Time to get ready.......

The following Saturday we met Mum, Maree, Faye, Rem and Ethan for breakfast at Seed Cafe in Mordialloc to celebrate Bills birthday.  We had a lovely morning and when we left everyone we went off to the Caravan and Camping show to pick up some bits for our trip.  We came home with a Solar Panel to charge our batteries, an en suite tent for our portaloo and some smaller bits and pieces that we will need.  We are free camping for half of this trip so need to be self sufficient.  

We spent a quiet day at home on Sunday doing chores and only left the house to go 'Downstairs' for dinner.  Sunday night roasts are a winner and after a day at home just the thing.

The week sped by again and soon it was the next Saturday and while Bill had been researching the camp grounds at Gluepot he came across an exhibition of Wildlife paintings presented by the Wildlife Art Society of Australasia.  This was on now in East Melbourne so we decided to walk over and have a look.  It was a beautiful day and we stopped for lunch on the way at Southgate.
The city was very busy and with the Spring Racing Carnival now having replaced the footy we did see a couple of girls dressed to kill in race wear.  You will find more and more like this each Saturday until the carnival is over!  I must say they look so much nicer than the next group of people we came across.  This looked like a parade of sorts (no idea why) of boys and girls all dressed like zombies and corpses.  Apparently it is called a Zombie Shuffle though why these seemingly 'normal' young people want to look so awful is beyond me.  There were lots of photographers around so I guess it all meant something but give me the race crowd any day!

We found our destination and enjoyed the exhibition where we saw some beautiful paintings and bronze sculptures of lots of birds and animals.  My favorites were a beautiful painting of a group of magpies in puddles and an amazing hawk hovering under the trees.  Some people are just so talented!  The Victorian Artists Society Galleries is a lovely old building and there were three galleries inside so we had a peek in the others as well.  One with modern abstract art and the other with the more traditional still life and scenery pieces.  All very different and something to suit every taste I'm sure.   

Leaving the gallery we walked back into town, had a coffee at Lorca's before heading for home for the rest of the afternoon.  On the way back we found this interesting sculpture in the courtyard of the Sofitel on Collins St.  Not sure what 'flatman' is all about but I really liked him.

We did leave again for dinner that night at South Melbourne were we shared a pizza and yummy beetroot salad at the Blue Room before settling in at home to watch the latest Die Hard movie - yep Bruce Willis still has the moves - yippee kye aye, and I'll let you finish the sentence!

On Sunday we drove to Yarra Glen where we met Astrid and Hans for lunch at the lovely old pub in the middle of town.  We have not caught up since May and we had lots to talk about.  We shared a bottle of bubbly and enjoyed a few hours over a very tasty lunch.  

After lunch we drove the couple of kms away to the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie where we had coffee and cake for afternoon tea. This is a fairly new addition to Yarra Glen and judging by the number of cars in the car park a very popular one.  As always in the Yarra Valley the views were magnificent (even with the threatening clouds) and inside was a veritable chocoholics paradise.  I even came home with Choc Peppermint Tea!  Delicious!  

Saying farewell to Astrid and Hans we drove home to get ready for our last week at work before we hit the road next Saturday. Just the shopping and packing to do now and then we're off.   Can't wait to drive off into the sunset and see some wonderful new places but first we work.

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