Dramatis persona*

helenhead Helen Chick

I've always wanted a bumper sticker that said "I'm a female, LDS/Mormon, Scout leading, geocaching, piano-playing, bicycling, mathematics educator with a PhD in maths ... and I VOTE"!

I think this makes me a minority group of cardinality 1!

* Since there's only one of me and "personae" is plural (I think), I've gone with dramatis persona.
March 2024
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Coastal hike

After a week or two of wet and windy weather Saturday dawned gloriously sunny, which was good to see because a small Scout hike was planned (for a small number of our small Scouts). We headed off to Bushranger’s Bay, down on the Mornington Peninsula: two Scouts, one dad, my Assistant Scout Leader, the visiting German PhD student, and me. We all managed to fit in the dad’s car, and although I quite enjoy driving it was nice not to have to on this occasion.

The track in sidles along a hillside above a creek, and we saw wallabies and kangaroos, as well as a huge variety of bird species. The tea-tree was in flower too, with its sweet aroma wafting through the air. The beach at Bushranger’s Bay has lovely creamy sand and the creek is just wide enough and deep enough to warrant taking off your shoes and socks in order to cross it. The big cliffs and islets around the bay make an imposing and dramatic backdrop, and the beach ends at the impressive Elephant Rock which can be seen in the picture at right.

I know there is a cache atop Elephant Rock, but it’s just a tad too risky for taking the Scouts up there, so one day — soon — I am going to have to come back without them in order to grab a smiley that I am sure will afford spectacular views.

After exploring the bay we continued back up the hill to follow the track along the cliff-tops to Cape Schanck. We had lunch in the grounds of the lighthouse (taking great care to defend our meal from the predations of a pair of opportunistic chubby magpies) and then took a tour of the light which still floats on its mercury bath and has its clockwork mechanism (although the light is now driven by a motor). The balcony gives great views of the whole of Victoria’s southern coast, from Cape Otway to Cape Paterson, since it is 80m or so above sea level (the 21m lighthouse is at the top of some sizeable cliffs).

The last photo is of one of the cows grazing the farmland not far from the cliff-top track. It should be noted that even the potent power of tea-tree can’t obliterate totally the pungent pong of eau-de-bovine.

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