We've booked a seats at the Boomerang Bar for this year's Melbourne Cup festivities (ANZA event at the Kranji racetrack already booked out) and we've packed the suitcases for Friday evening's flight to Melbourne. No doubt the students will be missing us terribly for the rest of this week.
With Peter we tackled the Pagoda in Chinese Gardens on Thursday morning.
Eric and I managed 8 summits, Peter did more. If you have to climb steps in preparation for a trek these are about as good as it gets in Singapore. We were all soaked in sweat by the time we finished but planning to return each week from now on to do it again and again.
Walking around the gardens to relax the leg muscles we bumped into Bev having a few quiet moments by the lake. How nice would it be to have this closer to home as she does.
These elegant bronze monuments-'12 Gentlemen' from Taiwanese master sculptor, Ju Ming, are the permanent feature standing tall outside the Metropolis Business Centre beside Buona Vista MRT where we stopped for coffee on the way home. Eric thought they needed a bit of colour.
Unfortunately we spent 3 and 1/2 hrs on the plane on the tarmac at Changi waiting for departure. Apparently the manifest didn't match the passenger list so the pilot couldn't leave until the ground staff fixed the errors. I was very impressed by the general mood of the detainees who kept it cheerful though felt at anytime it could turn quite nasty.
We arrived in a cooler Melbourne and collected the hire car only to be told that it was a very bad weekend to have chosen to come; The Caulfield Cup, a Jehovah's Witness Convention and the Phillip Island MotoGP were all happening. She forgot the Around the Bay Cycle event but more about that later. Despite that announcement, we had a terrific run into the city, through the tunnel (our first time in this) and down the Peninsula to Dromana where we still had plenty of time to relax before the 4pm wedding of my nephew Jason and his gorgeous new wife Georgie. My sister Judy had booked us into a small hotel along with themselves, Mum and brother Col and Beth so it was a lovely opportunity for a family reunion. We haven't seen James, my brother's eldest son since he moved to Qld so that was really special. The only ones missing were our own boys and Tahlia in Darwin.
The wedding was held in a church in Shoreham and then the reception at Crittenden Estate Winery. Tucks Ridge was a nice spot to enjoy a glass of bubbly while the wedding party went off for photos. Both wore beaming smiles throughout the service and celebrations making it a most relaxed and enjoyable day for everyone. We certainly slept well that night.
In the morning we drove to Sorrento to meet Judie Mac who had come over from Ocean Grove on the Queenscliff ferry. On the way we saw hundreds of cyclists all participating in the Around the Bay event. Apparently there were 12,000 entrants this year and as a result the road was closed at the ferry terminal as they all take the ferry service to complete the loop. That's something we hadn't anticipated. We still managed to meet up with Judie just after 10am and walked a few of the trails on Point Nepean. We were spoilt for walking options down in this part of the world. Pt Nepean has beautiful natural landscapes and is also rich in history having played its part in early settlement, quarantine and defence. Not to mention home to Cheviot Beach where Prime Minister Harold Holt went missing in 1967. It is right at the tip of the Mornington Peninsula with great views of Bass Strait, the Rip and Port Phillip. Coincidentally today marks the 100th anniversary of the first fleet of ships to leave Melbourne carrying soldiers off to the First World War. We could see the Heads that they sailed through and happened to walk by the point from which the first round of Allied shots were fired, forcing a German ship that was leaving the Port of Melbourne to return and be detained.
It was lovely to catch up with Judie who worked with us here in our first year and trekked with us to Gudel in that Dec. We really appreciated her making the effort to cross the Bay so early to fit into our tight schedule. After saying goodbye once again, we drove back to Portsea and joined a very happy and vocal post-wedding group at the pub for lunch.
When it turned quite chilly we drove on to Beaumaris for the night. After a quick meal of fish and chips we were all in bed by 8:30.
We went for a morning walk along the beach from Black Rock but found the wind whistling right through us so we took shelter in the suburban streets and ended up in a familiar park where we often walk a dog if we stay down over Xmas at Val and Arthur's. Then we took the train from Sandringham into the city and met up with Eric's brother Laurie and wife Sue who came down from Maryborough on the train. We had a lovely day together wandering along the Yarra, passed Southbank and on to Federation Square then down Bourke St and back to Southern Cross. We caught just a few of the icons that make Melbourne Melbourne.
The Sandridge Bridge feature includes 128 glass panels each offering information about Australian indigenous peoples or the countries of immigrants to Australia, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
Flinders St Station
Back at Beaumaris we enjoyed a fabulous paella for dinner which Rog put together and shared pics of the wedding. Once again it was a very reasonable night.
On Tuesday morning Eric and Rog took off on the bikes for a ride to Parkdale with a few other keen 'guys'.
You have to be a guy to do this apparently. Never mind, I enjoyed the morning listening to a pair of young butcher birds in the garden (once I'd cleaned up the kitchen that is). Then we drove out to Mum's at Yarra Glen. Hew garden is such a treat at this time of the year! A tonic for the senses with abundant colour for the eyes, fabulous perfumes for the nose, trilling birds for the ears, trailing wisteria over the front portico you cant resist touching and thriving vegetables for the palate. Benji looks so handsome with his coat clipped for spring. Mum looks pretty good too don't you think?
There was an accident on the EastLink so we were held up and Mum was ready and waiting for us when we arrived so we went straight down the street to her favourite cafe for lunch. Then I spent most of the afternoon getting very frustrated with IT, but hopefully we will now be able to Skype, Facetime and play Words with Friends between ipads.
Late in the afternoon we headed up into the beautiful Dandenongs to Selby, where Denise and Gerry live. We haven't seen much of these dear friends since we left Croydon in 1985 but it doesn't seem to matter, whenever we do get the chance to share a meal we just take off where we left off and it feels like only last week. The boys talk music and Denise and I catch up on all the other friends and family. In fact one of their boys, Josh and his fiance Kat were there for dinner too.
Since they had to go to work and we had an early start to get to the airport we had another sensible night. Are we getting more mature or just boring?
Eric did a great job driving while I navigated to get us back to the airport via Wellington Rd, the Monash Freeway and Bolte Bridge in very heavy traffic. I'm glad to report the plane took off close to the scheduled time for this return leg. Work tomorrow! Really?
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