Swoon-ville

Just inside Victoria, the land recovering after bushfires.

The new growth is almost fluro green against the black backdrop of burnt trunks. 

New life.

The very pretty Lakes Entrance.  

So many fishing boats with their fresh catch for sale.

Hubbie and Min feasted on fresh prawns for dinner that night.

Unfortunately myself and Eggy are not huge fans of prawns.  

I was almost ashamed of myself for not partaking of the fresh as fresh produce. . . . almost.  

Hello Melbourne.  These wonderful tram lines greeted us as we snaked our way through the streets to the caravan park.  

First impressions of Melbourne - welcoming, excitement, cosy, neat, friendly, organised.

We were certainly not disappointed.  

Food glorious food, thank goodness we have walked almost everywhere, the food, oh the food is just beyond words here.  Some of our fave meals have come from Grill'd (in Degraves St, and St. Kilda), kokoblack in Lygon St.  A little noodle house in Brunswick St. of which the name escapes me.  Various coffee places and little continental cake places in St. Kilda.  Breadtop in Melbourne CBD features in the above photo.  Yes, we have sampled some awesome food and the service was second to none.  

Today we bought some Donninis Pasta from their store in Lygon St. to have for dinner tomorrow night.  Hmmmm, fresh made pasta. . . . .   

Here is Degraves St.  One of my favourite spots.

A wander along Brunswick St. is a must while here too.  

The wall art is amazing here, everywhere you look, there is something to see.

The boys admiring some of the work down a side street off Brunswick St.

BSC bike shop in Brunswick St.  We had fun here, you want a bike, you name it, they have it.  

These kids bikes are pretty cute.

There was even a bike just for me.  Oh I love this bike, the fellow there even said I could take if for a spin.  I was so very tempted, but I was worried he would never get it back.  It has a huge basket on the back, I can see me doing the groceries with this little trike-bike.  I can see me cruising down to the Sunday markets and filling the back with all the local sweet fruit and vege and stopping for a coffee and cruising home.  The boys have all got their bikes, we can go for a picnic down at the beach or just put a book, rug and soccer ball in the back and head to the beach.  Hmmmm. . . . . . nice bike.

A little park in Lygon St. showcasing only its best.  

How sweet it was to come across this feast for the eyes.

We have had absolutely a wonderful time here, and will be coming back.  Unfortunately I would have liked to have caught up with a few friends who I have never actually met face to face, but through the connection of shared hobbies, have gotten to know each other.  I would have liked to have given them a hug and said hi directly to them.  *sad face* You girls know who you are and can I take a rain-check on that hug please??  Pretty please with sweet Victorian strawberries on top.  (You have the best strawberries here)

Ok one more thing, just one more little Joyce-y type thing.  The clothing, I do apologise if you were one of the people that I was gawping at while here, I love the clothing, I love the shoes and the boots and the bags and scarves and beanies and berets, and everything clothing related, I could have people-watched the day away, every time someone walked past me I was like, oh wow, love that bag, how cool are his shoes, oh look how shiny those pointy shoes are!!, wow, great scarf, . . . . . . . . even the kids were cool.  I mean for a city to have people walking around in ugg-boots, now that is pretty awesome, they were long ugg-boots, short ones, ones with the top folded down, ones with fancy jackets being worn and ones with designer bags.  Then there were your regular fashion boots - double swoon with cheese!!  It's totally freedom of expression and I so love it.  Even the suits here are awesome!  

I am a huge daggy dag when it comes to 'fashion'.  I don't follow the trends, I don't flick through magazines and buy 'what she is wearing' stuff.  I never have and at the ripe old age of 41.5 I very much doubt I will ever become a fashion thing.  I like different stuff, I like the stuff that I like.  Here in Melbourne I actually thought I would just wear jeans the whole time, cause that would be conservative and 'proper like'.  woo hoo, you know what, I don't quite even know where my jeans are, oh they are under all my scarves, and leggings and cardis' and layers type stuff.  Yup, I have been just Joyce here, I have been wearing my stuff and I really quite like it.  

So in a nutshell, Joyce hearts Melbourne.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today.

I hope you have had a wonderful day at your place.  

Posted by Joyce. xx

(Minnie is working on a blog post, we are putting it together -watch this space, hopefully it will be ready very soon.)