the running wave

I can't come to Melbourne without taking the grandchildren to the zoo.  Melbourne has a great zoo and while I don't really like them, this one does at least give most of the animals very good enclosures in which to while away their lives. My two Aussie grandchildren loved their day out and we saw lots of animals, visited the butterfly house which is a magical place, and I found a few flowers I had never seen before, so we all had a happy time! My 2 year old grandson, who never stops moving, zonked out during the return train journey!  I could hardly believe it!  Defeated - at last!

Cheating here a bit!  I haven't been able to pick anything to arrange in a vase for this Monday, but on Thursday last week I did pop my head into the most glorious florist shop, Pollon, on Flinders Lane in Melbourne city centre.   In the midst of many beautiful buckets of flowers there were these water lilies!  So here they are, in all their voluptuousness!

 I spent Thursday in the wonderful company of a very old friend of mine.  Melbourne is her home town but she lives up in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, so I was lucky to have the opportunity to meet up with her again on this trip.  We always just pick up where we left off last time we were together.  A lovely, happy, easy friendship which enabled us to chat and catch up while mooching around the city, finding lovely things to see and admire, including our joint enjoyment of street art/graffiti as well as having a very good lunch, and some extremely yummy cake and jasmine tea later in the afternoon. This is the interior of a blissful florist shop called Pollon, in the city centre. Hosier Lane, in the city centre, is a mecca for street artists and there is always a crowd of people, mostly tourists, browsing the latest work.     There was a tribute to Stan Lee, the superhero of Marvel Comics, who died recently. 1 December will herald ...

I had a very enjoyable first day back in Melbourne, with a visit to one of my favourite places on the planet - South Melbourne Market.   It was a bit of a flying visit, while my son did a bit of shopping in Chef's Hat, a restaurant supply store.  I will go back next week and have a longer trawl through the market.  It is a wonderful place and I LOVE it! Here are some images from the first day of my holiday, starting with breakfast in a local cafe and ending with a couple of beautiful flowers I saw on my walk to pick up my granddaughter from school in the afternoon.