Message Stick

The peace and quiet was broken on 20th Jan when the olds arrived from cold England via Singapore.  It was really great to see them after 5 months and I had planned a week of activities to keep them busy and out of mischief.  I allowed them the first day off to recover but then we hit the ground running.  We started the week with a free walking tour of the city with a local volunteer, followed by a free bus tour…well they are pensioners after all.  We had to balance the interests out so one day Dad got to go to an Australian airbase to see his beloved planes and the following day Mum treated us all to an evening at the Australian Open Tennis.  It was really great and we got to see, in person Nadal continually pulling at his wedgies; most entertaining. Our local outdoor pool was another great place to while away a few hours and Mum and Dad made a trip up to The Edge; a scary glass bottomed viewing platform in Melbourne’s highest building. On Sunday we took them on a surprise trip to Philip Island to see the world’s smallest penguins coming into nest from the sea.  They were very relieved as they suspected we might be putting them into an old folks home!  We visited a Koala sanctuary, great beaches and dad’s third aviation museum of the week. Their final day with us in Melbourne was Australia day, a public holiday so we meandered through the parks looking at vintage cars and a flypast of 3 M18 planes.  We had the last supper at their hotel, full of very fit looking tennis players and then returned to the city for the fireworks display.

It has been a brilliant week and we have loved having them here.  We have 2 weeks to recover now before we see them again in Sydney.  They called this morning to say they had boarded their cruise ship, heading for New Zeland and an upgraded cabin had gone down well with a view of the Sydney Opera house!  Pleased to know my inheritance is being put to a good cause