Mom and Dad take Australia: Part 3 - Melbourne

This post is going to be shorter than the others, because most of the time my parents were on their own in Melbourne.  I had to work beginning on the 13th, so for three days they just wandered the city without me. I've said it before, but I have to say again how proud I am of them for navigating the tram and train system independently, having never been here before.  I still haven't ridden a train here.  They could give me lessons.

When my parents first arrived it was really early.  I had picked them up from the airport and brought them back to my house by 8 AM.  Their apartment wasn't ready until 2 PM.  What to do that would be fun but not too taxing because I knew the jet lag would kick in around early afternoon?

We decided to go into the city and take a walk through Fitzroy Gardens.   After a quick brunch at a nearby cafe, where my parents experienced their first Aussie sticker shock (coffee and toast for five?  That will be $60 please), we caught a tram to the city.

This is Captain Cook's cottage, which was moved from England in the 1930's to Fitzroy Gardens for the Melbourne centenary celebration.  Even the original mortar was ground down to a powder and re-applied in Australia.  Because it was school holidays they had a terrific program for kids where you had to find your way around the house using a compass to collect stamps.

Also in the park is a miniature Tudor village. 

This is known as the Fairies' Tree.  It was also carved and preserved in the 1930s.  Fairies and Australian animal images abound all over the trunk.

The conservatory in the gardens contains the more fragile and hanging flowers.

My parents' second day in Melbourne we headed east toward the Dandenong Mountains.  They have lots of winding roads and great tracks to walk on that cut through the forest.  It was a rainy cold day, so we opted for a less muddy version and visited the Alfred Nicholas Memorial Gardens.  There was a paved road, which made it easier, but very steep hills which made it difficult.  My parents were troupers, though, and made it through the walk.

The following day we were off to Cairns.  When we got back nine days later, it was very cold by Melbourne standards, and we were tired, so we decided not to go to a footy game, but I'm determined to see at least one before the season ends.   The following day we had a brunch at our house for all of Joel's immediate family so they could say hi to Fern and Dave.  They had all met previously at our wedding or in Florida but that last get-together was when Ruth was a baby, so it was nice to see everyone together again.  I like how our families mesh so well.  The brunch also reminded me how very lucky we are to have such a strong support group in Melbourne.  Our adjustment here would have been much, much harder without them.

The next day I had my first day at work and Joel had to go back too, but the kids still had one day of holiday.  My parents and the kids went with my sister-in-law Elly and Elly's daughter into the city.  They went to a wonderful Italian bakery called Brunetti's in Carlton on Lygon Street (which is the place to go for Italian anything in Melbourne), then on to the Melbourne Museum.  My parents and the kids LOVED Brunetti's.  Isaac couldn't stop raving about his "escargot", which was a big cinnamon roll, and Ruth and my niece got Nutella-filled doughnuts.

Brunetti's  . . . Mmmmm!

The museum is one of my favourites.  It has an extensive dinosaur section, gems and geology section, an outdoor section, a huge taxidermy room where you can point cameras at whatever animal you're interested in and a computer will pull up information for you to read on that animal.  There's a history of Melbourne display, an Aboriginal culture display,  and a big Pacific cultures display.  Every time I go to the Melbourne Museum I find a new section I had no idea existed.   And the best part - seniors are free all the time, kids are free during school holidays!

The museum is located north of Carlton Gardens and the Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building, which is a magnificent space.  I don't think my parents visited the Exhibition Building, but I'm including some of my photos from earlier of both locations.

Front (or back?) of the Royal Exhibition Building.

Fountain in Carlton Gardens

My kids at the duck pond in Carlton Gardens in front of the Royal Exhibition Building.

Inside the Royal Exhibition Building.  Photo courtesy of J. Parrott.

The kids sketching Phar Lap's taxidermied body in the museum.  Phar Lap is included in the Historic Melbourne exhibit.  This was taken during summer holidays six months ago.

And in case you forgot where you were . . .

The following day the kids started school and my parents were on their own again.  They took a train and trams to the Queen Victoria Market in the city.  Again, I wasn't with them so the pictures are from earlier visits.  If you see my parents around, I'm sure they have their own photos to share.

One of the fruit/veg buildings.

The deli building

The market has entire buildings dedicated to meat and poultry, to fish, to baked goods.  Also, about three buildings to non-edibles like toys, clothes, accessories, tons of tourist souvenirs (T-shirts, Aboriginal art, items made from kangaroo pelts, Acubra hats (like Crocodile Dundee wore), cutting boards and other items made from acacia (gumtree) wood, and other random items.  There's a woman there who sells soap flowers that she carves out of regular bar soap.   I copied a photo of her work from another place:








The next day was my parents' last day in Melbourne.  They wandered down the road from their apartment to a place called Maling Road, about 2 kilometers away.  I love Maling Road - it is full of really expensive stores, including little kid clothing stores where you can buy your toddler a sweater for $100.  Who lives like this?  I do not know.  They have a good butcher, a good fishmonger, and about 12 places you can grab coffee or lunch.  It's cobblestone and very historic. 

Photo from last fall, not now.

My parents found some candy stores, an antique store, had some lunch . . . again, can I mention how impressed I am with how intrepid they were?  I didn't even think to guide them here, but it's a great road for a wander, and very accessible to where they were staying, and they found it on their own. 

That night we had a good-bye dinner in Camberwell near our house, and at 6 AM the next morning, the taxi came to take them to the airport.   It was so great to have them here, and I've felt a little lonely every day since they've left.  I'm glad they had a good time and were able to see a little of what life is like for us here.