A touch of Hollywood glamour.....

came to Melbourne this winter.   We found this glamorous exhibition being held at ACMI in Fed Square and spent a couple hours being dazzled by many of the costumes we have seen in movies over the years.  Hollywood Costumes was a story in three parts, first telling how they decided how the costume would look, then the sourcing and making of the costume and finally the finished costume for us all to see.

 We saw Marilyn Monroe's famous pleated dress, Audrey Hepburn's little black dress, Meryl Streep's Margaret Thatcher outfit, Nicole Kidman's Moulin Rouge costume, Cate Blanchett and Judy Dench's elaborate Queen Victoria costumes along with the classic James Bond suit.   Among others there were Braveheart, Rocky, Superman, Catwoman, Spiderman, Scarecrow and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and the characters from Harry Potter to name a few.  It was a fun way to spend a morning on a chilly Melbourne day and on the way home we found these very bright stilt walkers outside the Arts Centre for Melbourne's Open Day. 

The following weekend we decided that it was time to leave the city lights behind and we headed off for a weekend of peace, perfect peace at our favorite little cottage in Jamieson.  Angie and Freddie welcomed us on Friday night with a hot drink and home made muffins before sending us up to Daffodil cottage for a cozy weekend.  It was good to be 'home' again.  With the log fire burning we were warm and cozy inside while outside it continued to rain all night and into the next morning.  A little chilly even for the birds but a bit later on we were visited by about a dozen female Bower Birds.  No idea where the males were or their bowers but they certainly entertained us for a while.

Dragging ourselves away from the fire we drove into Jamieson and tried out the 'new management' at the cafe before continuing on to Mansfield to pick up some shopping for dinner that night.  We had toyed with the idea of driving up to Mount Buller to see the snow but with the rain still coming down we decided against this.  Instead, once the shopping was done, we found a seat in front of the fire at the Mansfield Produce Store and settled in for lunch before braving the cold, 5 deg, and returning home to our warm lounge room to watch the footy first and movies later.   On the way home we checked out Jamieson's newest building.  Last time it was an ordinary bus stop now it commerates an early resident.

While it was not raining the next morning it was still very cold and the birds took longer to wake up than we did.  We enjoyed our morning in front of the fire looking out at what is one of the loveliest views of the Jamieson Valley before packing up once more and after saying goodbye to our hosts we turned the car homeward once more.  It gets harder to leave this lovely little hamlet every time.

This time we stopped at Alexandra for a late lunch at another favorite, The Dairy Cafe, and once again it did not disappoint though the bowl of soup was so big we didn't need anything for dinner that night.  We made do with toast about 9 pm.

With not much action with the camera we decided that the following weekend we would head out to the treatment plant at Werribee and see what was happening.  We had a good morning with lots of birds to keep Bill amused. Leaving there early afternoon we drove on to Lara and had a wander around Serendip Sanctuary where we found this very serious Masked Owl watching the world go by. 

As it had been some time since we had caught up with Suzie and Bryce plans had been made to have dinner the following weekend.  They picked us up at home and we drove the short distance over to Albert Park Lake where we had a wonderful dinner at The Point.  This restaurant is right on the lake and day or night has the most wonderful views of Melbourne's city skyline.  Our meal was absolutely delicious and we both think this lovely restaurant comes a close second to our experience at La Jules Verne on the Eiffel Tower last year.  It was good to see our friends again and hear all about their holiday in Fiji and more importantly their engagement news!  Congratulations to you both and we are looking forward to next May.

With the end of the footy season almost upon us we decided that the next weekend we had better make time and see a game otherwise we would have gone a whole season without this happening.  We got tickets to an afternoon game the following Saturday and headed off to Etihad Stadium to watch Essendon play the West Coast Eagles.  We missed Lorraine and Hans this year but kept in touch with SMS and photos of the game but were devastated when we got well and truly slaughtered by those damn Eagles.  Grrr!  I admitted defeat graciously and Lorraine kindly didn't rub it in too badly.

The next day we wandered into town where I got a new camera.  Mine had got a big scratch on the lens while in Norfolk Island, no idea how, and was not worth fixing when it wasn't much more to get a newer model.  We came home via the shops where I picked up the ingredients for dinner that night.  Sweet Potato and Pear soup was a winner once again and there was enough to freeze for another weekend too.  Yum!

And so I'll leave you there now and consult the maps as too where we go next.

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