Have just got back to Sydney after spending a few more days in Melbourne, including the weekend during which Stace flew down and we lorded it up in a swanky hotel above the casino. The weather was excellente Ambassador and after a busy but interesting working week, it was good to get out at a reasonable time last Friday and catch an old Nottingham housemate, Jim, for what became the unofficial 10 year anniversary celebration of our starting university. Later that evening we were joined by another old mucker, Ben, and his girlfriend, who have been living in Melbourne for a year or so. I went to school and University with Ben and he is now well on his way to becoming a heart surgeon. What an interesting bloke, and his own heart is big as a house as we would find out the next day when he picked us up from the hotel at 9am (got to get the free breakfast in first – all 5 courses) and drove us around for the entire day, showing off the city and surrounds he is rightly becoming a huge fan of. We skipped down to Bells Beach and recreated scenes from Point Break, albeit on land, stopped at a giant industrial estate full of surf shops ($5 Reef beanie? Yes please, four) and then drove along the start of the Great Ocean Road to Lorne.
Lorne is a very attractive little seaside village along similar lines to Rock and we had a quality fish lunch in a little restaurant perched on the edge of a pier, overlooking a shallow reef break. The G.O.R is one of the something modern-day wonders of the world I think and really was worth a visit, especially in the sunshine we had. Ben’s girlfriend was going back to England that evening for a month so it was extra kind of him to spend the day ferrying us about instead of making the most of his time with her.
On Sunday, Stace’s friend Brooke took up driving duties as Ben went diving (selfish) and our first stop is pictured below. Unfortunately I think Harold was out practising his tuba but you could still feel the electric atmosphere of 20 years’ worth of quality drama…
Stace was so excited about seeing Brooke and we had had another great day. After Ramsay Street we spent the rest of the day shopping and had a very tasty lunch on the beach at St Kilda. Melbourne really does have some choice as places to eat and drink. Stace flew home on Sunday night and I ended up coming home early on Tues night instead of staying the whole week as originally planned. And in addition to seeing my Chocolate Princess I had another treat to look forward to – Pumper Purdie, our very own Junior Richard Branson (of Virgin Pickle fame) had arrived over the weekend to stay for a couple weeks. Oh yeah, and we finally bought a car!
