Making up for lost time

Kookaburra

It was always our plan to take Gemma and Dan out and about around Melbourne while they are staying with us, but circumstances have conspired against us by not giving us any days off in common.  This week we decided to make up for lost time by making the most of our evenings together.

On Sunday I took them up to Sky High Mount Dandenong to watch the sunset.  On the way we stopped at Pinoak court, the street used to film Neighbours, to keep Dan happy.  Despite the traffic we got up to Mount Dandenong in good time and sat and had a coffee and a walk through the woods to do some Kookaburra spotting before getting back to the viewing platform to watch the sun to set over the city.

Sunset from Mount Dandenong

A more ambitious trip was made on Monday night when we embarked on the 6 hour round trip to Philip Island.  Philip Island is the most famous place to see penguins in Victoria, although there is a small penguin rookery in St Kilda.   Barnadi has never been to the penguin parade, put off by the high entry price,  about $22 per person.  We got to the penguin parade ticket office a couple of hours before sunset, so after buying our tickets we drove to an area of beautiful rocky coastline called the Nobbies where we enjoyed the views of the rocky windswept cliffs dotted with nesting seagulls.



Sign in the Penguin Parade car park

The penguin parade was well worth the money, even Barnadi was glad we had come and couldn't draw himself away from the antics of the worlds smallest penguins.  We started off sitting on rows of seats set up from the beach waiting for the first few brave individuals to come out the water, the beach being clearly illuminated by the full moon made for good viewing conditions.  After watching the first few groups of penguins scurrying up the beach we returned to the boardwalks to watch them return to their nests.

It was about 9:30pm by the time we left the penguin parade and we still hadn't had any dinner.  With a three hour drive home ahead of us we resorted to stopping at a 24 hour McDonalds, to keep our hunger at bay.  It was the first McDonalds I have had in Australia and it is not something I am proud of, but needs must.

On Tuesday night Barnadi was working again so I joined Gemma and Dan for a few drinks on Northcote High Street.  Barnadi and I never tend to go out, especially as we are saving money for a deposit on a house, so it was good to get to experience the High Street while we still live here.

My contract of employment for the Alfred hospital has also arrived, my official start date being the 3rd December, this means I will start work at the Alfred as soon as we get back from our trip to the UK at the end of November.  It is only a six month contract, to cover a maternity leave vacancy they have, but it was a nice surprise when I saw that although it is a grade 2 position they will be paying me at the top end of grade 2.