Advertisement
Published: January 31st 2012
Edit Blog Post
Thursday 26
th January was Australia Day – a public holiday. We knew that there would be plenty of events going on throughout the city but we wanted to visit the Botanical Gardens because today would be the only day of the year that the splendid Governor’s Mansion would be open to the public. What we didn’t know was just how much entertainment and how many special events had been arranged, but we were to find out.
Before all this though, we had a special mission – to collect David and Mele’s wedding cake from Dandenong where it had been decorated and to deliver it to the wedding venue – Yering Station. We arrived at about 9.15 – Isadora had the cake all ready but we were able to take a peak. We were very pleased with her work and relieved that it had been packed in a sturdy cardboard box for transportation. On her advice the cake was placed in the boot of the car but to do that we hastily had to remove all of our storage boxes and put them on the back seat! It was a quite a worrying journey and not an easy task as the
cake was heavy but it was duly delivered in immaculate condition to the restaurant where the reception would take place and put in the care of the Yering Station staff.
After that, we drove to Daphne’s to see if she and/or John would be interested in joining us on the tram into the city. We had mentioned our intentions to Rod, Tania, Cathy and Chris and we knew that they were considering doing the same as us so there was a chance we might all meet up in the Botanical Gardens. When we arrived at Daphne’s she was in a bit of a panic as she had agreed to host this evening’s “get-together” and was not really prepared. Meanwhile, John, who was beginning to feel the affects of jet-lag, was still in bed. David was still there and he agreed to take Daphne off to the shops to get some supplies for tonight and John gradually roused himself and was keen to join us on the tram into the city. He had never travelled on a tram before so he got himself together and, eventually, the three of us made our way to the end of Barkly Street to
await the next tram. The tram wasn’t too busy but, because of a parade in the city centre which we didn’t know about, it was to stop just short of our intended destination – Flinders Street. Nevertheless, with the crowds in the centre now huge and a big parade just completed, there were people, bandsmen, dancers and spectators everywhere making our progress on foot towards the Botanical Gardens much slower than anticipated. Federation Square was packed with people and the giant screen was relaying events of the day as we walked over the bridge across The Yarra River. All away along the road were more special events with a huge variety of stalls, displays of vintage vehicles, dog agility competitions, and, many, many more things which we had known nothing about. It was a terrific atmosphere and people seemed happy to be celebrating Australia Day in such a way.
When we eventually reached the entrance to the gardens which would lead to the Governor’s Mansion, we were met with a massive queue. It was free admission but the sheer numbers of people and a strict security check had created the very long queue and they refused to let us
by just to view the gardens. So we walked on to the next entrance, passing some fabulous statues and the War Memorial on the way, and went into the gardens next to The Observatory café. This area was reasonably quiet and the café was not too busy so we decided that this would be a good opportunity for some lunch. After we had eaten I rang Rod to discover that they were also now in the city and were making their way slowly towards the gardens. After a few muddled directions, we eventually met them at The War Memorial. By now they were anxious to have lunch so we walked with them back to the café where we left them while we carried on our walk around the beautiful grounds. We found the big lake and eventually settled in the lakeside café (another one!) for an iced drink to help to keep us cool. We began our return journey meandering back up through the gardens and back along past the many activities, most of which still seemed to be going on. It must have been a popular time for people to make a move for home as the road, which
fortunately had been cordoned off, was a mass of bodies. It was exciting and entertaining as we made our way back to the tram stop. Fortunately, by now, the main tram routes had been re-opened so we were able to wait at our normal tram stop and to make our way back to Daphne’s. There we discovered that Mele, her sister Konai and Konai’s husband had no means of getting to Daphne’s for this evening’s meal (we did wonder why they hadn’t hired a car?) so we agreed to divert on our way to Daphne’s later and to pick them up. The evening’s “soiree” at Daphne’s was a huge success and a good time was had by all. It didn’t look as though it would work out that way as, on our arrival, everything appeared to be a bit hap-hazard. We had brought with us some very Aussie ‘Lamington’ cakes and a very British ‘trifle’ and with everyone pitching in, out of the chaos came a splendid meal and social evening which continued until about 10:00pm. It was lovely to be able to spend a few hours with David and Mele on the eve of their wedding and with the
big day looming everyone made their way back to their accommodations. We had to divert again, of course, to take our three passengers back to their motel so our day ended a bit later than planned but Australia Day had been a very special day indeed!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.088s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0586s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb