Wow! What can’t I say about Melbourne, we squeezed so much
into a week and still didn’t see everything we wanted to.
We stayed at Dandenong Caravan Park which was 30minutes out
of Melbourne. So we chalked up some Toll fees. It was nothing flash but enough
to just base ourselves as we spent a lot of time travelling, visiting and sight
seeing. Our first visit was to a DFO and went shopping. The girls enjoyed it
and started to get into looking for bargains and things they would love to
have. But after a few hours they ran out of steam. I think I could have kept
going for a few more! Jade was over it before we started, but ended up finding
some shoes to add to his already large (excuse the pun) collection.
Next we visited Jade’s sister Lilly, her boyfriend Clinton
and friend Lakita. It was so good to see them and the girls were wrapped they
finally got to catch up with their Aunty.
The next day we went to the Museum. It was impressive, Perth
Museum has nothing on Melbourne, so many displays and interactive stations,
Emma had to stop and look and read everything! Chloe loved the rocks and
crystals and learning about how they were formed. Once Emma saw Pharlap (yes
the actual taxidermy one) she was in love. Lily was thoroughly impressed by the
huge whale skeleton in the entrance. We then had lunch and walked down Bourke
Street Mall. We also had our first Melbourne tram ride on the free city circle.
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| The huge whale skeleton at the entrance to the Museum |
The next day we caught up with my sister Kealy, first stop was 'The Block' 2012, we have watched it every year and here was our chance to see it. We went to
lunch in St Kilda and discovered the hidden St Kilda Adventure Playground. It
was amazing and huge! The playground was started more than 30 years ago in the
vacant lot with refuse and items from home. Over time the Council adopted it
and helped fund bigger and better improvements but always with the help from
local children. The playground is an ever changing space with kids given free
will to create and imagine, including craft activities and school holiday
programs, a must see for anyone in the area. We then went to find the penguins that come
into the groyne to nest for the night along with the water rats. Both are
protected species. It’s been too long between catch ups with my sister so this
was a great day!
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| The girls in front of 'The Block' 2012 |
Friday! The girls spent the afternoon with Aunty Lilly and
Clinton at the Melbourne Zoo. They had a great time. The favourites were the
seals, emus, peacock, bears, lions and tigers. Jade and I spent the afternoon
exploring Melbourne city and doing a bit of shopping.
Saturday! Food shopping in the morning in Dandenong - Jade
was shoved and elbowed by older Italian women vying for the best fruit and veg
at the market. We visited the Victoria State Library so we could see first hand the Ned Kelly armour and read and see all the interesting facts about what happened to him. (We visit Glenrowan where it all happened too but that's another story for next week!) Then off to Aunty Lilly’s again for babysitting and we were off
to dinner and the football (West Coast Eagles vs Collingwood Magpies – Semi
Final). It took a bit to find a bar along the way that didn’t serve exotic
tapas such as lamb brains, jellyfish and other unusual dishes. We finally find
one that served Turkish bread with dip and salt and pepper squid. We found most
places in Melbourne serve alcohol including bars, pubs, cafés and IGA’s. You
couldn’t take more than a couple of steps before you came to another café or
bar, they were everywhere! Next off to the footy, my second AFL footy game
ever! I consider myself quite sport illiterate but even I thought it was a
great game and that it was a shame West Coast lost. We had seats behind the
goal posts and the man next was an avid Eagles fan because he made sure I was
leaving with only 50% of my hearing every time the players didn’t follow his
very loud instructions. He was nearly in a fetal position by the end of it, it
affected him so much!
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| Ned Kelly's actual armour at National Library |
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| Footy game and my bad photo of Eagles warming up |
Sunday was a rest day to relax and play. Monday is
moving on day. We are off to Mansfield (Man from Snowy River country) and the
snow!
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