The two biggest cities in Australia, Sydney and Melbourne, are often compared and contrasted.
There was, and still is, much rivalry between the two..
I once asked a gracious old lady what she thought of Melbourne and Sydney….
She said “Well of course, Melbourne is marvellous..…”
‘‘but my dear………. what could compare with Sydney Harbour?”
So never the twain shall meet.
Our family became more familar with Melbourne when our elder daughter and family moved to this gracious city, full of colour and movement!
Melbourne is well known for its trams, they are a novelty for us and fun to take the tram in the city, and watch the world go by…
Melbourne has become a very multicultural city, and is represented by many many different cultures. Needless to say there is a great variety of foods, markets, coffee, cafes and restaurants.
We often visit this café because it is near the Botanic Gardens…
In the older suburbs of the city, it is easy to see the early pioneers and gold rush days… (my father’s family came from Wicklow, Ireland.)
Our daughter and family live in a well kept inner city suburb, with lots of parks and lovely gardens.
The small Eucalyptus trees are perfect for the streets, and the flowers bring the birds too.
During Australia’s Covid Lockdown, we travelled to Melbourne to help out with our daughter and son-in-law, as they were expecting their second baby in September. Lockdown rules still applied, with social distancing, wearing masks and restricted numbers of people socialising together.
The highlight of our day was a slow walk with our three year old granddaughter
Thanks to her we noticed every ant, insect and bug along the path, all of which was very interesting….
Kind and thoughtful neighbours helped by putting toys in street trees, Winnie the Pooh was very popular, and we looked forward to seeing Winnie every day.
The Rainbow Lorikeets enjoy the parks and seem to be everywhere..
Gardening continued through Covid…
Before Covid this park was full of people, playing sport, sitting under trees, having picnics, children swinging on play equipment.
Looking at these photos now, the very quiet and strange life of Lockdowns and Covid seems a long time ago, and what an uncertain, and worrying time it was!
We were very grateful to have an enthusiastic three year old on hand!
However, we realised flying a make-shift kite was harder than we thought..
A bonny baby boy was born, and before long it was Christmas..
The Eucalyptus flowers were decorated by kindly neighbours, and, for us, Melbourne was marvellous..
Some time ago I have written a blog post about the Covid Lockdowns in Australia, and there might be some overlap of photos. My apologies.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post today. I hope you are having a day of sunshine…
Copyright: Geraldine Mackey: All Rights Reserved.