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.
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.
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.
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.
Jack, Cooper and Lachlan came over so we could get a group photo for our wall.
Brett, Cathy and family headed off 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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
The Lake House now has a functioning laundry with the washer and dryer now in operation.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
