Monday 11 April 2011

A big surprise and a day out

Hello everyone.  Friday night hubby said to me, "I've bought you a pressie."  He handed me a newspaper and I laughed because I've been asking him to bring me home newspaper to have on hand for when I do messy crafts.  He then said, "I've bought you another pressie."  I looked up and he handed me a box containing a brand new Cannon G12 camera.  SQUEAL.   I could have been knocked over by a feather.  We had been talking about upgrading from our little tiny weeny digital as we are hoping to visit Europe next year.  However, I didn't expect a new camera to come home quite so soon.


Source - Google images
Source - Google images







There is so much to this camera I don't know where to start and I feel like I might have to do a degree before I understand everything.  Hopefully my blog photos will improve, but I'm thinking it might take a while.

 Saturday I went out for the day with my best friend to the Melbourne CBD to have a wander.  The weather was lovely and warm and because the forecast for later in the day was for rain, we made an earlyish start.

After parking the car and wandering thought some arcades and pretty shops, we stopped for morning tea at Laurent Boulangerie Patisserie.



We chose to sit inside rather than out in the arcade.  My friend had a gorgeous little morsel I can't remember the name of and I had a pear puff.  I'm sure you can imagine how yummy it was.



I have two favourite arcades in the Melbourne CBD, the Royal Arcade and the Block Arcade.

This is the Royal Arcade.


I love everything about it.

The Block Arcade


This arcade has the most amazing mosaic floor.



I've promised myself I'll have High Tea in here one day.  These tea rooms in the Block Arcade have been around for a long time by Australian standards.  It looks very posh inside.


We wandered in and out of shops, down streets and around Federation Square and then made our way to Southbank to stop for lunch.  While we were having lunch we enjoyed the river view and I was quite taken with the contrast between the old and new architecture.  The dome building is Flinders Street railway station and the church St. Paul's Cathedral.


A view of the Yarra River with the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) in the middle of the photo in the background.


I found some sculptures to photograph as we were meandering but I'm saving them until the end of the month when I post my April Photo Scavenger Hunt photos.  We finished our day with a walk down by the Arts Centre and saw this old tram that has temporarily (I think) been made into a bar.


We headed back to the car and just as we left the CBD, the rain started.  Perfect timing.  We had such a lovely day taking in the atmosphere, the weather and the sights and of course spending the day with my best friend made it perfect.

Until nex time, take care,

Anne  xx

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a lovely time in the city Anne.
    I love both of those arcades to, lots to look at and the mosaics are wonderful.
    No 1 and I had afternoon tea at Hopetoun tea rooms, last time we were in Melbourne, it was very nice.
    Well done to your hubby for the new camera. You should be well and truly familiar with all the bells and whistles by the time you head O/S next year.

    Enjoy your week,

    Claire :}

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a lovely post and how exciting to have that brand spanking new camera!!! Love the building with the curved corner in the first photo.

    Since I am playing catchup with your blog, I just want to say how lovely that crocheted cushion is, and how impressed that you taught yourself to crochet. I tried over and over down the years but ended up going on a day course. Well done you for persevering!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's such a beautiful city, isn't it?
    I fell in love with it the first time I visited and drove down Collins St at night with all the fairy lights in the trees and the beautiful old buildings all lit up.
    Actually, that was 22 years ago this Easter.

    Have fun with that new camera.
    I got a fancy one about a year ago.
    I still have no idea what half the buttons do.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Anne,

    Thanks for the lovely comment you left me. I will post crochet pictures in the next few days. I also like to do many types of crafts (paper, ceramics, wood crafts, plastic canvas, and more), but my main focus lately has been crochet. I don't know how to knit yet, I will learn, my mom and I go to a group twice a month which is made up of mostly knitters. I went to your other blog first, can relate to that one as well.
    Rene'

    ReplyDelete
  5. Have fun with that wonderful new camera!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great new camera! We have only been to Melbourne once... but we LOVED it!! Such a pretty place!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment.