Melbourne (3)

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First off the picture I could not get to load a couple of days ago of Lyn outside her (similar) namesakes shop on The Block.

On Wednesday we woke early in order to catch a train to Mitcham. This meant a 35 minute ride into the suburbs south east of Melbourne city centre. The train and journey were good and only cost £1.80. Why can't the UK offer such a good service? We were met by John Mann, Lyn's relative and his wife Glenda. The plan was to visit the Melbourne Australian Garden in Cranbourne, but John suggested we first called into Pinoak Court which was just a couple of minutes from their house. We turned into this quiet up market close and a squeal from the back seat informed me that we were in Neighbours territory known to the world as Ramsey Street.

Lyn and Glenda jumped out of the car and were met by a very friendly security guard who informed them that filming took place yesterday and that they could take as many pictures as they like, in fact he took Lyn's camera and took a picture of her outside the Kennedy's. John was particuarily pleased with the reaction. as he knew that even if the rest of the day fell apart we would be left with good memories.

We then went onto the garden and spent a few hours learning about the types of plant that grow indigenously in Australia. The signs show that we were close to meeting some of the indigenous wild life as well.

After lunch at the Garden we travelled to Mt Dandenong. The scenery was again magnificent with some extremely tall (100m) australian mountain ash which are really eucalyptus and not ash. We stopped at William Rickets Sanctuary which is a sculpture park in the grounds of the late sculptor. He was in tune with the original owners of Australia and most of his sculptures feature aboriginal faces in the settings of their stories and beliefs.

We were taken back to the Mann's house and spent some time swapping family information before being taken to dinner at a local hotel. We finally caught the train back to the city about 10.30.



Today, Thursday we went to the National Galley of Victoria and took a couple of hour guided tour and learnt a lot about the origins of the masterpieces on display. After the tour we made a speedy trip around the rest of the gallery including some more modern items which included furniture and designer dresses, quite a mixture.

For a change we took a tram to St Kilda beach, just 20 minutes from the city. However when we arrived the wind off the sea was uncomfortably strong so we took a short walk along the prom and caught the tram back to the city. We did pass Albert Park so I was able to see the grandstands erected for next weeks F1.

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Photos

In the Australian garden
The number of watering cans in each area signify how drought tolerant the palnts are. The sign reads " snakes seen in this area today"