And just like that my summer holiday break is over - it was back to work for me on Monday. Glenn has already been back at work for two weeks and Hannah has another two weeks before the new school year begins. This year she will be a Year 7 student, so she is moving into the senior syndicate at her school and is very much looking forward to it.
Back tracking now to our fabulous holiday in Melbourne, Australia between Christmas and New Year.
As you would have seen in my last post, we arrived to a very brown and dry Melbourne with lots of haze due to the fires burning in both Victoria and New South Wales. Through out the week we watched the news reports about the devastation being caused to homes, properties, wild life and tragically, lives being lost. The tireless front line and behind the scene workers, Fire, Police, Army, Navy who came together to help the communities are absolutely incredible in this time of these extreme conditions. My good wishes are with everyone as they continue to get these fires under control.
Glenn headed off to the start of the test cricket match NZ playing Australia early on Boxing Day, so Hannah and I ventured out on a walk around the vicinity of where we were staying,
Pegusus APart' Hotel, on A'Beckett Street, which was just a block away from the Victoria Markets and a short walk to the nearest tram stop.
Then it was time to meet up with my aunty and cousin for lunch at St Kilda.
Back into the city to brave the crowds out and about for the Boxing Day Sales. I have never seen crowds and queues like that, Hannah and I didn't buy a single thing, ha ha.
Melbourne Central was only a block or two away from where we stayed, and QV Melbourne.
Trams make it so easy to get around the city and if you stay within the city loop, it's free.
Browsing the Victoria Markets and having breakfast, we did this a couple of times during our stay.
Glenn went back to the cricket for Day 2 so Hannah and I decided to check out the Eureka Tower, after a walk along the river at Southbank.
Awesome views all around.
Then we found the Sea Life Aquarium.
Hannah loved the penquins.
More browsing through lane ways and arcades.
A super highlight of the week for me was going to see the stage show Harry Potter & the Cursed Child! When we decided to book our trip to Melbourne back in April last year I'd seen that it was going to be on so secretly bought tickets for Hannah and I. We didn't tell Hannah until we arrived in Melbourne and she was gobsmacked!
It was absolutely brilliant, so magical and I've really got no idea how they managed to pull off a lot of the tricks and illusions. The show is held over two parts, we went to an afternoon show at 2pm, followed by the 2nd part at 7.30pm, so it's quite lengthy, (each part was 2 1/2 hrs). But so worth it for Harry Potter fans. The theatre is gorgeous too.
We were up quite high in the grand circle, which was perfect to see a view of the whole stage.
We spent a lot of time during the week with my aunty, uncle and cousin, who were more than happy to be our chauffeurs, which meant we could out of the city and do some sight seeing.
Healeville's Sanctuary:
Yarrah Valley Chocolaterie, loved it there.
Docklands was also a short tram ride from where we stayed so one evening we went for a ride on the Melbourne Star.
So many choices for finding somewhere for dinner
Another day and another car ride to Rosebud, Arthur's Seat, Port Sea, Sorrento, and Mornington
This was also one of the hottest days of our trip, my phone recorded this temp, Glenn's had 43 c! We've never experienced heat like it, it was like being in a fan forced oven!
After a walk around air conditioned Chadstone Shopping Centre, where everyone else seemed to be too as it was hectic, we went back to our motel where we spent the rest of the day in the pool.
For our last full day, my uncle took us for a drive to St Kilda, where we spotted this year's the Block Australia apartments and some of the previous years properties too, and then to Brighton to see the little beach huts.
They were so cool, but so pricey!!
We browsed South Melbourne Market and found my uncle's favourite dim sim shop, it's been a family business since the 1940's.
A final tram ride round the city with my cousin
For the first time in many years, we saw the New Year in with a visit to Flagstaff Gardens, awesome views of some of the city fireworks.
New Year's morning we were up bright and early to head out to the airport to start our trip home.
We arrived back in Auckland about 3.30 pm then our flight to Napier had us arriving back in Hawkes Bay about 7.00 pm. We finally arrived home about 8.30 pm, happy to be home, and worn out from all the km's we'd walked during the week! We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday, loved spending time with my family there - they are so generous with their time and all the driving! We wish we'd extended our time there for a few more days. Hopefully it won't be another 12 years before our next trip to fabulous Melbourne.
See you soon xx
