Melbourne Marathon

 It was a really cold early morning start for the Melbourne Half Marathon this morning. James was running with his mate Ben and Sophie ran with Noah.  At 5.30 in the morning, we were in bed!

Beatles Revisited

 Last night we went to a concert at The Round celebrating the music of the Beatles.  It was all very familiar and we blended into all the grey hair of the audience very easily.

Another Night - Another Galaxy

 With a nice clear night I managed to get an image of NGC 6744 which is similar to our Milky Way galaxy and between 23 and 38 million light years away depending on how the measurement is taken.

Mitcham Lunch Spots

 We did a survey of available lunch venues in Mitcham today.  There are quite a few but we ended up at the (now re-opened) Dark Horse.  Most venues were quiet but this one was crowded which is always a good sign.  The meals were excellent.

Laundry at the Lake House

 The Lake House now has a functioning laundry with the washer and dryer now in operation.

The Birthday Boys

Last night, we had a family celebration to mark the birthdays of both Brett and Mark.  Finding opportunities for family events becomes more problematic as the family expands so this was a special event.  Claire spent time preparing and we all enjoyed the fruits of her labour!

Mark had gone so far as to cook up a special Farmyard cake for the occasion.

As always, it was a great opportunity for a family meetup.

Lachlan Hits the Road

 Lachlan has been making good use of his time since the Central Australian Trip.  He is doing a week of work experience and today he got his Learner’s Licence.

At Last! Some Clear Nights

 We finally had a clear night on Monday so the telescope was out.  This time it was the Firebird Nebula. This is a star forming nebula, and is sculpted by the massive, young stars that have recently formed there – some are only a few million years old. This spark of formation was probably caused when the last batch of stars went supernova.  Again I am amazed that I can get this image from the backyard in Melbourne.

It was clear again on Tuesday so the target was the Prawn Nebula, another star forming region of the Milky Way about 6000 light years away.

Lachlan Heads For The Top

 Lachlan's Central Australian Trip is covering territory he saw as a 2 year old but retains little memory of it. Following Uluru, he saw King's Canyon and took a helicopter flight over the area before going north to the Devil's Marbles, Katherine Gorge and Mataranka.

Lachlan kept the tour amused by recreating photos taken when he was a toddler with his Dad.

They visited Kakadu seeing plenty of wildlife (and crocodiles) before heading for Darwin, arriving on Northern Territory Day before flying home.

Nostalgia on Steroids

 We attended a concert at "The Round" last night.  The music was all British music of the 60s and 70s that was written before any of the performers were born but was the soundtrack of our youth.