Home Again

So we arrived back on the Sunshine Coast around 2pm on Tuesday.  Our flight departed Tullamarine around 35 minutes late but we managed to catch up around 15 minutes of time so we weren't that late.

Our trip from Kate's place to Chris' for our last night (Monday) took about 25 minutes longer than we had hoped for owing to very heavy stop start traffic.  We are now convinced there are minor traffic hassles where we live after experiencing from Kooyong Tennis Courts to the West Gate Bridge traffic snarl. It was bumper to bumper and stop start but perseverance and patience won out in the finish.

My highlight from our week in Melbourne of course was being able to go to the footy.  On the Thursday I saw Richmond and Carlton play with Carlton who finished near the foot of the table last year able to keep up with last year's premiers until around midway through the final quarter.  Richmond eventually won reasonably comfortably with several late goals.

Arj and my grandson James went with me to that game and we all had a fabulous night, despite Carlton's loss. During the half time little league match James seemed to be trying to work out how he could possibly get onto play on the MCG with the other kids.

On Saturday it was Hawthorn vs Collingwood at night.  We got across to Kim's place in St Kilda Saturday lunchtime and then all three of us headed for the footy that night.  Hawthorn won comfortably.  We used Uber to and from the game, one of the huge advantages of living where Kim lives in St Kilda.

I grabbed a bus on Sunday for my team Geelong's match against Melbourne with my side just winning at the end.  It was nail biting stuff I tell you and nearly destroyed the whole idea of a week in Melbourne to watch footy.

Then after the game I hopped a train to Springvale where I caught up with Trish and Kim for tea at our favorite little Vietnamese Restaurant, the Hoa Tran.  It is so popular you may be able to make out the crowd waiting around outside the restaurant wanting to get a table from the photo I took.  To say the food was great was an understatement.

We manged to make the car just as the downpour began.  Kim then drove us back to Kate's.

Finally Pat and Graeme, long time friends, popped around for a chat and a coffee on Monday morning.  They make an effort to see us every time we are down in Melbourne so we reciprocate when we have our own car.  We spent a very pleasant morning together.

Monday evening Kate drove us to Chris' for our trip home.

It seems the lawn mower's problem is a faulty coil which is a come and go sort of a problem.  It is most likely this was the problem from back at Christmas time but instead at that stage it was given a huge service.  I have decided to pay the $90 for a new coil and keep fingers crossed it now lasts for a few more years.

My bike wheel cannot be replaced with a new one as they no longer make them.  They have a second hand wheel for me which isn't in perfect shape but still in much better condition than the current one. I pick it up tomorrow.

So we have arrived home to humidity, showers and warm sunny but windy weather.  But it was nice in our own bed last night.

Our trip to Melbourne and for me to get to the footy was great.  We saw our kids and their families and all had a great time.  But home is nice!