Of Winter in the Antipodes

OK, so I'm here living in Geelong and I'm working down the road about 20 kilometers at St. Ignatius College in Drysdale, Victoria. And it's winter down here. Now, what most people from my neck of the woods would call winter is roughly analogous to what I'm experiencing: it's dark (yesterday was the shortest day of the year and all), it's rainy, and it's cool. Not cold mind you, at least by my standards. But because of the drought of the last few years, I think Melbournians and their nearby neighbors may have forgotten what real winter is like; it seems that for the last few years there wasn't a lot of rain in the winter and the temperatures were a little milder. That has now ended.

With temperatures plunging into the low 50's, people are bundled up like Eskimos. Scarves, wool hats, jumpers, sweatshirts, huge jackets, etc. etc. are all the order of the day. Warranted or not. All of which would be no never mind to me if I weren't living in the Biggest, Darkest, Coldest Church Rectory- EVER. The building, I am given to understand, was originally going to be the Geelong bishop's residence when Geelong split off from Melbourne as a separate diocese. An event which never happened. So it's Bishop Big. High, Georgian ceilings, long corridors, lots of huge bedrooms, a dining room big enough to double as a ballroom. It's really big. The idea, a year or two ago, was that they would lease it out to a group that would develop it into a boutique hotel, and the location for such a venture really is ideal, it's right on the water near a marina in Geelong, so the vistas of the water are beautiful, when it hasn't been overcast and raining. Which would mean yesterday it was beautiful to look out over the water.

So, anyway, back to the development plan. It seems that a 20 year lease was signed and the antique furniture (the Bishop who never was, his furniture) was auctioned off. Then the developers started filing plans, etc. And then, the neighbors became aware of this plan (you can see where this is going, can't you?) and vowed to fight it legally. So the developers dropped the plan, canceled their lease and bailed.

Now the parish priest has moved back in and I have followed suit. He had only moved back in about a week before I did. So we're living in a place that was partially redone to become a hotel (lots of beds in big bedrooms) with little to no furniture. In a mostly non-renovated building. My favorite feature: the circa 1972 velvet wallpaper. Somewhere, there is a steakhouse in the US that has no wallpaper because it was hijacked for a bishop's residence.

It's a little odd rattling around this place with one other person, I have to tell you. It's big, it's cold and it's drafty. Mostly it's weird living in such a big place with only one other person. It has horror movie written all over it. Not necessarily a slasher film, more like "The Legend of Hell House" where there is something creepy and otherworldy going on that you can't *quite* see. More like that.

More to follow...

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