Fun in Feburary

With Bill returning from a couple of very busy weeks away - well thats what he tells me, we decided that we wouldn't venture too far afield for a couplde of weeks. There were still a few things happening in town that we were yet to see so first stop was the NGV where we saw The Modern Britian Exhibition 1900-1960. Masterworks from Australian & NZ collections.

This weekend we ventured down to the Linden Gallery in St Kilda to see the Linden Postcard Exhibition. It is on each year but this is the first time we have seen it. Again a wide range of art to look at, some good and some begging the question - what the? Just down the road in Acland St was where we headed too next for a yummy lunch.

Saturday night and we donned the 'glad rags' for a walk up the road to The State Theatre to see Shout - The JO'K Story. What a great night. It was the final night here in Melbourne and if it comes across the Nullabor it is worth a look.


Station Pier had it's own bit of excitement on Thursday with the Queen Victoria coming to Melbourne for the day on her maiden voyage around the world. We decided that we would catch the tram down to South Melbourne Beach and see what we could see. As it is only about a 15 min walk from there to Station Pier we had a great view. We walked half way to the pier along the beach and waited to see her leave and the fireworks just before hand. There were lots of other people who had the same idea so a real party atmosphere was felt all night. She sure is a 'big girl'. That's the Sprit Of Tasmania beside her.

So once again it's farewell Feburary, bring on March.

Until next time...........

......and all that Jazz

3 days of sunshine & great music was had when I went with Mum to Halls Gap. It was the 22nd annual Grampians Jazz Festival & what a fabulous way to spend a few days. While Bill had 2 weeks in a row in Qld, I decided that an adventure of my own was well overdue. Mum has been going to this festival for many years and I have often thought it would be a fun thing to do and so I was thrilled when she asked me to come along with her this year. Yes, I know, I've heard all the 'Mother-in-law' jokes. Well I'm here to tell you we survived each others company for 4 days and I had a ball - and yes, I guess Bill will have another weekend to himself next year. I'm going back again. It was awesome fun.

Halls Gap is a little town with approx 300 people. It is nestled at the foot of the Grampians about a 3 hour drive from Melbourne. It is such a peaceful place and the view from just about every room/coffee table/picnic table is of the spectacular mountians surrounding the town. During this weekend each year the population swells to approx 5000 people staying all round the area in Motels, Hotels, Caravan parks and private homes that folk have rented out.

Starting from 6.00pm on Friday night until 6.00pm on Sunday night the town is full of music. There were 8 venues running each day with bands playing 45 min sets until 12.45am. A Grand Parade on Saturday morning added to the fun. All bands played 2 offical gigs each but many of the band members played in more than one band and there were many places during the day where muso's just boogied with each other as they filled in their days. No matter where you wandered to throughout the day/night there was music to be heard. One of the cafes was the unofficial nightspot with jam sessions until the wee hours each night. Not us, we were in bed by 1.30am both nights.

All types of Jazz was represented with Trad being the most popular judging by the huge crowds in the main pavilion. Though the smaller venues with Modern, Swing & Blues mixes all had big crowds watching and dancing the time away. One of my favourites was a young band from Geelong, Swing-It, whose music is described as Jump Blues & Neo Swing - just magic - and I can't wait to see them when they perform in town. Another favourite was Gail Kingston and the Hot Foot Shuffle, a trad band from Adelaide. Another crowd favourite was Sunday's Picnic Day at Stony Creek - a free venue for all.

Monday morning seemed strange as it was so quiet with no music to be heard, just the birds relishing the quiet once again. We joined the exodus of cars, campervans & caravans wending their way back to civilisation and arrived home safely later that afternoon.

Back to work on Tuesday but I'll remember the sheer joy of the music for a long time to come. Bill made it home on Friday afternoon and it was good to see him after 2 long weeks. We caught up on 2 weeks adventures over a bottle of Red & a yummy dinner - downstairs.

So until next time............

Building Sandcastles

is a fun way to amuse yourself at the beach, well when you were a kid at least. Last Sunday we drove down to Frankston beach and saw some amazing work by some 'kids' who have never grown up. They are now Sand Sculptors who travel from near and far to create a spectacular exhibition of sand sculptures depicting scenes & characters from old favourite Fairy Tales and Fables.

We saw scenes from Little Red Riding Hood, Mother Goose, The Wizard of Oz, Gulliver's Travels, The Hare & the Tortoise, The Princess & the Pea & Australian favourites Blinky Bill & May Gibbs Gumnut Babies. There were lots more but I won't bore you by listing them all. Of course Bill took loads of photo's of which a couple are here now. 3,500 tonnes of sand was used to create the sculptures and they were really worth the visit.

We had a yummy lunch at the Frankston Lifesaving Club and then took a bit of a detour to the Peninsula for the trip home having a look at Tyabb, Hastings, Crib Point & Stony Point where we spent a little time wathcing the Pelicans hoping for a feed as the boats came in. No luck for them while we were there, maybe they got lucky later. Some of these places have grown out of sight since my days wandering the Peninsula as a teenager.

This Sunday we got together with Verity, Astrid, Bianca, Travers & the 'birthday boy' Hans to celebrate the big event at Docklands. We had a great lunch at Berth where we watched the activites on & off the water. The Boat show was on as well and there was a great deal many more boats moored there than usual. A couple of the large cruisers, belonging to wealthly business folk, made our apartment look tiny. And they are only toys for these people. How the other half live, eh!
As for us, we got a 10 min cruise on a Coast Guard boat as one of Bianca's friends is a volunteer. This got us a close up look at the Sea Shepherd boat 'Steve Irwin' back in town after it's adventures with the Japanese Whalers. All seemed quiet on board, which I guess is a good thing.

Back home for a for a quiet week as Bill left again on Monday, this time for wet & damp Brisbane. As for me another exciting week at the office as I wonder what the next adventure will be.

Until next time............