Birthday Dinner

 We had the opportunity to celebrate Mark's (long past) birthday at Yassas Greek restaurant in Ringwood last night.  It was new (to us) and we enjoyed the food.

It was our last opportunity for the meal before Mark and Jack headed up to Queensland to undertake a bathroom renovation for Mark's sister. The building team were all kitted out in their new gear.

Nebula Night

 Nice clear nights may be few and far between in winter but thy do allow the gathering of good astro images.  Two nights back I got nearly 4 hours of imaging on the Cat's Paw Nebula, NGC 6334.  This nebula is about 5500 light years away and 70 light years across in the constellation Scorpio.  It is at the tail of the scorpion.  The red is emission from the massive amount of hydrogen in the area.

Last night The conditions were not great but I managed to image The Lagoon Nebula.  Around 5000 light years away it is a giant emission nebula with very active star formation (white areas) and I even found some blue from oxygen gas emissions (lower right).

Investigating Lunch Spots

 In our never ending quest for a good lunch spot we discovered that the old "Enriks" in Blackburn had become the "Platform Pantry" so we had to try it out.  Due to the urgent purchase of a new vacuum cleaner we arrived for a very late lunch.  The verdict: Excellent!  Good location and lighting great food and service.  Our late arrival probably improved the quiet ambience of the place.

Tassie Tourists

 James and Angel headed for one of our favourite locations over the long weekend.  The Freycinet Peninsula in Tasmania has to be one of the most beautiful locations in Australia.  The wonderful sea food in the area is an added bonus.

Middle of Melbourne

 We decided to have a look at some of the central Melbourne attractions.  First up was the State Library which has to be one of the most spectacular buildings in the country.

Then we took a short train trip from the new State Library Station to the new Town Hall Station.

We had (an excellent) lunch at the iconic "Young and Jacksons" Hotel overlooking Flinders St Station and while there we had to see Chloe, another Melbourne icon.

Next up was a visit to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) a museum for all things related to the development of film and video.

Then back to Flinders St (seeing an old W Class Tram) to catch the train.  (Nearly more icons than we could handle!)

Entertaining the Inchleys

 Friends of friends bought a house at Doreen, a location we had never heard of so we decided to take a look.  It turns out to be a really thriving new development near Yan Yean Reservoir.  Of course for our visit, there was no vehicle access as a result of industrial action.

We consoled ourselves with an excellent meal in the (very neat)  Laurimar township.

We also caught up with Terry and Tricia who showed us around the Advent Care Estate near their residence.  It is a surprising little sanctuary in the heart of Nunawading.

Another Group of Grandies

 Jack, Cooper and Lachlan came over so we could get a group photo for our wall.

A Malaysian Odyssey

 Brett, Cathy and family headed of to Malaysia for a 10 day tour of Kuala Lumpur and then to Sabah to check out the Orangutan Sanctuary.  Clearly not accommodated in tents on this trip.

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.