May 14, 2016
I winged my way to the US for a 13 day whirlwind trip. Flew into my sister Nancy's, territory of Wilmington, NC. After 28 hours of travel, it was great to be there and see her! After visiting my niece, Polly, and her family we headed for Florida to visit our Dad, first stopping in Charleston to say hi to my friends in the neighborhood. Then onward to Dad's. We were so happy to see him. 
After visiting Dad, we visited my other niece, Jennifer, and her family in the Tampa area. Then the drive back up to North Carolina where Nancy would pack for her trip back with me to Australia!! I know, I thought it would never happen! But yay! My sister was going to visit us in Melbourne!
May 30, 2016
We arrive in Melbourne, finally! One day later than expected as we missed our Melbourne flight in LA, but let's not relive that.
The next 3 weeks were quite a blur! We really packed in a lot and I'm sure Nancy had to go home to rest up! (Me too.) Here are our highlights with a ton of photos!
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| Lunch in our Aussie hometown of St. Kilda |
And a quick trip downtown (CBD-Central Business District) where I had a dental appointment. We made a quick visit to one of the street art sections of town.
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| Dinner at one of our favorite places, Fitzrovia. Within walking distance of our house too. |
And of course a trip to Australia wouldn't be complete without kangaroos and koalas. It would have been nice to see them out in the total wild, but that is not always a guaranteed thing without a lot of driving, so we chose Ballarat Wildlife Park where there are free roaming kangaroos.
We got a dose of culture at the National Gallery of Victoria, where we viewed Australian artists' work. Then a stroll across the street to snap a couple photos in front of the iconic Flinders Street railway station.
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| St. Paul's Cathedral |
A visit to the Queen Victoria Night Market and Federation Square "The Light in Winter."
OK. Here come bunches of pictures from a scenic outing to the Shrine of Remembrance and the Royal Botanic Gardens. Right here in the CBD. Did I mention that all of our travel thus far has been via tram and walking? Exception: Ballarat Wildlife Park.....this was when our driver, Torsten, was available.
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| From the top of the Shrine of Remembrance |
Australia is known for many fine wines. And as luck would have it, we happen to have a wine region close by and our driver was available!
After that wine, we needed another dose of culture. So off to the National Gallery of Victoria we went. This time, to the international gallery.
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| Poor little Beetle Bug |
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| Self portrait of how I feel after too much wine |
I heard about a current exhibition called "The Dressmaker Costume Exhibition" which showcased the wardrobe from the movie, "The Dressmaker." We rented the movie first and then went to the exhibition at Rippon Lea Historic Home & Gardens. It was the warmest day of Nancy's winter visit, a balmy 62 degrees. We also had a Devonshire Tea with scones, jam and cream.
The day we decided to do the free walking tour of Melbourne, the weather looked pretty iffy, so we opted to go the next day. Turns out, that day was a slow drizzle during the whole tour that cleared up when the tour was over. Nevertheless, it was an excellent tour I'd recommend to anyone!
During Nancy's last weekend here, we took a day trip on the Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles. Beautiful scenery, that only could have been improved with an additional 20 degrees warmth.
It took us a while, but we finally made it to my favorite dessert venue, the Houptown Tea Room in the Block Arcade. The atmosphere is elegant Victorian and the desserts are decadent!
And then we went shopping at the Alpaca store and each bought ourselves a beautiful scarf.
June 20, 2016
Nancy's three week visit flew by, but we saw a lot! We finished off her visit the night before her departure at a great "small plates" restaurant called Hawkers Hall.
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| This says it all! |
What a great visit!
Until next time, G'Day mates!
