Last photo dump of Melbourne

It's really fortunate that I wrote out  list of pictures when I started this bucket list, as I got smothered by the worst round of flu so far! I am truly dreading an encore if it comes! I have decided to try and make things a bit more healthy around the home to see if that will help break the cycle.

Otherwise, I'm moving north!

Anyway, here are the last of the pics, I am going to bore you with, and then I shall move onto something a bit more meaty! :)

One of my favourite places, The Shrine of Remembrance!

These are the gates thorough which we always entered another favourite haunt, The Botanic Gardens.

A glorious tree in The Botanic Gardens.

My siblings and I used to run along this wall when we were young, much to our mother's consternation!
This is The National Art Gallery, another favourite place!

I photographed lots of the artwork and wished I had learned a bit more about my camera before I went!
This painting really struck my mother heart! 

I remember well the graffiti that covers so much of Melbourne's walls, train stations and other flat surfaces!

The Queen Victoria Markets were a great delight in my childhood, but quite disappointing
 for it's lack of hand made goodies now.

Gretel spent all our travelling time in this gorgeous sling. It was quite comfy, surprisingly!

Another cute childhood memory! An old post box.

My childhood hero ~ Phar Lap in the Melbourne Museum.

Another thing I love about Melbourne ~ the splashes of bright colour!

Lunch on Lygon St with a friend I've been chatting to for years online.
You would think we were old pals from way back when!

All in all, it was a fantastic adventure and I truly was blessed through the whole trip. From the safety and good health Gretel and I enjoyed while we travelled, to meeting new faces and catching up with old ones, to seeing all the places and things I remembered so dearly from my childhood, to the help from kind strangers along the way, and the way I had to lean on God to help me find my way each time I got lost! Which, was frequent, hahaha!

Well, I'm so far behind now that I'm just going to have to let go of the past and move onto the future. Seeing as I didn't finish writing about my trip to Melbourne, I shall just pop in some of my favourite pics from that week.
So here goes. Hopefully, I can remember which ones were on my bucket list!

I got to spend the whole weekend with some lovely ladies I met online over 5yrs ago!

I remember lots of driftwood on the beaches as a child. Not something
 we see a lot of on beaches in the West.

This wasn't on my bucket list, but warrants being on here as
it was THE BEST vanilla slice EVER!

Gretel playing with the central heating vent.
I remember these from my childhood too.

Another memory, these little beach huts are so quaint

This not a memory, just something I've always wanted to taste test.
It was delicious!

Who could ever forget the Yarra?
The only upside-down river in the world!

A coffee scroll. I had a teacher who used to buy each of his students one 

every Wed morning. We would go to the staff room and have them

with hot milo's!

I shall have to do this in 2 parts. More coming soon. :)

A Melbourne Bucket List

I was fortunate to fly east for a week's holiday with little Gretel last week and have returned home a little tired, but ready to tackle life head on again.

I really recommend time outs for mummies, it makes such a difference to our hearts and mindsets. I really missed all the other children after only a few days. I did enjoy searching out little gifts for each of them to bring home, and thinking of them without being aggravated by them. A bit like kissing them while they're sleeping, hehe.

It is 29 years since I left Melbourne last, and a lot has changed over the years. However, it was shortly after I arrived, that I realized I needed to do and see things that were a special/good memory from my childhood. I have not travelled since we left Melbourne, and flying with Tiger Airways is something I hope I NEVER have to do again! I thought my head would explode as we were landing, it was so painful! Thankfully Gretel slept the whole way which I had hoped for as it was the midnight horror.

We arrived in the wee, small hours of the morning, while it was still dark. All the other passengers had long since left by the time we disembarked and we got a little lost on the way from the plane to the terminal. Some kind ladies pointed me in the direction of the shuttle bus and we made our way to Southern Cross Station.

Once there, I experienced that same feeling of dread, that I had no clue where to go and that this adventure was quite possibly just a bit too big for me! I wandered about for a while, dragging our luggage and carrying the back pack and Gretel in a sling in front, and another bag too. As we stepped out into early grey light, I looked left and right to see Hungry Jacks on one side and a pie shop on the other. Neither looked attractive for breakfast, and I was starving!

Across the road was a little bakery/cafe and we headed inside to it's warmth and delicious aromas. I ordered scrambled eggs on toast and a large black coffee, thinking to share the food with Gretel.

That was when I realized I had to do a Bucket List!

One of the first meals in a restaurant that I ordered when I was a child just moved over to Melbourne, was scrambled eggs on toast! pretty exciting, huh!?! I had to chuckle. It was really good and I wish I had thought to take a picture of it. The coffee was excellent also and I poured it into my travel cup to make it last longer. It also had the advantage of not being a danger to Gretel while we walked about.

Gretel turned her nose up at the eggs, but managed two bites of the thick toast before she succumbed to sleep once more.

We found our way through the station once more and ended up on the right train to Blackburn Station to meet Melissa. I did manage to lose my thermos, but went back and found it in time, whew! Melissa picked us up as arranged and took us back to her house to await the other travellers coming from Adelaide and Queensland. We had all met online about 6 years earlier in a chat forum and had become firm friends.

This trip was organized to celebrate Nicole's 30th birthday and Melissa was hosting us at her holiday home in Rye for the weekend. I  planned to stay for another week to catch up with relatives and friends and to see the parts of Melbourne that I remembered from my childhood.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, and some pictures of our fabulous weekend in the next post!