Some Catching Up

Our full week in Melbourne has been spent enjoying family time with Kate, Arj and the kids, and where possible, catching up with friends.  Very little has been done in the outside fresh air as it has been so cold.  Some may say bleak on a few days.

Without being too unfair on Melbourne, it was an uncustomary 31° when we left Brisbane and we arrived into a wet, cold and windy Melbourne after dark in the midst of a howling icy wind and the odd shower of rain.  It certainly has improved markedly since then with some sunny days with a reasonable top temperature.

14° at the MCG on Saturday was a taste of what going to the footy could be like.  We have been told that the last week or so have been the coldest and most unpleasant of the winter, so it seems we have mistimed our visit.

Friends and former neighbours Barry and Rainy drove down to a nearby Thai restaurant for a meal and a great catch up on Tuesday evening.  Then we caught up with Carol and David (photo above) at a local restaurant for a delightful lunch on Wednesday.  Thursday it was to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant with Eddie and Patsy and today it is Vietnamese again with June and Keith at a more car parking friendly restaurant.  Our trip to Vietnamese at Springvale on Thursday was made difficult by the impossible car parking.  It took us some time to find a suitable spot but it certainly marred our day out.

Though we have the use of Kate and Arj's second car, we are not keen on driving too far as I said recently.  20 minutes or so seems around our limit of driving, all done with utmost care and sobriety.

But our all too brief time in Melbourne is rapidly coming to a close.  We have 3 more full days before heading home.  Kate and Arj will use us 'oldies' for the opportunity to head out on their own for a couple of nights and we will enjoy a little baby sitting, a task we rarely have had to do.  The footy is on TV both nights so I am not put out at all!

I have the MCG for a rug up and catch the the footy tomorrow Saturday, and then Sunday afternoon, we are back to Chris' for our final night prior to flying home on Monday morning.  It seems showery weather will greet us back in Brisbane upon our arrival.  As we have the car parked in Brisbane, it is a lazy one hour drive home where we should arrive mid afternoon on Monday!