A Maton Monday

Good evening Canada,

Welcome to the "down day", due to the fact that Aunt Kim had to go back to work and Uncle Derek only had a certain amount of time for lunch to take me around and show me the sites it was a fairly lazy day which I truly did not mind, not for a second.

After a nice brekky and some tea I hunkered down to read my book, after a bit I realized I could get NHL.com to stream the Chicago VS LA game online and therefore I became the biggest cliché of a Canadian over seas, streaming NHL Playoffs from the internet through the day.
Had a good quick chat with Mum and Pop before answering the door for Paul and spending the next hour going through 20 brochures he brought and watching the game.
By the time Uncle Derek came to take me into town I was quite sick of tourist brochures and nhl commercials and ready to go see some Aussie made guitars!

The MATON guitar factory has been in business since 1946 making beautiful guitars out of hand cut Australian wood and supplies, the factory was alive with workers as we peered through the glass in the showroom and I realized my amazement with the guitars was quickly stolen by the humor of the guitar-makers. Each craftsman looked as though they had a pot stash in their back pockets and they rode a skate board or a hippy van to work everyday, most had long out of control hair and the ones that didn't had tattoos galore and beard that would make ZZ-Top blush.
Unfortunately due to our schedule the guitar factory tours were not in the cards even with the hopeful charming words of Uncle Derek to try to coerce the secretary, but it seemed that we were out of luck so we settled for a look around the showroom but did not dare disobey the "DO NOT TOUCH THE GUITARS" sign that was very boldly placed where no-one would miss it.

Deciding we had enough of a look and wanted to touch Uncle Derek suggested we head to a music shop called "Sky Music" to have a feel for the Maton brand. Unfortunately Uncle D is GPS illiterate today and we couldn't for the life of us find the address for Sky Music, so instead we settled for a lesser store that apparently didn't even have them in stock... Bugger...

The day was winding on and Uncle D had to return to work soon so we headed home for lunch but we were side tracked by the need to stop and drool over the Harley Davidson "Harley Heaven" section at the Chirnside motor cycle store, it had everything from street bikes to racing bikes, dirt bikes, 4 wheelers, crazy cruisers, a few that I didn't even understand, seadoos and then we got to the Harley's. There is something so beautiful about a Harley that I just couldn't help myself, it took a push from Uncle D to merely knock me out of my blank stare. I even found one that had TYLER written all over it, just to match his truck, a matte-black Harley, with suspension and cold-air intake... very very handsome bike (cannot call a Harley "pretty") and once again, everyone in the shops - just like at Maton Factory - looked like they belonged on a bike on an open highway.

Our timing took over and we headed home for a bite to eat and the rest of my hockey game, I tried to explain the rules to Uncle D but think he was just grinning and nodding his head out of pure bullshit because the look in his eyes said "What the Hell is she talking about!!!", good on him for trying.
Uncle D and Aunt Kim at work and me with my book, I decided to try to get a hold of D and when I had a nice chat with my man I decided to get some life into me and head for a bike ride. 4.5 Miles later I had circled the wetlands, passed by the 'fancy part of town' where the 5-acre lots are equipped with everything from ponies to horses to minis, dogs and even sheep - which apparently everyone in Aus has to have in their back yards - then headed up the hill and back around the footy grounds towards the house again.
The wetlands were beautiful and everything about them was untouched, a great way to end my lazy day and get the exercise I so desperately needed after days of simple crunches and push ups, I think D would have been proud as I didn't stop once,... until my knee yelled choice words at me and I obeyed obediently.

We are now sitting down to click away on our laptops Aunt Kim and I, waiting for Uncle D to come home so we can have a nice dinner and most likely go to bed early, I have a big day tomorrow starting with a trainride into the city of Melbourne, and then a full day of shopping and exploring with Paul which I am more then excited about to say the least. I'll be sure to get photos for tomorrows entry but today I was just too occupied with my view. I did manage to get a GoPro of my bike which I am working on uploading for your viewing pleasure but for now my tablet is doing its best.

Till tomorrow. Cheers,

-A.G