Bye Melbourne

Yesterday afternoon I said goodbye to Melbourne. Not only the big city but the little suburbs down to Sandringham where Peter lives. I went for a walk along the cliff tops to the south of Sandringham and took these photos.

I have more shots of the centre of Melbourne and of the streets around Peter’s flat such as the library and Metro station, but I decided on the beach shots. They better represent my memories of the place and how much I enjoyed walking on the cliffs and along the beaches.

As I took these two photos the sun was pushing through to warm up the sunbathers, joggers and families enjoying the facilities. In Sydney two days of 36°C heat ended with a violent storm, high winds and heavy rain. I didn’t know that as I enjoyed the sun on my walk.

As I packed my bag, I turned on my phone and picked up a message from the airline warning about the storms and possible delays. I pushed on with travel plans. A sad goodbye to Peter, for he had been the perfect host, then into the city. I picked up the airport bus and everything was okay.

Checked onto the flight and then the wait. And wait then announcements about a delay. Not only my flight. Sydney airport had been closed because of the storm. Nothing to do but try to sleep or eat/drink your way through the waiting time. I chose to doze.

Finally onto the plane, further delays then takeoff. We had to circle Sydney airport for 40 minutes before we could land for there was a backlog of flights waiting to land. Then through baggage, onto a train then the bus to Ian and Birgit’s place. I arrived over two hours late but at least in one piece! How I miss those cliff/beach walks!