Friday March 12, 2010 – Melbourne

We made plans to meet up with Barry and Marion at their home. After a few mistakes on our part and the GPS's part we made it to their place in an hour. We had decided to head up to the Dandenong Hills east of the city for a picnic. It was a very nice drive.

We had lunch at the Silvan Reservoir. We were not beside the lake but below the dam. This reservoir is water for Melbourne. After lunch we went to Lilydale Lake. We walked all around it. Just over 3 km. It was a nice flat walk which was nice. It was also great to have someone different to talk to. It was a great quiet day which we liked.

Thursday March 11, 2010 - Melbourne

We decided to go down town today. Before we left we called Charles Mom and my friend Patty. It was nice to talk to them both.

We were able to catch the bus close to the park. It took us to the tram. It took us to the market. The market was huge. Where we entered was at the meat and fish part. Everything looked good. We wished we had the cooler with us so we could have bought something for supper tomorrow night. We did pick up some fruit and vegetables. There is a free tourist shuttle bus that goes around downtown Melbourne. While we were waiting for it I found a shirt for Charles. Our back pack was full now.

We caught the free bus and road it to the Botanical Gardens. The gardens were mainly trees and ferns. It was very nice. Some of the trees are very old. The main gift shop and visitor centre were closed due to damage from the storm on Saturday. Many of the buildings and plants were affected by the storm. There was lots of cleanup going on. Finding a phone we called Trevor and Julie. It was so nice to talk to them. We slowly made our way through the gardens and back to downtown. There were many old buildings in amongst the new ones.

We got back to pick up the tram just in time to get it going back. With the help of a number of people today we found our way to the market and later back to the park. It was a fun day but we are so tired tonight.

Wednesday March 10, 2010 Melbourne

We had a slow start to the day. Friends (Barry & Marion) we met over the years at Canadian Dam Association meeting came over to the camp ground. We had a very nice afternoon chatting with them.