This image.......well I think it sums up this part of the world so well!

On Jan 1st 2009 we opted to try a restaurant called Donovans, in St. Kilda. This is the same place we went to the market last year ;-) We started the evening with a couple of drinks in the bar area, where I challenged Leo to a game of Jenga – the photo was taken before the challenge was placed. Across the table Lydia and Esther sat, envious of the guys at play!! An excellent evening!!

The one day we went exploring by car, well two cars actually, we headed down the coast in search of the famous beach cottages. We found them as the weather found us, it still provided a quick opportunity to photograph most of the Geerlings together. It was meant to be summer but the weather was so cold!! Leaving the beach we ventured further south along the coast, heading towards the rising hills where Arthur’s Seat concluded our excursion – Tio and Esther at Arthur’s Seat, telescope in hand.

Walking around Melbourne, we stopped by the GPO – once the Post Office now a renovated shopping arcade, beautiful inside and out. There is a small cafe outside where you sit and watch the world go by. The other image is of Lydia and her sister Jo, with their mum Ingrid, spent exploring the backstreets of the city, one of the recommended city walks. It was on this journey that we came across all the amazing cafes and boutique restaurants to which we returned several times to delight in their breakfast menus and delicious coffees! The side streets were narrow and crammed with people, all adding to the experience.

It’s been some time since my last update so I’ll fill in the gaps, mostly with photos.....we spent New Year’s Eve in downtown Melbourne – Leo, Ingrid, Lydia, Esther, Jo & Tio. We had called around over the days before but for some strange reason all the good restaurants (those preferred by Melbourians...??) were closed for the holiday season – it became the in joke when trying to find a restaurant that we wanted to go to, that was actually open!! Anyway, Lydia found a table at the Chocolate Buddha right in the centre of the city, so after we had finished the last meal of 2008, we had prime position for the fireworks, (first show). They were very cool as the city was the backdrop, but the fireworks in Cayman during Pirates Week still win! After the display we were swept along with the crowd as 500,000 people had gathered for the show – on the way home over one of the many bridges, I shot the city at night, the first image is of the crowd once it had dispersed a little. The last image was taken on the balcony of Leo & Ingrid’s apartment at midnight, hand held shot hence the image blur – sorry!

New Years in Melbourne, Australia - 500,000 people, fireworks with the city as a backdrop. There was a white party somehwere, so all we saw were thousands dressed in......all white. The hour turned 12 and 2009 started, ahead of the rest of the world (New Zealand being first). Early out the starting gate!!

Melbourne. Our second real day here, Monday 29th December 2009. We arrived on Saturday, the day being a surreal journey through fatigue and haze, fighting to establish a new internal clock. Sunday, a step in the right direction, no thanks to the clubbers next door!! Taking tram 96 from the city, we experienced the Sunday market at St.Kilda, a strip of craft stalls selling arty items to those willing to part with their cash. If we didn’t have to lug around our bags for the next 3 weeks we might have invested some of our dosh in a couple of paintings that caught our eye....eyes! Having battled the throngs of sunburnt shoppers, we headed away from the beach to explore the tree lined streets to see how the locals live. Not badly either! Some mint properties, can’t be under a million anywhere. Thirst led us away from our explorations towards a lunch, parked in the sun, watching Sunday drift by as a couple of cold beers hit the spot. Back into the city, and another tram ride to the outlet shops – Waterfront shops, I think, can post a correction later if wrong! Opted for a mango smoothie rather than spend time in the shops, what more can I say ;-) !
Now it’s Monday, December 29, 2008 8.35am. There are two lattes and a breakfast waiting somewhere between point A and point B. Time to start the day!