Fun in Melbourne

Welcome back.
I spent a great week in Melbourne from Jan 16th to the 20th.
Caught a ride into the big city with Marg. She picked me up at 5AM and dropped me off at Southern Cross Station.  From there I took the 7AM train to Reservoir Station to meet up with Alison and Wally.
The train trip was a great way to see a part of the city I would normally not see. Some graffiti  artists have incredible talent. And on the train trip I saw lots of "art".

Alison and Wally picked me up at the station and we walked back to her place. Had a rest and chat, then drove to Costco. What fun, lots of different things for sale than in Canada. Bought myself a 1.25 liter bottle of Bundaberg Rum, for a low price of $34.00. Very cheap. Then back to Al's to drop off our purchases. Had a bite to eat and took Wally with us for a drive to Hurstberg, outside the city. This area had some bush fires last year. We stopped at St Andrews pub and carried Wally thru to the outside area to have a drink and enjoy the nice breeze blowing thru. The picture above is of a King Parrot that watched us enjoy our drink.

Wally enjoyed our stop, he always gets lots of attention. Such a cute guy.
Tuesday morn saw us sleeping in, so nice. Alison and I took the tram to Sugardough to have brunch and catch the tram to Flinders St Station downtown. We walked over Princess Bridge to South Bank. There we went up Eureka Tower, to the Skydeck on the 88th floor. This is the highest public vantage point in the southern hemisphere. It was incredible windy and the top of the tower can flex up to 600mm.

We had a great time up there and the views were incredible.

Alison being blown around in the wired in viewing area.
After the tower we jumped back on the tram and went to Prahran Market. This market has the best olives, and I bought my faves, yum. We then had some award winning gelato and caught the tram to Glenferrie road to go to Sweetas, a great chocolate shop. We then took the tram back to Pony Fish Island for a glass of champers.

This is a photo of Pony Fish Island, it is a cool little bar under the pedestrian bridge from South Bank to downtown.

After our champers, we caught the tram home. Took Wally for a walk and went over to Al's friend Jenny's and went to Saleem Indian for supper. Was wonderful food, I have eaten there before and it was exactly the same.
Wed was a day of rest for me. Al left for work around 7AM, I took Wally for a walk around Edwardes Lake near Al's place. I then walked up to the shops and back to read and sleep the day away. Jen came over for supper.
Thurs I got up when Al did and took the tram to downtown and went to Queen Victoria Market.

I then shopped around downtown and took the train back to Al's. Took Wally for a walk and had a snooze and rest my feet.  We had a nice quiet evening.
Fri I took Wally for a walk around the lake again and then took the train downtown. Went back to Queen Vic Market to pick up a few things. I then met Wendy at the old Post Office where we met up with Karen our friend from Hobart. Wendy, Karen and I met in Europe in 1978. And we have kept our friendships alive for all those years. Had a great time catching up with each other. Karen comes to Melbourne every Jan to watch tennis and see some plays.

 W and I took the train back to Al's and Deb picked her up there. When Al got home from work we picked up Jen and went to Mai Thai for supper. Yum again.
Sat morn Wendy and Deb picked me up and we drove out to Geelong where we were going to a 50th birthday party That night. Geelong is a beautiful port city. It has changed a bit since I was last time.

The party was lots of fun and on Sun we headed back to Melbourne to have lunch with a friend of Wendy and Deb. Then home to the Island and to my bed, and walking Daisy on the beach.
We are now preparing the Avan for our big trip away. I will keep you all updated with photos of our trip to South Australia. Tomorrow is Australia Day, we are not sure what we are going to do. Guess we will lift a glass of champers, maybe even a few times! Take care and stay happy like me!!   Bon