Luna Park at Last

A few weeks ago, I finally went to Luna Park! We used to have a view over this Melbourne area icon when we lived in St Kilda, but we had never been inside or rode any of the rides. It was time to change that, so we met up with Kristy and Nigel on a nice Friday night and finally went inside Luna Park.

Kristy and I got the unlimited rides pass (not cheap at $45 apiece!), and the boys got single ride passes and then played a few games. Here's Zack trying to get tennis balls into the jugs. He got one in and won the awesome blow-up bat pictured below. Nigel did the same, and the boys had fun hitting each other (and us) all night with them. 

After a bit, the boys headed off to the bar, and Kristy and I stuck around to get our money's worth by riding every ride possible.

Some rides were surprisingly fun; others were kind of lame. I did enjoy the sunset view from atop the ferris wheel; we couldn't have timed that ride more perfectly!

The Great Scenic Railway, which is the 100-year-old wooden roller coaster that goes around the outside of the park, was the one ride we just HAD to try. They were closing it on and off throughout the night due to high winds, but it finally seemed open and we waited in line for our turn. We finally got to ride it, and it was TERRIBLE. I mean seriously awful. If you're American and have been to Cedar Point, you know how rickety some of those old wooden roller coasters can be. Well, multiply that times 100. It honestly hurt, and I wanted off almost as soon as it started. It jostled you and banged you and shook you beyond belief. I would never never never ride it again, though I'm glad I can say I did it once. Anyway, we can cross Luna Park off of our bucket list, which is a good thing, because we may not be in Australia much longer! More about that in a future post...

Late Night at the Espy

On Saturday night, we met up with one of Zack's former coworkers and his wife to see a concert. It was held at the Esplanade Hotel, or the Espy for short, an iconic live music venue in St Kilda. There were three tribute bands in the show. 

The first one was Creedence Clearwater Revival...

The next one was The Rolling Stones...

And the final one of the night was The Doors...

I probably liked the CCR tribute band the best, because I knew most of those songs, but they were all pretty fun. The band members dressed and acted like the real musicians they were trying to mimic, and Zack said they did a good job of it (I don't know much about the The Rolling Stones or The Doors, but Zack does). We stayed there past 1am, which is pretty much unheard of for us. We are usually in bed before 11pm, even on the weekends! Here's a picture as proof that I can still stay up past midnight at my old age. :) Hopefully you all had a fun weekend too!

Goodbye St Kilda

When one is packing to move across town and comes across strange items one possesses, such as a Tough Mudder headband and retro sunglasses, some folks pack them away or throw them away. My husband puts them on and demands that his picture be taken in front of the flag. This is the result. Sometimes I wonder about him… :)

 We will miss St Kilda. I’ll miss sunsets like this, taken on one of our last nights in our apartment…

I’ll miss living near the happy sounds of Luna Park, which I still haven’t visited!

I’ll miss living across the park from a grocery store, I’ll miss living around the corner from Acland Street, and I’ll miss crossing the street to get to the beach. But I’m already finding things to love about our new home in South Melbourne!

Goodbye St Kilda! Justin, this is the picture you requested.

Photography Night Walk

Last weekend, I went with a group on a Photography Night Walk around St Kilda using a voucher I had bought with my friend Orla. I wasn't extremely happy with how my shots turned out (I feel like I'm a lot better at portraits of people during the daylight!), but here are some of my better ones from that evening:

Street light shining through the autumn leaves.

Street art behind the Palais Theatre. 

Acland Street treats.

Shot of a "boat" in St Kilda's Community Garden (taken through the fence).

I was trying to be clever with this one. Do you get it?

I like the bright colors in this one-taken from outside Nando's Restaurant.

I ordered myself a tripod on Ebay the day after this walk, so I hope my shots will improve from here on out. Hope you enjoyed a little taste of St Kilda by night!

Thrills on the Great Ocean Road Part II

After our first day on the Great Ocean Road, we had traveled from Melbourne down to Torquay and along the coast all the way to Lavers Hill. So after our night at Fauna Australia Wildlife Retreat, we only had a short distance to go to visit the famous Twelve Apostles.

These rock stacks are definitely one of the most photographed things in all of Australia. They are prettier at sunrise or sunset, but that didn't work out with our drive, so these pictures will have to do! There used to be twelve of these (hence the name), but some have since collapsed into the ocean. Here are my mom and dad in front of the Twelve Apostles.

We drove a bit more and stopped at Loch Ard Gorge to enjoy more scenic views and some playtime on the beach.

We took several versions of the picture below. While Cindy was taking one of us (not this version), a wave came up behind us and got us pretty wet!

After lunch in Port Campbell, we drove back to Melbourne the faster way (not along the coast) and did some souvenir shopping in the Federation Square area of the CBD. Cindy and Justin were able to get lots of Christmas shopping done for Cindy's family. We had dinner at Camy's, which is down a little hidden alley near Chinatown and serves up all sorts of dumplings for a very affordable price. We ordered about a hundred dumplings filled with various things and stuffed ourselves silly.


We got back to St Kilda just in time to see the sunset. We walked along the pier and saw a few fairy penguins come in for the night. It was kind of a chilly evening, so we didn't stay too long before meeting up with Zack (he got back from the US that morning) for some dessert on Acland Street. My family's trip to Australia was winding down!

The Dills Are Here!

They are here! My mom, dad, brother Justin, sister-in-law Cindy, and sister Morgan are in Australia. I'll let them write now.

Some nice person waited almost two hours with a fun sign for these folks to finally show up!

We made it!  It's beautiful here, and it's wonderful to be with Aubree (we haven't seen Zack yet - he's at work).  The 15 1/2 hour plane ride from LA to Melbourne wasn't that bad.  With over 200 movies to choose from, snacks and drinks whenever we wanted, plus lots of naps, the time passed fairly quickly.  Let the adventures begin!  Sue

We took a short walk by the bay and enjoyed the sunshine and breeze.  It was so nice to be able to walk and stretch our legs after such a long flight. Today is for relaxing, which is good because I am really tired. Looking forward to an early night and starting some adventures tomorrow! -Cindy

A short tram ride down Fitzroy Street

Coming out of the terminal at the airport on our way to get our luggage, I saw something shiny on the ground.  I bent over to pick it up and discovered it was a silver coin.  I put it in my pocket because I thought I was now rich.  Once we finally got our luggage, minus one bag that is still in Dallas, we finally got to see Aubree.  The first question I asked her was, "What is this coin; am I rich?"  She told me she had no idea.  I think I picked up a 1 yen coin.  I am not rich.  ~Justin

Waving their Aussie flags.

Somehow, I always knew my knowledge of the Australian National Anthem would be worth it, and as you can tell by the Aussie patriotism exhibited by the Dill family, it is certainly worth it. So far the actual koala count is zero, but the koala souvenir count is rising quickly.  Trying to keep it under control...probably not going to do a good job.  Did I mention I was in Australia?  Yeah, that's right. ~Morgan

A great first day of being met at the airport, getting settled in at our rental apartment, a quick walk along St. Kilda's beach, and past St. Kilda's restaurants and pastry shops and bars.  Really, really great to get the whole family together for laughs and stories.  Exchanged early Christmas gifts which felt like cheating just a bit.  Aubree has an Australian dinner planned tonight.  More stories later. ~ Dad Dill

So my family all just headed back to their apartment for some naps before dinner. I might sneak a quick one in myself before I fire up the BBQ for our Australian dinner (lamb skewers, pumpkin soup, sausages, chips, and Tim Tam slams). We'll be hitting up Acland Street for dessert. Lots more to come...

Zack Yo-Guessed-It!

Over the past twelve weeks, we've had a good time making use of a Groupon-type coupon I bought for us each to get one frozen yogurt creation per week. This place, called Yo-Get-It, is on Fitzroy Street, and it's kind of like Yogurtland in Denver, where you pick your flavors and toppings and pay by weight. The fun part is that if "yo-guess-it, yo-get-it," meaning that if you guess the weight of your creation exactly, you get it for free! We've been trying for weeks, and we've gotten sort of close a few times, but last night, on our last visit using our coupon, Zack guessed his dessert's weight exactly! We were so excited, as was the cashier. She took his picture, and soon it'll be flashing on the TV screen inside the store. This is my horrible phone shot of my winning husband, complete with his sunburnt face. Since he was getting this one "free" with our coupon, he actually got a second one for free last night. He had no problem with finishing both!

The weather has been strange lately. One day it's hot and sunny and the beach is packed; the next day it's gray and rainy and cold. This picture, taken from our balcony, is just a small sample of the craziness that is St Kilda on a warm day, especially on the weekend. We spent Sunday afternoon on the beach (hence Zack's sunburn), and we definitely weren't alone. Today it's been raining all day-ugh! Later in the week is looking nice again; I'm just hoping we have good weather when my family gets here. And yes Dills, we'll take you to Yo-Get-It!

Sunday Night Sunset in a Swing

Me looking orange in the setting sunlight.

Melbourne had its Daylight Savings Time switch this past weekend, so we lost some sleep on Saturday night by jumping ahead an hour. That meant that starting on Sunday night, it now stays lighter longer in the evenings, which is pretty nice. We took advantage of it by walking down the beach and grabbing these fun swinging chairs in the back of a beachfront restaurant to watch the sun go down. Not a bad way to end our low-key weekend!

By the way, today I tried out for the Deal Or No Deal television show!

My phone camera's view from the swing.

Post-Surfing Sustenance and Sad Sports Saturday

Well, we did end up going surfing on Saturday. The weather wasn't the greatest, but we avoided the rain and had a good few hours in the ocean at Torquay. The waves weren't that big, so it was good for practicing getting up on the board and learning when/how to catch the waves. After surfing, we almost always seek out a place to enjoy some delicious fish and chips. Something about this salty meal tastes so good after time in the water. Saturday was no exception. We hit up our regular place in Torquay, mainly because you can get a fish and chips meal for $6! We bring along our own bottle of ketchup, because you get charged about thirty cents for a tiny tub of tomato sauce at most places. Excuse the extremely poor quality pictures...I only brought along my little camera, which wasn't even working for a few months because it had sand in it.

Other than surfing, Saturday was a sad day for sports in our household. The St Kilda Saints lost their playoff footy game against the Sydney Swans, so they're out of the tournament. On Saturday night (our Sunday morning), my beloved Notre Dame football team lost a heartbreaker of a game to dumb Michigan. Yes, I am from Michigan. But I went to Notre Dame, so my loyalties are with the Irish. Here is a picture of our darling dog that I stole from my sister-in-law's Facebook page (thanks Cindy!). Yes, Molly Brown is wearing her own personalized Notre Dame dog jersey. No, I don't normally dress my dog...only for very special occasions. Let's hope ND can get their act together for next Saturday's game against Michigan State!

A Win at the Footy

On Saturday night, we went to another footy game at the MCG. You may remember the entry about the first game we went to with Heath and Isabelle. This time, we saw the St Kilda Saints battle the Carlton Blues with our friends Alena and Todd (from Chicago). The stadium was a lot more crowded this time, probably because it was a night game and the last one of the regular season. Playoffs start next week. The Blues are in 5th place, and the Saints are in 6th.

I was excited to finally get to wear my St Kilda gear. You don't get many chances to wear socks like these! Alena bought a scarf outside the stadium (she's a Blues fan), so we both looked like true fans. We met up with Todd and Alena before the game for some drinks and food and then headed to "the G" for the start. Yes, I enjoyed another meat pie during the game! Carlton led for the first half, and Zack and I were gearing up for another St Kilda loss. We even had a bet going with Todd and Alena: if the Blues won, we had to buy them drinks and vice versa with the Saints. St Kilda stepped it up in the second half and ended up winning by twenty points! Woohoo-free drinks for us!

Todd and Alena

Us-duh!

A fun night at the footy!

Spring Has Sprung

In Australia, spring begins on September 1. Hooray! To "celebrate," I walked around the St. Kilda Botanical Gardens. It's only a few blocks from our place, but I had never been inside. It's nice...lots of trees and big grassy areas. Once the weather is warmer, I can see us alternating having picnics on the beach and here.

I'm borrowing Heath's nice camera lens for a bit, so I used that to take some pictures of the plants and flowers I saw today. I thought I'd share some of them by covering every color in the rainbow.  Here you go!

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue (Skies)

Purple

Happy Spring!