Dad and Shirley would have been proud that we took in the botanical sights of Melbourne. As much as it was where the venue for the evening’s outdoor Shakespeare performance of Midsummer’s Night Dream but also provided some inspiration for our plans for our own garden in Kaitoke.

Sorry if this photoblogging is getting boring but it’s hard to capture the beauty of Melbourne without stopping at almost every corner! Views of the CBD from the southbank Similar view from the Kings Domain Longer look from the Shrine of Rememberance on the King’s Domain

On account of the impact of the sun from the Cricket indoor venues were very much in order. There are plenty of cultural sights close to where we were staying we were able to dodge the sun through the trees in Carlton Gardens. Royal Exhibition Hall built for the International Exhibition, 1880. Not open for [...]

This shows the view we should have been looking at from the MCG towards the city but since the cricket was over we headed off for alternative entertainment. JT taking in the boats at the new docklands area View of the CBD and the other stadium in Melbourne, sponsored by a rival telecom firm we [...]

It’s hard to convey to excitement of being part of a crowd of over 80,000 people and the misery of seeing the demise of England’s finest cricketers. The barmy army kept us entertained until MT got sun burned and that brought on new depths of despair. It didn’t help knowing that our ticket for the [...]

View from hotel at night MT in conversation with the locals in Treasury Gardens Free tram that trundles around the CBD making it easy to get to all the sights across the city

At 4am we started Christmas part two to get to the airport to fly to Melbourne. Luckily it’s only 20 minute drive to the airport and with no parking or traffic hassles to contend with we were on our way around 0630. Our hopes for a hot Boxing Day were dashed by a southerly blowing [...]

Christmas kiwi style, like pretty much much else here, is a low key affair. Certainly the shops don’t get angsty and over the top with the commercial push and since there is a pull in many households as whether to go traditional or not the food shops have schizophrenia. We’ve enjoyed traditional with the First [...]