Ray the Tram Conductor

This morning I didn't know if I was going to get out of bed at all...let alone make it for the sunrise...which I heard was rather magnificent.

However later in the day I took myself off for a trip around Portland on the Tram.

Jack drives the tram and Ray is the conductor who was full of information about the area down to the pine pile of wood chips on the port side.

Funny story I heard:
A New Zealand ship arrived in port many many years ago......the crew didn't like the captain so when he was on shore they burnt the ship down.
The remains are still there and so close to shore that on a clear day you can see the shadow of them in the water.
When the town gets the money they are going to put a glass walkway over it so one can look down through the water and see a ship wreck in situ.

There is much history about this town...I find it fascinating I love to hear the old stories. I am thinking that this is one of the older towns and the history starts around mid 1800's.....a lot of the houses here are built with what they call Blue stone....it's very gorgeous.

On my little trip I got off the tram at the Botanical Gardens.........I first visited the Curators Cottage...full of really really old stuff....It was remarkably dust free........and really interesting...I even saw a very old camera and film....WOW!
The best part about the Gardens though were the Dahlias.........rows and rows of brightly colored gorgeousness.......I stood in the middle of them all and took it all in...I was in Dahlia Heaven...some of the blooms were bigger than dinner plates....made my heart sing.

I did take photos...but really not enough to get the total feeling of it all. Besides I loved this one of Ray...he after all had a good hand in getting me to all the places I visited and told me all the stories....here he is having a smoko...(Tram parked at the World War II Memorial site) after going in for a cuddle with the curators dog.
I really didnt have the heart to climb the stairs to read the letters that were sent from those kids in the war to their folk.......of whom a lot did not return.....I feel tears welling just writing about this.
The spire on the Church was donated by a woman who had lost her 4 sons and Husband to the Ocean so they could find their way home.

I cannot imagine.

I am sorry I cannot get around to your journals...I have to write off line and cut and paste....connection really not so good