TRAMS, THE ROYAL ARCADE and all things Melbourne ........time to say goodbye ..

The old Buckley and Nunn Building, Buckley & Nunn Limited, Bourke St, Melbourne

This is the old Buckley and Nunn Building in Bourke Street, Melbourne.  I can remember my grandmother talking about this company when I was younger.  This was a department type store like David Jones or Myers.

Photo taken from the Bourke Street Mall looking over to the cnr of Bourke and Swanston Street

Looking down Bourke Street towards Elizabeth Street and in the distance you can see something that Melbourne are well known for ........ TRAMS.

Trams are a very popular mode of transport in Melbourne, they run all around the city and in all the main streets and out into the suburbs.

St. Paul's Cathederal ..... this photo was taken the day before they held the state funeral here for the late Jimmy Stynes of the Melbourne Football Club.

It would have been hectic to be there on the day of the funeral and in fact the streets were closed off and trams stopped while they held the funeral.

My sister and I went and ate at Nando's ...... the food was sooooo nice.  We shared a large chicken paella and it was delicious.

I've heard a lot about Nando's, all good, but I've never actually been there to eat.  I can see why people like eating there so much.

Not only was the food yummy, I loved the decor and atmosphere of the whole place.

Thanks to my sister for suggesting eating here .... I loved it.

Before we went home we went and had a look in the Royal arcade.

The clock with Gog and Magog

Read below and it tells you what it says on each side of the sign underneath the clock.

(Left side) These two 7-feet giants have been striking the time on Gaunt's clock since 1842. They were carved from clear pine and modelled on the figures erected in Guildhall, London, in 1708 to symbolise the conflict between the ancient Britons and the Trojan invaders."
(Right side) Mythology tells of the giants Gog and Magog (also known as Corineus and Gogmagog) having been captured in battle by the Trojans and made to serve as porters at the gateway of an ancient palace on a site later occupied by the Guildhall. It is traditional for Gog to stand to the north and Magog to the south.

I saw these in a shop window in the Royal Arcade.

I love Babushka dolls .... there is just something nice about them and I just love the colours.

This shop was full of them.

More Babuska dolls.

Finally we went back to Tullamarine airport and headed off home, my sister to Tasmania and I came back home to Adelaide .... here's the back of the plane that my sister caught home.

I don't do goodbye's at the airport very well .... especially not where my twin sister is concerned.

SIBLING WEEKEND ...... the final 2 days in Melbourne

My twin sister and I went on to stay in Melbourne for 2 nights after we left Ballarat.

Couldn't resist taking this photo from out of the window, just to see what it would look like from all the way up there.  Mind you we were only on the 4th floor, but it still seemed a long way up.

It was a nice little room with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom with a washer and dryer in it, a kitchen, dishwasher and was fully self-contained.

Collins Street, Melbourne

T & G building, Cnr Collins & Swanston St, Melbourne

Melbourne is my home city.  I was born and raised in Melbourne  .... literally about 4 blocks from where this building is.  The hospital is no longer there.  Bit of trivia for you here .... when my twin sister and I were born they were making the movie "On The Beach" ... not the one with Leonardo Di Caprio, that was made a few years ago, but the original with William Holden and Ava Gardner in it.  Apparently one of the scenes was being filmed one day outside my mother's hospital window.

One thing I realised about Melbourne while I was away on this weekend was the fact that it is such a busy place.  After living in Adelaide for 9 years, every time I go back, I can't believe the volume of traffic.  Of course Melbourne is a bigger city and more people live there, so it stands to reason that there is more traffic there ... but you just become so much more aware of it when you are not there all the time.

When the lights change is like a mad dash for people to get across the road as fast as they can.

You're likely to get run over if you stand in anyone's way.

David Jones

David Jones

Melbourne Town Hall 

Myer Melbourne, Bourke Street

My sister and I did a lot of shopping .... window shopping that is.

On the Monday we also did a lot of walking .... my feet were aching by the time we got back to our room. It was nice to sit and relax for the night with my feet up.

Horse & Cart, Swanston Street, Melbourne

I love the way they have these horses and carts for people to ride around the streets of Melbourne in.














More photos of Melbourne to follow ......

A WICKED TIME........Part 1

Well I have my lap top up and running again......YAY!!!!

Finally I can post photos of my trip away for my 50th birthday to Melbourne. Even though I now live in Adelaide, South Australia, my place of birth is Melbourne, Victoria. I guess most people always consider the place where they are born to be home, I know I do. That doesn't mean that I don't like living here in Adelaide....I am really happy here, I'm exactly where I want to be for right now!! Compared to Melbourne, Adelaide is like a big country town. Getting from A to B here never seems to take very long.

As I have said in previous posts I went to Melbourne and met my twin sister there and saw the musical WICKED......which was AWESOME. I totally loved it. I've come to realise that I absolutely love live theatre. Years ago when I was about 20 I went to see ANNIE live in Melbourne and it was fabulous. I can still remember, even today how much I loved the excitement of it all......the lights, costumes, singing, dancing, scenery. It all came back again when I went to see Wicked.

Mr. J, my soon to be 23 y/old son informed me that if I was going to document my trip in photos for my 50th birthday .... I had to document it all including taking a photo of his hand and foot (the hand and foot that drove me to the airport). He also took a photo of the ticket for parking at the airport, the car keys and even himself.....albeit unshaven. I thought that was going a bit far, but he was having fun and making us laugh.



He even decided that he had to take a picture of me sending a txt message on my mobile phone. I was sending a message to my sister to tell her that I'd be late into Melbourne. The reason for the txt was that we got onto our plane ready for take off....only to be told that there was some damage to the plane when thy had encountered a bird during landing on the previous flight. We then had to disembark from that plane and hop onto another, and so we left about 1 hour late, but I'd rather leave late than have problems mid flight, 30,000 feet up! I figured if I intended to come back to my children I'd rather be on a plane that actually worked.

We were supposed to be taking off from Gate 16 however, that was the site of the damaged plane and so we ended up leaving from Gate 15 around 50 mins later than was intended

Gate 16 and the offending damaged plane!!





Gate 15 and the plane we finally took off in from Adelaide!!

Some people hate flying....but me, I absolutely love it! To me there is something quite exciting about flying.

Funny, but I can't even remember what time we got into Melbourne. By the time the plane took off and I read for the majority of the flight, the time seemed to pass in a blur. On a short flight like that you feel like you just sat down in your seat, buckled up and then your taking the belt off again and getting out of the plane.

It always amazes me how these aircraft get off the ground. I know it's aerodynamics and all that, but I am still constantly amazed by man made technology, and especially by objects that are bigger than a kite that can stay up in the air.

A friend of mine suggested that I wear a flower so that my sister would recognise me at the airport!! I said "very funny!!". If you got the bit about me being an identical twin, you'll get what I've just said.

After finding my sister, (and yes she did recognise me, without a flower) who hadn't caught a flight that was late and was sitting patiently waiting near the baggage handling area, we set off to our accommodation, which was in the city of Melbourne. Staying in the city was for convenience since we were only there for 2 nights .....but it did have some significance as we were actually born in the city of Melbourne.....in a hospital of course.

After catching the Skybus from the airport we found our way to our hotel. The room was small but very nice. I think it's the new thing these days to have small hotel rooms. Glad I don't have to live in one of them all the time. Oh and we had a beautiful view from our room of the building next door. Very exciting. Seriously though it was actually a very nice hotel and I didn't have to make the bed!!

Didn't realise that this post was going to be so long.......Stay tuned for the next exciting installment........

BEEN AND GONE ....and life continues on!!

Well my birthday has been and gone. Seems like there is this build up to these kinds of events and then before you know it they are over. You know what I mean.....when it's getting near to Christmas, everyone is busy preparing for the day and then all of a sudden it's gone. Father Christmas comes and before you know it, we are celebrating New Year's and then on into the year ahead.

So now I am 50....the big FIVE OH !! Not such a big deal really. Actually I don't feel any different at all and I knew that I wouldn't. My youngest child....Miss 17......has given me quite a hard time. She has ribbed and ribbed me about how old I am going to be, and how old I now am. She has constantly been saying a whole lot of sentences to me with the word OLD in it. Oh well, I'm sure that will phase out once she gets sick of saying it to me. Actually one of my children said , when an advert came on the television for insurance......"Oh, well now you can get insurance with APIA." APIA for those who don't know is an insurance company that insures people that are 50 and over who don't work full-time....and it's much cheaper insurance. I am quite happy that I now fall into that category :-))

I went to see the musical WICKED in Melbourne with my twin sister and LOVED IT!! It was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen. The costumes and lighting were truly spectacular. Actually the whole show was absolutely spectacular. If anyone is thinking of going to see the show.......GO, you will love it.

I was going to post some photos of my trip on here today, but unfortunately my laptop is away getting repaired at the moment :-(( - sad to say......and I am using a public library to write this post. Hopefully I will have it back ASAP...but then you never know how long these things can take. Actually I feel quite lost without my own computer. Still feel lucky to at least have access to modern technology in the meantime.

Will put photos on my next post.