Dinner, Dinner, Dinner, Dinner, Dinner, Dinner, Dinner, Dinner......................

Saturday 31st December 2016

Today's word challenge is.....what is the next word in the sequence of the title?  I will reveal the answer at the end of the blog.  Here is a clue, it isn't 'Dinner'.

Of course today's activities revolve around tonight's celebration of New Years Eve.  We are booked into a Northcote Pub called the Peacock, for drinks and food.  It should be a good Aussie night.  Hope so!

Our day was filled with a trip to St Kilda beach.  The weather was just right, sunny but mid twenties and a breeze.  Here are some snaps of the area.

Nice city view from the pier.  The sea is the Port Philip Bay which is just south of Melbourne City.  

We walked along the pier and a stone breakwater where we were surprised to find some Fairy Penguins keeping cool in the cracks of the rocks.  The pictures weren't great but here goes...

You can just see a beak and another penguins tummy.  

We moved onto the beach and I managed a swim.  The water was quite warm, certainly none of the monkey noises I make when I usually get in really cold water and it gets to my middle!

Egg sandwiches on the beach for lunch and then another little stroll.

Here is a nice one of Marg in Janice's hat.  I was pleased we had visited St Kilda as it is the beach that Janice had told me about on her previous visit to Australia and it wouldn't have been fair if I hadn't seen it too.

Back to Northcote on the tram and train to get showered and ready for the evening.

The answer to the word challenge is of course, 'Batman'.  I hope you remember the original music to the Batman cartoon!  The link to the challenge is Melbourne history,  the city was founded by a man called John Batman.  He was a farmer who was born in 1801 in New South Wales but had land in Tasmania before he sailed to the river Yarra to begin a colony.

Batman negotiated a treaty (now known as Batmans Treaty but also known as the Dutigulla Treaty, Dutigulla Deed, Melbourne Treaty or Melbourne Deed), with Kulin peoples to rent their land on an annual basis for 40 blankets, 30 axes, 100 knives, 50 scissors, 30 mirrors, 200 handkerchiefs, 100 pounds of flour and 6 shirts.  You could say that the Aborigines were 'fleeced' but it would depend on what kind of blankets were handed over!!!  The treaty was signed at Merri Creek, which is at Northcote very close to where we are staying with Marg.  

Here is a park close to Marg's.

So, in a sense, Melbourne is the first Gotham City.

Our New Years Eve was great.  Early drinks and nibbles at Paul and Kathy's

Then out to the Peacock.  I wore a Western Bulldogs (Aussie Rules Team) baseball cap so that I would fit in as a 'local'.  The Bulldogs are Kathy's favourite team so she was chuffed that I wore it.

We had food and dancing at the pub

For midnight we moved to a flat that Paul and Kathy own that has a superb view over the Melbourne City Skyline.  The flat is currently unoccupied so it was a good vantage point for us to see the city fireworks.  Then back again to Paul and Kathy's house for last drinks before going back to bed at 2am.  

I hope feel OK in the morning! 

Happy New Year to everyone.  Hope it's a good one.  It will be good for us!