Well. I am writing this with the benefit of nearly three months' hindsight. In fact, we are now back in Melbourne, having spent the interim in New Zealand.
To recap, we had a fabulous month in Melbourne from late December to late January. We had initially booked to stay just two weeks, intending to leave soon after New Year. However, when we learned that Alastair would be in Melbourne on a 4-month project for his firm, we extended our stay to 4 weeks. Over the Xmas period all of us were staying in Bella and Nic's house, including Simon, a Swedish friend of Alastair's.
Xmas Day was fabulous,with perhaps a dozen of more of B&N's mostly NZ-expat friends calling in during the day or staying for lunch. The weather was hot and sunny, very conducive to a long lazy lunch on the terrace, followed by a riotous $10 Xmas gift hand-out.
John and I had a great time staying with Bella, Nic and Rosie and getting out and about with them. We also put a lot of effort into helping them renovate their house and sleep-out. The latter involved tearing out all the old wall linings, digging up much of the old uneven concrete floor and getting the levels set for reconcreting it. The load taken to the dump was massive. With 5 of us on the job, including Alastair, Simon and Nic, it was a huge day's work. The pace has slowed on it now because a permit is needed before putting in new wiring, plumbing and kitting it out as a self-contained unit.
A lot of effort was also put into levelling the 'lawn' so it could be reseeded. The first day of mowing it was rather ceremonial. J&I then turned our attention to walling up the open staircase inside the house (to make it toddler-proof and more modern), and a fair amount of painting in various rooms. All-in-all it was a big chunk of work, but B&N really appreciated it and it was great to be able to help them out so much.
On a more relaxing front, B&N had booked us into a weekend away at a resort in Yarra Valley. J&I made the most of it, including the stop at the huge ice-creamery/chocolaterie on the way. We also headed out to St Kilda a few times, one of which was to meet up with some of our neighbours from Nelson who are similarly homeless like us and are spending regular periods of time overseas.
Our last two days in Melbourne were spent at the Tennis Open. The $40 day pass gives access to the 25-odd courts and one of the stadiums. There was plenty of action to watch and we saw two brilliant matches in particular, plus caught a number of the big names practicing or warming up on some of the outer courts.
Having Xmas in Melbourne, with all our immediate family was a real bonus. Times like that are pretty rare, so it was very special. Alastair got to know his little niece, we all got time to just chill out and chat over a beer (not Rosie of course) and basically reflected on what awesome opportunities we all have in front of us. B&N are thrilled with their new house in Hawthorn and see themselves very happy here well into the future, with great schools on tap. Alastair is keen to get back to San Francisco and set up a permanent base, for the first time in his life. J&I are the wayward unpredictable ones - not sure what we will be doing over the next 5 years or so, but definitely enjoying the challenge of finding out.
