Cooper's First Concert

 Tonight we were able to attend Cooper's first school concert.  He has only had his trombone for a couple of months but they put on a great show.

Concert photography is always fraught however I got a few shots around other heads!

Pt Leo Sculpture Park

 Our visit to the Point Leo Sculpture Park was, of course, preceded by lunch at the Flinders Hotel.  While the lunch was convivial, the fare was somewhat pedestrian.

We moved on to the sculpture park located in a winery.  As with all contemporary art, some we loved and other pieces left us scratching our heads.

Jack's Family Celebration

 Although he had his birthday a while ago, the family finally got together to celebrate Jack's fifteenth.  The Inchleys were invited and they were happy to catchup with the crew.  They had hosted Jack's first birthday in Yarramalong NSW so this was an opportunity to see how things had changed!

Peninsular Bound

 When Rhondda is down in Melbourne, she takes the opportunity to catch up with her brother and sister who live near Mt Eliza. On this occasion we all met up at the Heronswood Estate for a wonderful lunch in the old house that overlooks the Bay and now serves as a restaurant.

We then moved on to the Giddy Bullfrog Gallery at Red Hill.  The gallery is owned by friends Chris and Gavin that we had not seen in some time so it was good to catch up.

A Day At The Gallery

 Weather predictions were not good so we decided to check out the National Gallery of Victoria.

We spent time in the National Gallery looking at some of the older paintings in the collection including the Rembrandts.

Following an excellent lunch in the Gallery we moved to the Ian Potter Centre where there was an exhibition of Australian Impressionists.  This was a massive collection of Australian paintings brought together from many galleries and including all the iconic Australian masters.

I was particularly taken with a painting of Gardiner’s Creek by Tom Roberts in 1885.  It was most likely painted within a couple of kilometres from my childhood home and I had spent time as a boy playing around in this creek.

Rippon Lea

 We had intended to visit the Rippon Lea Estate in Elsternwick for many years but it took a couple of Sydney visitors to kick us into action.  It is an amazing property now owned by the National Trust. Of course the visit had to start with the obligatory coffee.

The house and grounds and mature garden in 14 acres is quite magnificent.

Inside the mansion is just as extraordinary. The wall paper was handmade by Japanese artisans and is generally still in good condition

The massive grounds have a huge fernery and lake.

The day finished with a traditional Fish and Chip dinner with Peter and Jill.

Seeing the Shrine

 It has been a long time since we visited the Shrine and in that time some extraordinary development work has taken place that we wanted to see.

A whole series of galleries had been constructed under the Shrine that would take a week to view in detail. It was a very impressive construction.

Down By The Riverside

 With the Inchleys visiting from Sydney, we joined up with the Russells to spend a bit of time around Melbourne.  A trip on the Yarra was our first destination.  We started with coffee in spectacular surroundings.

Then onto the boat.

The weather was uncharacteristically perfect so we had ideal conditions for the cruise giving us fantastic views of the city and the Yarra.

Mothers' Day

 We had a great Mothers' Day on Sunday with the chance to see all the family.  Lisa, Mark and the boys called in early (with cake)  then Adam and Kate and family arrived (with cake).  In the afternoon, Brett, Cathy and the family called for afternoon tea (with scones).  Needless to say we went minimalist for dinner!

Winner Winner!

This afternoon, we had the opportunity to see Sophie in action with her basketball team and new coach. It was a grading game but the girls were in full control.  So much so they were able to engage in a little experimentation in the second half and they still pulled ahead.

Sophie was on fire with a number of spectacular goals from impossible angles.  She threw 10 of the team's 28 points.  It looks like she will have a fun season.