We were so excited to be able to get to Melbourne and visit with our niece BJ and her family, our nephew JL and his family. We drove down on Thursday and stayed through until Tuesday, maintaining the leisurely pace of this trip to see Australian family. We shared a family room with L & B at a little hotel not far from BJ & P's. The only drawbacks were remembering whose towel was whose and figuring out which one of us was snoring at any given time of the night. Turns out that I do my fair share. Little huffs of exhalations out the corners of my mouth. Another sign of age, I guess. Luckily I sleep so soundly that other people snoring doesn't bother me much.
We drove down to Melbourne from Canberra, a good drive if slightly rushed. We left at 8 am and made only brief stops for coffee or a bit of lunch (L said we took 40 minutes at lunch rather than his planned 20 minutes.) But the trip is a long one and we arrived just as BJ was pulling away in a rush to pick up her girls after school. L & B had hoped to meet them there. Instead we went to the hotel and checked in. By the time we got back, we were greeted with great enthusiasm by our little grand-nieces, two cutie pies. I gave them the books we brought for them, a beautifully illustrated In Flanders Fields for the 8 year-old, and Paperbag Princess for the 5 year-old. After the long drive, we had dinner with the family but made it an early night. The first two days alternated between meals and visits with our niece's family and outings in the city.
On Friday morning, B and I set out in the pouring rain to her favourite swimmers (swim suits) shop. Victory! This place was fantastic. The suits were plentiful and sized by dress size and bra size together. It was hilarious trying them on in adjoining change rooms. I am short-waisted, B long. She would ask, "Do you have a longer version?" and I would say, "This is not short enough." Eventually, she got a cute new suit that was just long enough. My sales woman told me that I needed to try the next size down with the same bra size and abracadabra - I had two new suits that fit better than any I have had for years.
We picked up BJ from her yoga class and met the guys for lunch at a pizza place that served delicious cappuccinos (but less than desirable Portuguese custard tarts - a bit old, I think). Once the girls were home from school, certificates for good school citizenship in hand, we sat down to take out fish and chips - flake, rather than haddock, and yummy. I showed the girls photos of their Canadian cousins on my iPad. They then claimed it to play cousin S's favourite game, Cut the Rope. After they went off to bed, we sat around the table and had a lively visit long into the evening. The rain continued on Saturday, off and on, but it made for a cozy day with BJ et al. I played games with the girls and their grandfather joined in for several screaming rounds of Hungry Hippo. Really too funny.
The weather cleared when we set off to meet our nephew JL late that afternoon. Along the freeway was the most incredible series of public art pieces. Those who build our highways could learn a lot here - sound barriers were etched glass or sky-high brilliantly coloured baffles or triangulated rusted steel ruffles. There were off-centre towering polished steel arches in a couple of places, within sight of one another, which are lit from below with bright blue light. And many other pieces. Anyway, I loved it.
The girls, their dad and grandfather came with us and we met JL and his three oldest boys at the stadium to see our first Aussie football "footy" game. It was pouring rain again but the roof was closed so we were warm enough and dry. JL charmed the ticket vendor into really good seats for a great price. I spent most of the game next to my oldest grand-nephew, nine year-old S, who filled me in on the rules when necessary. His team was the St.Kilda Saints. The first quarter was a little worrisome as the other team led by 30. But the Saints took the lead and in the end won hands down. We are not sports fans but it was fun seeing the game with a bunch of little kids. Furthermore, the boys were delighted to come to their cousins' for BJ's delicious homemade spaghetti dinner, which they ate while watching Home Alone 3. The adults ate and talked until it was time for JL to load his sleepy boys into the car and head for home, about an hour away across Melbourne.
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