All the Rivers Run..... Over the Border!!

After leaving Heather and Herb to their 3500 acres and all the duties that go with tending to such a parcel of land - Jess and I headed for Echuca!

For a special treat - I took Jess "over the border" to Moama - now she can claim to have been to NSW!!

We had lunch at the Moama Bakery - took a drive around and found a lovely little building.

The Old Telegraph Station of Moama c1850's. In 1859 a privately funded telegraph line was opened between Deniliquin and Moama. The telegraph later ran in conjunction with the post office.

We also checked out the boat ramp on the Mighty Murray! You can see the flood line. I did however stay away from the "Walking Trail" - I was a bit worried I would get my feet wet!!

After much urging and insistence from Jessi - we made the "journey" back to Victoria.

The "Port of Echuca" is really quite interesting! A trip down memory lane saw me stumble upon the lovely and quaint Penny Arcade and Movie theatre.

"C'mon Jess - lets have some fun!"

"Why? What is it?"

"It's like Timezone from a hundred years ago!".

"Oh Cool! Ok!!".

To Jess's credit she did have fun - the suspense at whether "the claw" would keep a hold of the bag of popcorn or not - was too much to bear at one stage!! Sadly the popcorn was crap - but it only cost a penny!!

After a quick look at the Paddle Steamers on the Murray - including the all important PS EmmyLou! Definitely something to check out next time we are in the neighborhood!!

Soon we had to leave and make way to New Gisborne and getting together with family.

The trip should have been straight forward - however - the GPS is a woman - and so she tried to send us back to Marcorna!

Now I am just as dumb as she is - because I followed her direction - for about 45 min! I am sure there was method in her madness - but in the end she drove mad - so the first green sign to Bendigo and I turned her off!!

We made it safely and that evening spent dinner with Brian & Karen, Cathy & Michael & their three boys and Dorothy & Ivan.

Jess had an absolute ball and remarked on how normal it seemed and how accepted she was - just like one of the family!!

The next morning we run the wheel that is get to the airport, off load the car, check in the baggage and catch that plane home!!

So, that ends the trip to Melbourne for 2012!

Time to get back to normal!!

A lovely day for a drive to the country!

The car is collected and packed. The keys for the room are handed in and we hit the road! The GPS lady showed great restraint Everytime I made a wrong turn - especially considering how much I abused her for her shitty directions - but eventually we made it out of town and headed to Bendigo to see the Grace Kelly Exhibition.

We stopped at the "Beechworth Bakery" for lunch. They had a greet selection of sweet treats that I can only imagine how long it would take Emi and Cooper to make a decision!!

I eventually chose a pastie - something I have not eaten for at least 4 years - no one makes nor sells them here!! They even had an old fashioned lavatory!!

Sadly I was unable to take photos of the Grace Kelly Exhibit - but it was wonderful. I did however take photos of various other artwork on display at the gallery - only to have Jess point out that it was "Not Allowed"

One such item was the "Young Family" by Patricia Piccinini.

There were many other classic pieces of interest too.

A walk down the street took us past many lovely antique or curio shops - one had the most wonderful print in the front window. I wish now that I had seen it sooner and purchased it!!

We then hit the road again to head for a meet up with another good friend of mine Heather in Pyramid Hill via Mitiamo.

She lives on a farm of 3500acres in Macorna. They run 500 head of beef cattle. It was a beautiful way to end our trip - very quiet and peaceful - but ALOT OF FLIES and mozzies!!

I was not able to get photos of the house - but did get plenty of sunset and sunrise photos.

After sunrise and a lovely breakfast we headed off to New Gisborne via Echuca/Moama for a border run!!

Monday - a quiet day in the city ......

But a very noisy and busy night!!

Jessi spent the day shopping with my good & long time friend Jenni. They went off to Bridge Road in Richmond and went of to Target and Big W!!

In the early evening I left Jess to her own devices while I made my way back to Rod Laver Arena to see my first favourite 80's band - Duran Duran!!

While my favourite has always been bass player John Taylor - on this night he did look like he was still stuck in the 80's - with his pants too short for his long legs! Jess assures me this is the current fashion - obviously I don't follow fashion or appreciate it!!

Sadly there is not too much to be seen from the photos - but it was a great experience - although I was a little concerned that on entry I was greeted by a fully functional stretcher! I am glad to report that I did not leave the concert on one - and sincerely hope - no one else did either!!

It was again very late when I made my way back to the room. I had to get up early to get the hire car for our trip to the country!

Sunday is a good day for a trip to the Melbourne Zoo

After the State Library of Victoria we headed for the tram to take us to the Zoo.

Given that it was lunch time, before we got the tram we had lunch. Jess went to her favourite haunt "Sushi Sushi" and chose the Crispy Chicken Hand Roll.

I went to the "Snag Stand" and chose a German Bratwurst on a rustic roll with onions & German mustard which was quite tasty - given the selection this choice was not easy!!

On the way there was the obligatory art/sculpture to look at and the group of people all dressed up for a specific occasion - in this case it was "Team Red Bull" heading for Albert Park for the last day of the Grand Prix.


We got there about 1pm and given the zoo closed at 5pm - we thought we had plenty of time!! That was before I found out that there was a SEAL show on at 1:30pm!!

So we easily spent an hour watching the seals do their thing! Then made our way to the seal shop via the penguins!!

Before the seals we made a fly by visit of the lions and African Dogs. After the seals we visited the orang-a-tans and elephants.

After the big animals we visited the small and gentle - the butterfly house. Jess managed to experience the thrill of a butterfly or two landing on her. There were some awesome specimens in there!!

By now we were running out of time so we did a quick trip to the Pygmy hippo and the meerkats!

We were now being asked to leave the zoo!! They were having a special Twilight Concert with Vanessa Amorossi. The Melbourne Zoo holds these concerts on a regular basis during the warmer months - it wound be something worth attending I am sure.

After we left the zoo we made our way back to Flinders St Station for the train to Brighton Beach - the home of the expansive ( around $200k) yet colourful beach shacks!!

Sadly it was not long after arrival my phone "died" and I was unable to take too many more photos - but I was able to take one of the huts and given it was sunset time - one of Jess in the glow of the sun going down.

Given it was daylight savings in Victoria it was close to 9pm by the time we caught the train home! We stopped at Melbourne Central for a burger and THE best chips at "Grill'd" then back to the room!

It was a really big day - but thoroughly enjoyable!!