One Year Away

Penny

Fer dinkum mate!  According to Australians, this is English…  We took a flight from Cairns and
headed to Melbourne a few days ago.  We took a break from our hostel living and were invited
to stay with our friend Evan while in the city.  Evan, who studied with
us in McGill and lived in Toronto for a few years, recently moved to
Melbourne and was nice enough to host us. Since our arrival, we have been enjoying the simple things in life like hosting dinners, watching movies and having BBQs.

Melbourne is a beautiful city with great architecture.  In some ways, Melbourne is similar to Montreal with a mix of beautiful old buildings and modern high-rises.  We have spent a lot of time on the Southbank near our friend’s apartment.  The Southbank is filled with shops, restaurants and cafes that line the paved boardwalk.  This being a long weekend in Melbourne (it is labour day!) the  boardwalk was packed with people of all ages.  Also, many street performers gather around the area and entertain passersby.  We have been entertained by a prop-comedian and a tightrope flame juggler!

The Southbank is also home to the Crown Casino where we met my second maternal cousins.   On Saturday night, we met Jennie, her husband Spiro and brother Nick.  We had a great night enjoying some great Italian food and some very yummy gelato (it is very popular here).   The fireball show was amazing – the only way that it could be explained is "giant towers spewing gas fireballs".  Just take a look at the pictures.  We felt the heat of the fireballs from 20 feet away!

Just want to say a special thanks to Evan for his hospitality, Ben/Marie/Ben’s Dad for the amazing BBQ and to my once-lost-and-now-found cousins for a great Saturday night!