Safe and Sound In Melbourne

We left Brisbane around 3:30pm and 31° on Thursday and eventually landed in Melbourne close to 6pm.  By the time we collected our luggage it was a chilly 9°.  It was dark, cold and windy with the odd passing shower of rain as we waited for Chris to drive in to pick us up.  The change in weather was a cold reminder of what living in Melbourne can be like.  We braced ourselves against the cold wind as we waited.

We enjoyed a couple of nights with Chris, Wendy and the two grand kids and it was great to catch up.  We ventured out of the house on a cold and wet Friday afternoon for a flying visit to a shopping centre.  They have a very large house and they keep the main living dining kitchen area warmed.  They are used to that life style.

They were great hosts and it allowed me to totally redo Andrew's android TV box for him with all the updates and the new and better working addons.

Our daughter Kim recently returned to Melbourne from her home in Perth followed up by a trip to Asia.  She is busily sorting out a new job, and getting her great St Kilda Unit set up again with furniture.  She has to borrow a car (previously hers) from a friend who is holidaying overseas for a week and was able to get me to the footy on Saturday, take Trish shopping with her and finally to the Malaysia Garden (MG) for tea. 

The footy was great and reminded me again of how wonderful my MCC membership is despite it being so expensive especially when we live so far away.  But the day was great (but very, very, cold) and then my team won a less than inspiring game of footy.

We moved onto Kate's to stay Saturday night after the MG meal.  Their home is smaller and they tend to have some heating on 24/7.  So we have settled in nicely.  Despite being a one-year-old's birthday party on Sunday it was an ideal opportunity to catch up with great friends Barry and Rainy and their family.  We had a great time.  Our kids know their kids so it was enjoyable for everyone.

We do have a car available to us now most days but we only like to use it as a last resort.  We have had unpleasant experiences with borrowed cars before so we will only use it when necessary and when the times suit.  A part of the deal is to take and collect the grand kids from school which we enjoy doing.

We have a night out planned for Tuesday and a still to be confirmed Vietnamese lunch on Wednesday.  As the photo above taken from Kate's backyard shows, the weather isn't conducive to outside activity.

I recently bought a Bluetooth mini keyboard on eBay.  Being Bluetooth it is very practical to use with a variety of devices.  I saw a YouTube video on this particular model and was sold on its versatility.  It is dearer than any other of these mini keyboards I have but connects readily to any Bluetooth enabled device.  I bought it on eBay and had it delivered to Kate's place here in Melbourne.  I picked it up this morning (Monday) from the post office and it is a very clever little device.

So I think I will head off for another quick play.