Not such an early start today, which was nice after such a busy few days. Uncle Vern picked us up from Dave's late morning for a drive to the Yarra valley and a wine tasting experience. His wife, Jenny, and two of his three children, David & Michelle, also came. Sarah is currently in Canada, travelling and working. A pleasant drive past Kangaroo Ground and over the Yarra Glen. Visited two estates to enjoy a variety of wines- sparkling, white, rose, red & ...

Train strike today affecting all travel until late afternoon. Alternative options though so took the replacement bus service into the city centre, stopping briefly to view Parliament, then hopping on the tram to St Kilda. Our travel guide recommended Monarch Cakes, 'The finest cake shop in St Kilda' on Acland Street, well known for cake shops and a coffee & cake lovers spot- well worth the stop! We tasted two different cakes- Polish Baked Cheesecake & Cho...

Well! Firstly, my apologies for being 'blogged off' for some time. A very good helping or two of several different Asian meals certainly did the trick with the blocked sinuses- and since then it's been non-stop sight-seeing. So I am starting to catch up with the blog and will begin where I left off- day 3 ended with a good home-made curry and decent Australian red- I slept very well. So on Day 4 we decided to head into the city again to buy some gifts and explor...

A quieter day today- feeling a little under the weather with blocked sinuses & painful symptoms holding me back! So I've written loads of postcards, taken some natural remedies kindly provided by our wonderful hosts, Gayle & Dave, and accepted the offer of a "drive in the country". So, Dave drove us out of Eltham, heading north through an area called Research and past Kangaroo Ground (I spotted a couple of kangaroos bathing in the Spring sunshine) and up ...

Nice time spent in the city today. Took the train from Eltham to Flinders St. station and walked to the Queen Victoria market. We then strolled down through the shopping malls, under the railway line and over the Yarra to Southbank. A beautiful sunny day finished off with a snack and drinks in Young & Jackson's. In touch with family today to arrange meeting up on Friday & Saturday. Really tired today so will do a longer blog tomorrow when I'm back in th...