would dedicate this pretty spot to Ruth. We walked back in the damp and cool through the same beautiful vegetation.
We were pretty tired on our return to Jimmy so we visited the pub over the road and were entertained by a young barman who joked around a bit. The Sunday roast of the day was on the menu. Heather and Peter did well and Laura managed with a plate of vegies! Not sure they get what vegetarian is!
Next day was a very strange Xmas Eve, with the weather creating a backdrop of uncertainty. The whole day went from deep dark, cold, wet, windy, stay-in-bed feel to bright sunny winter’s day; every 15mins. It really did something unique for us. I don’t think Melbourne could do it better! Laura was getting a bit restless and luckily we were able to give her a Xmas Eve jet boat ride. Only she can describe it. It rained twice of course!
Xmas day was bleak again and induced us to us staying in bed until 9am with all the covers up. We all got into the double bed for breakfast and presents. Laura went to a lot of trouble wrapping up some really lovely books that she chose for us. It was a great Xmas morning. We saved up our appetite and had a fairly traditional roast with all the trimmings. We left Xmas pudding until nearly tea time and managed a few left overs. The sun came out so we walked the town with Peter in his Santa hat. Our late evening walk was calmer and a bit warmer, enough to sit by the river with a full rainbow backdrop.