Friends' Reunion in Melbourne

The next stop on our journey was Melbourne. We flew from Hobart to Melbourne with Virgin and the journey into the city and out to the eastern suburb of Croydon was very easy. It was interesting on the train journey passing through suburbs which we remembered, especially Hawthorn where we lived after we married.

We received a warm welcome from our friends – Ann and Ron, lots of catching up.

Tuesday dawned, a bright spring morning and we drove into the country visiting Warrandyte in the morning and Marysville later.

In February 2009, as we were leaving Australia last time, Marysville was virtually destroyed by the Great Bush Fire on what was called Black Saturday. Only the bakery survived. It is amazing how the town has been rebuilt and the vegetation regenerated. Near here is the Steveanson Waterfall which was in good flow. Driving through the very tall eucalyptus trees and the giant ferns was very impressive not to mention seeing kookaburras and cockatoos.

 

On Wednesday, we caught the train into the city and wandered along the Yarra River along South Bank, hopped on the free tram to Fitzroy Gardens where Captain Cook's cottage stands. The gardens were beautiful with all the blossom and spring flowers Hopping back on the tram at Parliament House, we went to Rathdowne Street where Peter had worked for GEC in the 70s near Exhibition Hall. We walked down Bourke Street ( the main shopping street) and back to the station.

The population of Melbourne is rapidly rising and property prices are high. It was very noticeable that there was a greater number of Asians, mostly of Chinese origin than there used to be years ago.

Thursday, we went to the Rhododendron Gardens in Olinda, up in the Dandenongs before meeting up with our other friends Louise and Malcolm for a very nice lunch. Then we switched our cases from one car to the other and next stop was Beaumaris by the beach.

Friday started windy and cold but we drove along some of the beaches along Port Philip Bay, including Brighton with its colourful beach huts and Sandringham with its yacht club. and then went to South Melbourne Market where we had lunch and browsed some of the stalls. The fruit and veg stalls were of very good quality but more expensive than at home as were the orchids and other flowers. On the way back to Beaumaris we stopped for a drink at the pub in Richmond where Louise and Malcolm's son is the chef. The staff had just recovered from a very hectic weekend as the Richmond Tigers – Aussie Rules Football had just won the Premiership Final after 37 years of trying.

Sadly on Saturday, we then had to say goodbye to our Melbourne friends but Louise kindly drove us to Tullmarine where we picked up our Apollo Campervan. As we were about to drive off, the manager said we had to change to another van as they realised it would have reached its limit for the long rental. We rejected the second van on the grounds of a very dodgy noise coming from under the bonnet. Third time lucky and with an apology, a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates we set off for the Grampians.

Highlight of the week: catching up with our very good friends since the Seventies.