Today was Moyra's actual birthday, so she had more presents from Pete at breakfast plus phone calls. Moyra and Alan went off to a lovely little church hall in Drysdale to a life drawing class for a couple of hours. Winks and Pete did some gardening and chores. Good to have time together Later in the afternoon Pete took Winks and Al to the 'Men's Shed' where Pete joins other retired blokes to do 'things'. The shed is well equipped for producing many repurposed items in wood, metal and other materials. It is a great place fo men to get together and chat, work on projects, garden or just hang out. On the way home we went to Bunnings Hardwear superstore in Leopold, which is huge and holds a massive variety of stock. We ought the ... read more

Pete and Winks were up very, very early at 4.40 to take Sue to the Airport to catch her flight back to Perth. SadLyn she missed thes celebration. At mid morning the Nicks and the McCarthys and all the children arrived and the day turned into a mad party fo Moyra's birthday celebrations, two days early but a convenient day for those still working. There was all kinds of activities to suit all ages with biking and walking on the nearby rail trail, fun at the nearby playground, spa hot tub plus painting For the children. There was roast chicken rolls and salad for lunch for 8 adults and 6 children. In the evening Pete and Moyra provided a tasty lasagne and salad dinner for 14 people, aged from 18 months to 76 years old. Everyone ... read more

We had a very comfortable night in the McCarthy's spacious home. Julie and Mike cooked us a great breakfast of fried eggs and bacon for all the family, including Mike's parents Kerry and Jed, who had called over from their farm nearby. It was good to see them again. Kerry brough her freshly baked scones, with jam and cream. After breakfast we set off to drive into Melbourne to Nicola and Nicholas' cute little home in Albert Park, near Melbourne. Unfortunately Nicholas had to go into Melbourne to work but joined us later, in the park. After tea and coffee in their garden we set off in two cars for the The Royal Botanical Gardens which are enormous and interesting. We had a picnic in the children's safe play area. Elliot and Gorgina had great fun ... read more

Another early start saw us with Sue, Moyra and Pete Driving to Port Arlington by car to catch the ferry to Melbourn. It was a wonderful way to approach Melbourne from the water and interesting to see all the activity on the Yarra River, the bridges, the boats and the cranes which give way to the sky scrapers if the city centre. We had breakfast at 90 Secondi restauran/bar, very nice and reasonable prices. Our primary objective was the Melbourne Art Gallery where we went to see the Terracotta Warriors Exhibition. After the exhibition we met up with the Nicks and had coffee and a walk in the park near the botanical gardens.... read more

We and Sue were up early and all packed up to leave Mandurah for Perth airport and our flight to Melbourne, on the Dreamliner from London, leaving at 1.30 pm. Before leaving Mandurah we went for breakfast with Sue and Terry and their friends Patsue and Brian at 'Nourishing the Soul, a lovely restaurant on Mariner's Cove canal. We left directly from the restaurant to the airport stopping on the way for some strawberries. Terry dropped us at the airport and our journey continued arriving in Melbourne at 7.30 local time after a comfortable 3 hour flight. Brother Pete met us at Tullamarine Melbourne airport with a people mover and we had a comfortable journey to Pete and Moyra's home in Leopold near Geelong We ended the day with a lovely home cooked meal of salmon ... read more