Still in Melbourne

Dear Mum

How are you? I heard from Jenny that you had a sore eye, I hope it is all cleared up now. You will soon be off to London for your birthday weekend, I will think about you and I’m sure you will have a wonderful time.

I am now staying at my friend Stephanie’s house, it's in the suburbs of Melbourne but I will be going back to Kerry’s tomorrow.  I am enjoying being a guest and have been made so very welcome .

On Friday morning I went to Melbourne Museum and was particularly interested in the galleries which told the stories of the aboriginal  people. There was a very poignant  memorial to the children who had been taken forcibly from their own families and put into white families. It is amazing to think that this continued right up to 1969. Before I left  Liverpool I had gone to an exhibition in the Maritime Museum about British children that has been sent out to Australia and that too had continued into the 60s.  Made me think how lucky I was  to have been brought up in my lovely family. 

On Friday evening we went to a drum circle and I took my singing bowls. It took place in a lovely little cottage up in the mountains, which are not too far away from here.  We sat in a circle and everybody played  their drums , I played my bowls  and we sang.  It was a very special and rather magical evening. 

We haven’t really done very much else this weekend , just pottered about, but as Stephanie is such a dear friend this was  perfect.  She has gone to watch her son Adam play Australian rules football so I'm now in the house on my own, writing letters. 

Here’s a picture of me on the deck yesterday doing my knitting. I'm making a cardigan and these are the sleeves so not too far to go now!

The weather is still very changeable here but I think that is typical for autumn in Melbourne .  The light is also very different from the UK even when it’s overcast the light has an intensity which can be quite dazzling!

I will send this letter via Jenny as I think Claire’s printer is still out of action. Hope you enjoy London, and please give my best to all the family.

With very much love from your galavanting daughter down under!

Tricia   

xxxxxxxxx

Back in Melbourne

Dear Mum

Back in Melbourne from the beach house. The weather has turned really cold, but I suppose it is autumn. But then the sun will come out and then it is very hot -  a strange climate! Yesterday went up to a beautiful waterfall  and looked for koalas but didn’t see any!     

As you can see the Eucalyptus trees are evergreen and do not shed their leaves or turn yellow, but there are some trees which have started to turn and there is Virginia creeper in Kerry’s backyard which is changing into that beautiful red colour. I suspect the deciduous trees are imports from Europe but don’t know for sure. It must be really into spring in the UK, I will have missed all the daffodils in Sefton Park. They were just starting to come out when I left and will be well gone when I return.

I have just organised my trip to New Zealand, I am going with my friend Sue who is also in Australia ,staying with her brother in a very remote part of New South Wales. I am meeting her in Sydney so I will have a day to look around and then we fly together to Christchurch for a week. We are hiring a camper van and  we will travel around the South Island - very exciting!

I have heard from Claire that her printer has stopped working and she is not now able to print out the letters, so I will send this one to Jenny and I am sure she will be over to see you soon! Claire is going to get a new printer but won't have it until after the 19th, so I will send the next few letters via Jenny. You will be off to London soon for your birthday weekend, I am sure you will have a grand time!

AND I HAVE VERY LOVELY NEWS FOR YOU!!!!!!!!

Alex, Lara and little Alba are going to join us in July for the whole week in  the cottage in Anglesey. Won’t that just be wonderful!  

Lots  and lots of love  Tricia   xxxxxxxxx    

Airey’s Inlet #2

Heard from Claire that her printer had stopped working - so Mum might have seen these but not got a printed version yet - am sure it will be repaired soon! Heard from Jenny that Mum took all the letters with her when she went to hers on Friday!


Dear Mum

It’s Easter Monday and I'm sitting on the deck with my computer, writing this letter to you. In front of me are two very big and beautiful parrots. One is very red chested with green wings and a dark tail than the other has a green head , green wings and a very beautiful bluey green tail, they are very tame and feed out of your hand.

There are also big white cockatoos around here, my friends don’t like them as they are bullies towards the parrots and they also do damage to the house with their pecking. It is quite funny that
every time the cockatoos land on the deck, David rushes out and chases them away.

So I haven't got a picture of the cockatoos yet! They are bigger than the parrots and pure white except for the yellow crests they have on the head. It looks like the single crest which they fan out into three yellow crests - beautiful birds but not very popular!

It has got cold today and I went to a charity shop with my friend Kerry and bought two jumpers, they cost me in total $4 which is about £2. I hadn't packed enough warm clothes but the charity shop was the perfect solution.

On Saturday we drove up the Great Ocean Road to some famous rocks called the 12 Apostles. We passed through amazing forests of beautiful really old trees. The Apostles were very impressive but I think the trees were the favourite bit of the trip.

I heard you had a lovely day and Jenny’s on Friday with Aidan and Livvy, and I’m sure you really enjoyed it. We are going for a walk now up to the lighthouse.

With lots of love my lovely mum.

Tricia xxxxx

   

Feeling happy!

The system is working - got  beautiful message from Claire who delivers these letter to my Mum:

Done. The delight on your mother's face makes my day

Airey’s Inlet

Dear Mum

I am now at the beach house, it is in a place called Aireys Inlet. It is surrounded by beaches and it feels like we are at the caravan! We have had a couple of lovely long walks on the beach and last night we played cards, an Australian game called phase 10.

Today we are going to go further along the Great Ocean Road which will be lovely, the views are absolutely spectacular. The sea is a mixture of turquoise and dark blue and the surf is strong. There is a huge surfing competition taking place not far away from here, with surfers from around the world.

I haven’t been swimming because the water is quite cold and the beaches are quite wild. They are just the most perfect dog walking breaches and Kerry’s dog has been a real pleasure to walk with. His name is Hamish and he is the same colour as our Hamish but quite a lot bigger.

I hope you had a lovely day at Jenny’s she told me you were going to come over with Fiona's family. I am looking forward to hearing all about it! 

Here are some photographs, with very much love

Tricia xxxxxxx

Melbourne #4

Dear Mum

It is now Thursday morning and I am waiting to go to the University of Melbourne for the first meeting. When we return we will go up to the beach house which is about an hour and a half away, on the Great Ocean Road. There are lots of British names here and we will pass through Anglesea and Torquay - there are so many places with British names in Australia - the legacy of the early settlers of course - as well as Geelong and Werribee - all very interesting!!!!

I am eating a hot hot cross bun - they always remind me of travelling down to Spalding and staying with Aunty Ellen. There is a lovely shopping street next to Kerry’s house and it has many little shops like fishmongers and bakeries - and Kerry just brought me a hot cross bun for my breakfast! I like the old sign in this row of shops which says: 'Arnt you marvellous'- a lovely message - and here’s to you my lovely Mum - 'Arnt you marvellous!!!'

It’s now after the meeting - well it went very well - just a small group - see picture - it was a preliminary meeting for a bigger event in May - I gave a presentation for a bit over an hour and we had good discussions. I am pleased as they are now organising the next event based on this one. We are all packed up and ready to go to the beach house - as it is the Easter Weekend.

 

We passed this building - on the tram we went down to the city - it’s called Royal Exhibition Building - it’s one of the oldest buildings in Melbourne. Look how blue the sky is! The light is quite extraordinary here in Australia.

This is a picture of Kerry and Stephanie buying Easter cakes after the meeting!

Got to go now the car is nearly packed - will send my next letter from the beach - isn’t the technology just marvellous as well!!

Lots and lots of love

Tricia xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

......and it’s snowing in Prague!