After the excitement of yesterday, Boxing Day started very overcast but predominantly dry. We had had a splendid Christmas dinner at Grant’s and Anna’s and the whole event was extremely successful given the problems that the weather had caused. The TV news this morning was full of the dramatic Melbourne weather scenes with the size of hail stones growing with each weather report until they were, apparently, the size of cricket balls!!! Scenes of broken car wind screens were shown and of quite a bit of property damage. In hindsight we escaped pretty well but we were sorry to have missed the White’s evening party. Today the famous Boxing Day Test started with Australia hosting India. We were there last year when England were the visitors and went again on the fourth day when England, with ... read more

Christmas Greetings to all and a very very Happy Birthday to our dear daughter Sarah whose birthday it is today, Christmas Eve. She is just relaxing at home today - good on you, Sarah! We have now been in Australia since 14 August 2010 and this will be our second Christmas here in Melbourne. During 2011 we have travelled to some really fabulous places, met some truly delightful people and enjoyed some incredibly exciting activities. Since starting our travels we have covered well over 50 thousand kilometers, we have issued some 236 travel blogs which contain 330356 words and which have been illustrated by 4459 photographs. We are currently about a week behind with our blogs but we record our adventures daily and will endeavor to turn them into blogs at the earliest possible opportunity. We ... read more

Sunday 18th December – the morning was very overcast and, maybe because of the early birdsong, Graham was up and about before 7 o’clock. He couldn’t sleep but was still tired and watched the early morning news on the TV and then a Triathlon event from Auckland. After that he dozed in the chair on and off until about 11:00am. Meanwhile, I had prepared sandwiches and a flask in readiness for another day out. Today we wanted to spend some time in “Bushranger” country – an area where, in the late 1800s, infamous outlaws took shelter because of the denseness of the woodland and the difficulty in traversing the hilly terrain. Not far from Mansfield is Stringy Bark Creek where the most notorious bushranger, Ned Kelly, committed the crime that made him a “Dead or Alive” ... read more

Monday (12th December) dawned a bit dull and overcast and we were all a bit slow to get going. I had some parcels to post and Graham wanted to get the damaged tyre fixed so we drove the short distance to Burwood where a tyre depot is situated. They said they’d be able to fix the tyre for a modest price and I was able to post my parcels so all went well. Back at Daphne’s we made a hasty decision to visit Chadstone Shopping Centre – a major decision given the size of the place and the nearness to Christmas. There were a few things that both Daphne and I wanted to buy so we both felt it was the right decision. Graham just came along for the ride. Our departure was actually delayed somewhat ... read more

Thursday morning (8th December) dawned with a bit of excitement - Graham spotted a fire engine parked at a neighbour’s house. On closer inspection (being nosey) we could see flames billowing into the sky very close to a substantial fence but, fortunately, some way from the house. A garden fire had got out of hand – it was a very warm and calm morning – and even the three volunteer firemen were having difficulty controlling it as the flames threatened to spread. The “garden fire” had been well stocked with, amongst other things, large planks of wood, old doors and frames, anything that would burn. In hindsight, it was very irresponsible to have a fire of such a size but I don’t suppose the old chap who lived there dreamt that it would become such a ... read more