Melbourne
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2008
1
27
62
Trip End
Mar 19, 2009
Melbourne,
Australia
Friday, December 5, 2008
We immediately felt the difference in the weather for the better; not as hot as Thailand - around 22 degrees - and not a sticky humid heat but a comfortable, dry heat with a refreshing wind.
It's very odd being here during the build up to Christmas. Decorations are out and the postcards and posters have santa in the snow, meanwhile everyones toasting up in the sun wearing flip flops and board shorts! People in England may not believe us right now but we kind of miss the cold weather over Christmas time where we can huddle up by the fire eating cheese
a kangaroo stare out!
. We're not complaining though!Peter and Flip have been so kind to us, and so have their family who live near-by. Daughter Anna and Matt and their lovely two children treated us on our 2nd night to a proper Aussie barbie - flamboyed king prawns and blue steak! We also had a lovely roast dinner (we'd missed Western food!) with Flips sister Virginia and family - who've kindly invited us to spend Christmas day with them.
Peter and Flip have a 2nd home an hour out of the city in a coastal town called Flinders. We've been down on several occasions to get some fresh air, relax and see the wildlife - including heaps of Kangaroos! What made these trips even better was driving Flip's automatic Mercedes which she's genourously allowed us to borrow - the roads out here are so nice to drive on too - straight, quiet and with enough width to U-turn whenever we made a mistake!
We'd planned to sail Peter's boat 'Supergoof' around Flinders but unfortunately Melbournes wettest day of the year (and gale force winds) spoilt our plans! A golf lesson with a Scottish pro at the local Flinders golf course was good fun though - he said Chantal performed a perfect swing, she just needs to hit the ball next time - I didn't even do that well
Flinders coast
!We journeyed into the centre of Melbourne via the tram a few times and visited the impressive new Federation Square. Chantal was able to reminisce on memories of her past stay here when taking a gap year with her friend Penny 8 years ago - including St Kilda, Claude the cat, Tim-Tams and the frame stall in the market under the bridge (still there!).
It's been great to recharge our batteries and have a 'safe' base to call home. I don't think either of us realised how tiring travelling was (especially in Asia) until we both stopped and sat down with a cuppa! (again not complaining)
Fully rejuvenated we set about planning a road trip along the Great Ocean road.
