Happy New Year

Here's a few of the small fun things from our stay in Coburg. Above is Dilly practicing her wombat hand-puppet routine for the coming of Seamus.

Retrospective: 2016

This year has been a stressful for much of the world. However, 2016 is the year we started our journey to sluff off as much of this stress as possible. We visited Stockholm, Sweden for Christmas and New Year's; Maun, Botswana in February; Southern Queensland in July-October; New South Wales in November; and Melbourne in December. Here is a collection of images in a slightly jumbled order to inspire you and restore your spirit after the long slog that 2016 has been.

Enjoy.

A Visit to Chinatown

We decided to go to the movies and just for fun, we went to Chinatown for lunch. On the way we passed by a couple interesting scenes.

Echidna Sighting

On a drive to to Mount Macedon, we happened to see an echidna out grazing someone's front yard.

Retrospective: St. Simon's Island

There was a time when it was "really" summer. You know, summer in the northern hemisphere...none of this "I travelled to the other half of the world just to get warm" stuff. In late spring before we headed down under, we travelled to Florida and along the way, we stopped on St. Simon's Island, GA.

How We spent Our Christmas

Summer has just begun here in Australia and Christmas Day was an abrupt introduction to the season. It was 36 C and cloudless. That's about 97 F for those who don't convert easily. Perfect time to go to the beach.

A Ride in the Country

Somewhere in this photo, way off in the distance, more clearly seen in person that in the photo, is the city of Melbourne. Being where you can see the whole city is pretty cool. But the dead trees in the foreground tell a different story.

Wishing you the best...

From the multicultural Coburg, Victoria...have a safe and happy holiday with your friends and family. Peace and joy to all. And the chips aren't bad either.

City of Angels

In this Christmas season, lots of angels appear in lots of the decorations. We decided to spend a little time in the Coburg cemetery to visit a whole city of angels.

In Preparation for the Celebration

Another trip to the Queen Victoria Market to buy some goodies for our Christmas meal. Our meal will be a nice picnic since we are headed to the beach. Why, you may ask, are we going to the beach for Christmas? Because it is something we can't do in the northern hemisphere.

Another visit to Cranbourne

It was a nice day, so we decided to drive out to Cranbourne to the Royal Botanic Gardens for another look about.

The Public Cemetery in Macedon

 During a drive north of the city we visited the small town of Macedon and made a stop, of course, at the public cemetery.

Street Art Near Moreland Station

One final installment of street art from near the Moreland train station.

Brunswick Street Art

Our foray into the street art world also took us to Brunswick to see what was on offer. There are several drawings here that are quite good.

Street Art Near Anstey Station

Riding into the city, I noticed that there was lots of great graffiti near the tracks. So, today we ventured out to the nearby stations to see these images up close. Here, I report on the drawings near Anstey station.

Coburg

While Montmorency has a nice shopping street, Coburg has a proper shopping district. It run along the Sydney Road through several communities.

Coburg Market

We walked across the the train tracks over to Sydney Road to explore central Coburg. But first, we did a little shopping.

On to the Next Popcorn Stand

We've moved on to the next house sit and met our next charge, Maeve. A very independent calico that spends most of her time roaming out back in the fenced in yard and ignoring us.

A Walk About the City

On a bright sunny day, we wandered downtown Melbourne to soak up the holiday season.

Melbourne's St. Patrick's Cathedral

Visiting the Catholic Cathedral in Melbourne was a different scale of thing all together from our visit to the Anglican Cathedral.

Back to the Western Treatment Plant

Taking advantage of the key we put a deposit on, we made another trip to the Western Treatment Plant. Our first trip was interesting but seemed to be low on birds. We decided to check out the place earlier in the morning to see if the time of day was the reason. It seems to have been.

Off to the Opera

There is a long delay between when the Met Opera broadcasts an opera live and it appears in Australia. We went to see Don Giovanni at an art house theater on the edge of the Italian district in Melbourne. Along the way from the Flinders Street station we passed a delightful arcade.

Interesting Bit of Technology

What you see here in this shopping center with an underground parking garage is a very common thing in Australia: a travelator.

Kangaroo Ground Cemetery

Its been a while since I've brought you a cemetery, so I thought it time to bring you another one. While in the Yarra valley, we found a splendid one at Kangaroo Ground.

A Visit to the Yarra Valley

Our first stop as we headed east from town was Kangaroo Ground, a small farm community. Here, there is a tower on a hill dedicated to the men lost during WWI (among other conflicts).

Westfield Mall

Needing a slow day, we went to the nearby Westfield mall. The first thing we noticed is the cool way the parking works. In an effort to keep things moving along, the first three hours of parking is free and after that there is a charge. This means they must keep track of when you come and go. This is done, not with a ticket, but by cameras that record your license plate. You pull up to the gate and it instantly knows who you are and that you go our for free or there is a change. Pretty cool, eh?

Elie Cat

In our current sit, we are taking care of Elie Cat (short for Elegant Cat), a long-haired tortoise-shell that is warming to us. I go to bed at night and find her curled up on top of E.

Queen Victoria Market

In the Melbourne CBD is the extensive and amazing Queen Victoria Market. This is a place filled to the brim with just about everything you can imagine. We only made a tour of the food section, but it goes on and on.

Royal Botanic Gardens

A short trip south to Cranbourne brought us to the Royal Botanic Gardens. On the way into the parking lot, we encountered several signs warning us to be alert for animals.

Melbourne's St. Paul's Cathedral

We took the train into the city and when we walked out of the Flinders station, across the street we see St. Paul's Cathedral. As noted on their web page, this is the "seat of the Anglican Primate of Australia and home church for Anglicans in Melbourne and Victoria".

Western Treatment Plant

Our first outing in Melbourne was to the Western Treatment Plant (WTP) for a day of bird watching. Well, that was the plan, but it took some effort.

Travelling Through Victoria

After leaving Pebbly Beach, we headed south. We soon came to the Moruya River.