Back to Oz ... meeting old and new friends

Following our morning shopping and jumping in a taxi on Friday (23rd February) ...

 we arrived at St Kilda a short time later.

We'd viewed St Kilda from the open air bus when we (me, George, my brother Garry and his wife Sue) first arrived in Melbourne on the 20th February and decided that this area was definitely worth a  proper visit.

 The water front ...

 with its long pier ...

 is vibrant ...

 and worth stoping for ...

it was also very hot, hot, hot!

 Yachts and kite surfers compete for space

 with huge cargo ships

 and monster cranes on the dock side as we walk the length (700 mtrs) of the waterfront.

We had arranged to meet long standing friends Sandra and Ian who were also visiting Australia and today would be the only day we would be in the same place at the same time since August 2015.  They were in Melbourne primarily to meet up with an old school friend of Ian's that evening who he'd not seen for about 60 years!  Ian had asked if his friend minded if there were four more of us that evening and Graham, his wife Diane and daughter Charmaine were delighted to share the time with us all.  

 They came to collect us in two cars from the apartment that Ian and Sandra had rented and drove us through Melbourne's CBD  ...

 to the Southbank area

 which was actually just a few minutes walk from our Hotel across the Yarra River ...

 where we ate a fantastic meal at The Atlantic Restaurant in the Crown Plaza

Round the table were (from left, clockwise) my sister in law Sue, me, our friend Sandra, our new friends Diane and Graham (Ian's old school friend), our friend Ian, George, Diane and Graham's daughter Charmaine and my brother Garry.  

 Out on the Southbank after our delicious main course meal ...

we had ice cream for pudding!

Diane, Graham, Sue, Sandra, Ian and Garry ... I think George was still in the queue for our ices!

George and I would like to thank Diane, Graham and Charmaine for their welcome to Melbourne and for entertaining us all that evening ... it's so lovely to meet up with old friend and making new friends as lovely as they are.

Now, don't laugh, but I often forget that videos taken on my camera  in portrait mode won't rotate once loaded onto the computer ... but I'm sure my readers will manage to tilt their devices somehow to see the following as it should be viewed ...

Melbourne's Southbank great balls of fire

or here's one from YouTube taken from the far bank
0:56Crown Casino Gas Brigades - Southbank, Yarra River, Melbourne

Lots more of our adventures in Oz to come ... watch this space!