Spending time with family

We arrived at our hotel overlooking Albert Park, on the outskirts of Melbourne, mid afternoon of Wednesday 15th May. Our room overlooks the park, which forms part of the circuit for the F1 Grand Prix. The weather has turned cold & wet since leaving Thirroul at the beginning of the week.

The view from our room.

My cousin Sam & his wife Joan called at the hotel early evening to take us out for a meal & catch up with family chat. Although we have kept in touch since our last visit in 2006 we had plenty to talk about.   Joan with Anne in our hotel room.

Sam, Joan & myself.

We were joined at the restaurant by their daughter Suzanne. unfortunately the flash on the camera had packed in,hence the poor quality photo. of the five of us below.

The following day we spent in the city sightseeing whilst dodging the showers. We hopped on the free tram that tours the city.

The Victoria state parliament building

Outside the information centre in Federation Square.

We went to see an exhibition of costumes that have been used in major films in the last 80 years. Anne pictured outside the exhibition centre.

In the evening we were booked on the Melbourne Colonial Tramcar restaurant. The tramcar toured  the city & suburbs for about 90 minutes whilst we enjoyed a first class meal in wonderful surroundings reminiscent of The Orient Express. A picture of Anne & I waiting at the tram car stop.

Pictures at our table onboard the tram.

Anne disembarking the tramcar

This morning, Sam picked us up at the hotel and we drove out to collect Joan before heading out to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne, some 50 kilometers out of the city.

Before leaving the gardens we walked to Trig point lookout, where we had a 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside.

Note that the shorts & t-shirts have been temporarily  (I hope) put away. From the gardens we drove to Frankston for a picnic, just off the beach. We managed to find a table that was sheltered from the wind. Joan is very organised & the picnic meal, which was more of a feast, was perfect. Lots of Sushi for us to savour (for the first time).

On the way back to the City we called off at Brighton, to see the beech huts (just like at Fleetwood) which cost in excess of $200,000 each. It was also a good place to view the city from a distance across the water.

Once back at the hotel we said our farewells to Sam & Joan & thanked them for making our stay so varied and exciting.