I've finally got around to finishing this long overdue post on the lovely time we had with Andy’s parents, Dave and Bunny, for the month of April. They arrived a few days before our Easter school holidays, just three weeks after my parents left. We were fortunate to have them with us for the entire two-week school break, although Ollie still attended his daycare as usual during this time.In previous posts I wrote about our trip to Cobram, along with our visit to the Melbourne Now exhibition. In this post I’ll share a few of the other experiences we shared while they were here.
Half Moon Bay
Though the school holidays started wth a cold and rainy Easter weekend, the weather improved for the remainder of the two weeks. One sunny day with temperatures in the low 20s Bunny and I took Ella and her friend to the beach. Although it was a warm day for autumn, I didn't actually think the girls would swim. I thought they would play on the sand, splash in the shallow water for a bit... but of course I was wrong! In the water they went, almost as soon as we got there. They played together for hours, allowing Bunny and me to relax for the most part. I was in my happy place, sitting in the sun next to water, reading my book uninterrupted (The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell - probably my best read so far this year).
Werribee Gorge Hike
While Bunny and I were at the beach, Dave and Andy went for a challenging hike at Werribee Gorge. (Ollie was of course at daycare on this day.) We took Dave here the last time they were in Melbourne, when Ollie was only about four months old. That time we went for a shorter hike as Andy had Ollie strapped to him the whole time. But this time, with no little ones to worry about, Dave and Andy tackled the full 8.5km hike, which is said to be moderately challenging. There are a few parts that are quite narrow and you are forced to hug the base of cliffs as you shuffled along, and there are some parts the require scrambling. It was nice that Andy got to do this with his dad as they both enjoy a good hike!
Melbourne Aquarium
Now, I will admit, this is probably my least favourite attraction. I think that because our first Aquarium visit with Ella was such a disaster, I'm always wary of returning. The price to visit doesn't help - it's about $45 for an adult, $30 for children, so makes for a pretty expensive outing. But this was a request from Ollie, and he's never been before (not to mention we shipped him off to daycare most days of the holidays!) so I felt like I should take his request seriously. Andy skipped this one out, so it was just me with the kids and the grandparents. And, you know what? It was a pretty good day in the end. The kids really loved it and even I was mesmerised by the colourful fish and in particular all the different types of jellyfish:
The kids spent ages in this interactive area where they could draw a digital jellyfish and then it would appear on this big screen in front of them:
And we saw this crocodile move which was also pretty cool!
The one downside was that the big tunnel you walk through, making you feel surrounded by the ocean, is closed for renovations at the moment. Also the food choices are not great: note to self if/when we return, bring lots of snacks and lunch!
Fitzroy Gardens
Dave, Ella and I spent an afternoon in the city. This was after our morning at the Melbourne Now exhibition. Bunny, Ollie and Andy had had enough for the day, but the rest of us were still up for more exploring. Ok, I may have had to bribe Ella with the promise of an ice cream, so we walked from Fed Square to Piccolina's on Hardware Lane for some quality gelato.
Next week walked to Fitzroy Gardens, one of my favourite spaces in the city to walk around in. I got to know it well while I was working for Edrolo - their office is nearby and I would often finish up my recording session with a walk through this park on my way home.
We stopped in the conservatory to check out some beautiful plants and flowers:
There is a model village and a fairy tree in the middle of the gardens which I knew Ella would enjoy:
The most convenient thing about Fitzroy Gardens is that the number 48 tram that goes past, which takes about 20-30 minutes (depending on the time of day) to go from our house to the city. After all the walking we'd done that day the three of us were happy to board the tram to take us home!
ANZAC Day
We all went to Steve and Michelle's for ANZAC Day, a day of remembrance for the soldiers who have fought for Australia and New Zealand in past and current wars.
There is always an AFL match on in the afternoon, Collingwood vs Essendon. Here is Archer explaining the finer details of the game to Ollie:
Dandenongs
This was another Ollie free day, so we headed to the Dandenongs for a short hike. Walking through the lush green ferns that dominate this area never gets old, you feel like you've gone back to jurassic times.
After our hike we headed to nearby Olinda, for some pies for lunch followed by... what else? An ice cream!
Botanical Gardens & Shrine of Remembrance
Dave and Bunny's visit finished with a very sunny weekend, which we spent at two beautiful spots in Melbourne. The first was the Botanical Gardens and the nearby Shrine of Remembrance. The Botanical Gardens always reminds me of our first year in Melbourne, back in 2013. Andy and I lived only about 1km from here, and would run around the outside of the gardens, "the tan", multiple times a week. However we hardly ever went inside the actual gardens, it's something I've come to appreciate much more since we've had the kids.
On their last day we headed to Albert Park Lake for a huge 5km walk around. It was bright and sunny, though fairly windy that day. The funniest thing was that Ella was riding her scooter on a narrow path right beside the lake. I was alone with her, the other four had gone off ahead. The path was a bit bumpy, and I think she stumbled and the next thing you know, she'd let go of her scooter and off it went into the lake! Luckily that part of the lake was full of thick reeds, so the scooter didn't sink to the bottom straight away, rather it was sloooooowly going under but was held up by the reeds. Cue very hilarious scene of me, lying on my stomach trying to reach the scooter but of course it was just a few inches past my reach. Three twenty-somethings stopped to watch and give me some encouragement but really didn't help much at all. I kept inching forward, yelling at Ella to "hold my legs! hold my legs!" as I was afraid that I would end up in the lake as well! Finally, after what seemed like ages but was probably only 10 seconds, I grabbed the handle of the scooter, which was now almost fully submerged. Success! I had rescued the scooter from the depths of Albert Park Lake, to cheers from my useless, Gen Z spectators!
After our walk we were very hungry, so headed to the nearby Middle Park Hotel for a yummy roast lunch. A great meal for Dave and Bunny to finish the visit with!
And then finally, another sad goodbye. I think saying goodbye is extra hard when you aren't sure of the next time you will see someone, which is kind of the case with Dave and Bunny, as we don't have any plans to go back to England within the next year. Also both kids are of the age where they get pretty upset about saying goodbye, and they didn't want their grandparents to leave. But as always we were happy to have had such a fun month spent bonding with each other in the way that you do when spending such a concentrated amount of time with each other. Until next time...
Comments