Melbourne Family Vacation

Hi there, have decided to pick up writing again as I think this is the best way to document my boys' childhood. I have taken so many pictures of them since birth but have never got around to organizing them. Some pics on the desktop, some pics on my phone, some pics LOST! My phone crashed twice and took away those precious pictures. I'm never religious about syncing my data :P I swear I cried. And so here I am, uploading these pictures on cyberspace and penning my thoughts about them.

This backdated post is on my family vacation to Melbourne in March. Unlike our previous trip to Hong Kong last year, this felt more rewarding because my boys are a little older and hence more aware of things around them. They really did enjoy themselves and will talk about Australia fondly up till now!

Mornington Peninsula: Mornington Park-Sorrento-Flinders lookout-Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farm-Arthur's Seat

Since we did not drive, we've signed up with local day tours. The first was to Mornington Peninsula with Grayline Tours http://www.grayline.com.au/australia-sightseeing/melbourne-day-tours

 Ling Ling Jie Jie, as my kids fondly call my niece, joined us on this one :)

 First stop Mornington Park and the boys were ecstatic. 

 Really like how the playground is padded with foliage unlike the foam ones here. 

 After playground, we took a walk along the pier.

 Eli who wanted to play with water and sand initially (I said no haha), was happy just taking in the scenery and talking about the things he saw. He was genuinely amazed. He has always been into nature so I guessed a trip to Australia is just right for him

Groovy Mathieu says Hi.

 Someone from a neighbourhood photography club asked for a picture of the boys.

Here is a pic of my breakfast at Mornington. Pretty good coffee with biscuits! 

 Next stop, Portsea. 

 SK gobbling down his breakfast- downside of joining a tour.

 Daddy, please carry me...

 Lunch and leisure time at Sorrento. A quaint and idyllic seaside resort and according to the guide, an upper class resort.

 This has got to be the highlight for the kids! Strawberry picking!

 Hard at work!

 Teaming up with Ling Ling Jie Jie to pick the biggest and juiciest strawberries. 

We could wash and eat the strawberries immediately but we chose to sink our teeth into freshly made strawberry ice-cream instead. It was heavenly! Sorry no pictures on that! 

 Last stop Arthur's seat lookout for panoramic views of CBD. 

 What's with the pose?

Philip Island: Gurdies Winery - Panny's Chocolate Factory - Woolamai surf beach - Philip Island Wildlife Park - Cowes - Penguin Parade

For this, we signed up with A Tour with a Difference http://www.atwad.com.au/daytoursit's/phillip-island-and-penguins-day-tour/ We really loved our guide Bryan and the fact that it's a small cozy tour. Everyone was nice and my boys had fun chatting with them.

 Chilling out at Gurdies Winery which was closed because apparently, it's not the season to harvest grapes. However, our guide brought along wine and cheese for us to sample. Overall, a beautiful place as it is set high on a hill with views of Port Philip Bay. Ample space for my kids to run around.

 Our guide, Bryan, brought with him some really tasty cheese and crackers.

Enjoying his cracker and cheese.

Hmmm...the kids had fun but the chocolates aren't  really amazing.

 Next up, some wallabies and kangaroos feeding at the wild life park. My boys enjoyed it thoroughly as they got up close with the animals. This is a free ranging park and the animals just roam. Frankly, I would not come here myself. I find the kangaroos kind of aggressive - they come over to you (a few at a time) for that pack of food in your hand and you better relinquish it fast, they scratch! What's scary to me is that they are tall! I'm just a little taller, which means they must tower over Eli and Mathieu. Besides, I'm a little bothered by the poo all over the ground... However, the wallabies are docile and good with kids :)

 Hi there, how about a friend? 

 Mathieu with his please-carry-me antics again.

 A cute, chubby wombat :) Eli's favorite.

The aggressive ones.

Our last stop was the Penguin Parade. Photo taking is not allowed there and the only pic I got was this haha. The kids needless to say, had a great time. However, we were ill-prepared for the drop in temperature and the wait for those cute little fairy penguins seemed like an eternity in that biting cold!

Visit to Queen Victoria Market

Just chilling with his cousins who also visited Melbourne during the same period.

Dandenong Ranges: Puffing Billy and Day Out with Thomas.

 We alighted at Emerald Station for the Day Out with Thomas event, which takes place twice a year. To be honest, this was the one of the reasons we chose Melbourne as our holiday destination. Both my boys are train buffs and Mathieu is such a big fan of Thomas. Can you imagine Mathieu's elation? It was a dream come true for him certainly.

 Train being pulled by Thomas!

 Watching Thomas Pantomine. 

We visited the village of Sasssafras after the event. Beautiful and quaint, albeit a little touristy. A pity we couldn't get a table at Miss Marple Tea room, famous for her scones and tea :( It was a Saturday and the queue was crazy. A little challenging since hungry children cannot wait. 

To sum up, we had a great stay in Melbourne and will definitely plan another trip there in the near future. There are still many places we wanted to bring the boys but did not due to time constraint and logistics haha. 

We had a pleasant and comfortable stay at Citadines on Bourke

http://www2.citadines.com/en/australia/melbourne/bourke.html , a relatively new serviced apartment in a fantastic location.