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Published: January 11th 2011
Wednesday 5th January – neither of us had slept well overnight for a variety of reasons. Being unable to shake the colds off has taken its toll and we both felt irritable and homesick. Graham went out early for a walk along the nearby Mullum Mullum trail. When I eventually got going I took two loads of washing to the laundry and got them hung up to dry. We went off to the place we have come to know like the back of our hands – The Pines Shopping Centre – for a spot of lunch and a bit of grocery shopping. Afterwards Graham dropped me off at the caravan park and then went back to The Pines to get his hair cut. They did a good job - he had asked me to cut it for him but I didn’t fancy messing it up - maybe next time ….!
On Thursday morning Graham got up early again for another walk along the trail while I was still fast asleep. We decided to have another quiet day but we did manage a dip in the CP pool late in the afternoon. That night we had a number of disturbances –
a lorry came in and parked opposite at about 11.30 and then went off at about 5.30 the next morning. Other cars seemed to be coming and going late too but the worst thing was the trouble we had with possums. We generally like the Australian wildlife but not when they are bouncing around on the caravan roof at 2.30 in the morning. They had been on there earlier too and Graham, suitably attired, had been out once already to discourage them. Alas, they returned and eventually Graham had had enough. This time he stormed out just in his undies – known locally as “budgie smugglers”!! Armed with a long handled broom, he eventually managed to dislodge them from the roof. There were two of the little blighters and they took some persuading before they moved on. Their means of escape was to “trampoline” off the awning into a nearby tree where they just sat and peered down at Graham. With a bit of help from the broom they were finally discouraged enough to move on but by then our night’s sleep had been well and truly spoilt. Unfortunately (or fortunately for Graham and his budgie smugglers) I wasn’t sufficiently
compos menses to take any photos!
On Friday we had hoped to meet up with Daphne at her house but it didn’t quite work out so we caught the tram from near the end of her road and went into the city. We had listened to the start of the day’s play in the 5th Ashes Cricket Test and while we were waiting for the tram we were handily stood outside a shop selling TVs with huge screens. I just happened to be checking the score when Aussie Peter Siddle was out - caught on the boundary - and we knew the match would soon be over. When we arrived in the city centre we strolled over to Federation Square where, on an absolutely huge outdoor screen, we could see the England team celebrating – we had just missed the last wicket going down but we stayed to see the presentations and the Barmy Army celebrating. What a great moment for English cricket! There weren’t many Aussies watching in the square but sadly one who was came out with some very spiteful and unsportsmanlike remarks. Graham suggested that he was simply a bad loser then we moved away from
him quickly before he became even more abusive. After that we thought we should celebrate a bit so we had a fish and chip lunch in one of the fancy restaurants in the square and very good it was too. We visited the Information Centre which, as usual, had a wonderful array of leaflets, people on hand to help and lots of lovely souvenirs.
There were a number of places in the city we wanted to explore and the newly developed Docklands area was one. So we got on the appropriate tram knowing that our ‘zone 1 day return’ ticket covered us anywhere in the city. We got off a trifle too soon (my fault) and found ourselves amongst smart new waterside office blocks and apartments. We walked through some of these until we got to the widely advertised new development. On the way we passed by a newly landscaped wetland area which, as well as the waterfront, would be a great place for office workers to relax at lunchtimes. It was now a hot and humid day so we were relieved when we eventually got to the spot Graham knew we would get to if we had stayed
on the tram (silly me!) and found an ice cream parlour. When all the development in this area is finished it will be a wonderful addition to Melbourne attractions. This bit of the waterfront area had the ‘Amazing Bodies’ exhibition and statues of some of the more famous sons and daughters of Melbourne: Dame Edna, Nellie Melba, Kylie Minogue, John Farnham and Graham Kennedy. Across the road was the smart new shopping precinct full of very trendy shops, coffee houses, cake shops etc. Sadly for me they were not the sort of shops I’m interested in but it was a nice area to walk through. We were still hot and bothered so had iced drinks then caught one of the free tourist trams back into the city. It was easy from there to get the number 75 tram back to Burwood. By this time Daphne and David were in and Daphne kindly invited us to stay for supper. We arranged to pick them up for a picnic day out tomorrow.
The weather forecast for the Saturday had predicted a hot, humid day with a cool change coming in later. So, on arrival at Daphne’s we all agreed to “head
for the hills” armed with one of Daphne’s delicious picnics. We made up the route as we went along and ventured on to a gravel road which was a short cut to the top of The Dandenongs. We finished up in Olinda, a delightful little town where we thought to stop for a quick coffee break. We were really hoping to find Olinda Falls Picnic area but the shops were too much of a draw to ignore. We love poking around in these quirky shops and they were full of all manner of amazing and unusual things. Graham left us to it after a while and went and found a coffee shop. Eventually hunger got the better of us all and we drove off in search of the elusive picnic spot. There were no obvious signs but a local pointed us in the right direction and we soon found it. For somewhere not advertised at all it was pretty busy but as by now it was way past the normal lunch period we managed to find an empty picnic table to use. It was lovely amongst the tall gum trees where we were entertained by the crimson rosellas, yellow tailed
black cockatoos and a particularly friendly kookaburra and we thoroughly enjoyed our late lunch. After that we did the ‘easy’ walk to the top falls which, although pleasant, weren’t very high or spectacular in comparison to many falls we have seen. We decided not to do the more strenuous walk to the lower falls but made our way back through Olinda towards Camberwell. This took us through another beautiful little village, Sassafras, where we spotted Miss Marple’s Tea Shop. Without further ado we parked up for a cuppa but when we looked inside it was crammed full with people and even more waiting to be seated. That was disappointing but luckily there was another tea shop, although very ordinary by comparison, nearby so we went in there and had cold drinks for a change. Another stroll around more interesting shops followed before we were lured into an inviting ice cream shop. As we finished the ice creams we could feel that it was becoming much cooler and breezier. We had all intended to “cool off” in a neighbour’s spa pool that evening but by the time we got back to Daphne’s it was just too chilly – what a shame!
We’d had a lovely day so, after arranging to meet up with Daphne again on Sunday (David planned to visit a friend) we meandered back to the CP.
Sunday was an altogether cooler and cloudier day but undaunted we decided to go from Daphne’s by tram to St Kilda to sample the craft market and the beachside. Another tram ride ensued but for once we had to change trams en route so the journey probably took about an hour. When I purchased our tickets I was stunned to be told they were half the normal price ‘as it was Sunday’ - what a great idea! It was fascinating going through some of Melbourne’s smartest suburbs and all for $3.25 each! Near the beach front at St Kilda the market stalls were full of fabulous trinkets, jewelry, paintings, wood craft – all sorts of things. We need to remember these places when we come back to Melbourne later on in the year but for now we didn’t really want to buy anything – just to look and enjoy the atmosphere. The stalls were in a long line and seemed to stretch forever. When we finally reached the far end of
them we crossed the bridge to go down to the beach and on to the pier. That’s when the wind hit us – it was a bit chilly! Still, we carried on and enjoyed our walk to the end of the pier where fortuitously there was a café where we stopped for lunch. As we strolled back along the pier I had a call from David to remind us that Grant, Anna and the girls were coming over for supper – oops - it had completely slipped Daphne’s mind and neither Graham nor I knew about the invitation so a quick return home was needed so that we could prepare. Graham stayed on in St Kilda while Daphne and I caught the next tram back to Camberwell and after diverting to a local supermarket we got back to Daphne’s with plenty of time to spare. Daphne made a huge chicken pie, I prepared some veggies and tidied up a bit and, on his return, David vacuumed – it soon looked ship-shape and Bristol fashion!! Graham eventually returned oblivious to all the panic that had occurred and then the guests arrived. It was a splendid evening and lovely to spend some
more time with Grant, Anna and the girls – Amy and Charlotte are growing up fast into lovely young ladies. Time flew by and all too soon – at about 11:00pm!!! - we were preparing to leave. Anna reminded us that they had found another unopened package addressed to us which must have been overlooked on Christmas Day so we called in on our way back to collect it. We were delighted we did as it was a calendar, a card and a lovely note from our dear Aunty Enid in Derbyshire England. Getting back to the CP at about midnight, we were pleased that we hadn’t been locked out and crept back quietly to Sweetie for a good night’s rest.
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