Eric thinks Cocoa the cat seems friendly.
Or maybe not from this angle but the encounter ended amicably!
Consider going into Melbourne City - find that the only way to use the very good public transport system is to have a Myki Card (a bit like an Oyster Card). There are a limited number of places that sell them, but luckily bro No.1 and his wife come to the rescue. They have some spare ones and all they need is topping up with some money. We can do this at Camberwell Station about 3km away. We are dropped at the station and achieve this without too much trouble. Now we need a map. Ask at the station ticket office for one and, no, they don't have one. Decide we will have to fetch one from Melbourne itself when a lady security person sees we are wondering how to use the Myki Cards and in the ensuing conversation says we need a map. She goes back into the ticket office where the man had said they didn't have any...and provides us with one.
Some Chestnut Teal and a Heron at Gardiner's Creek.
A Little Wattle Bird.
A rather fuzzy picture of a juvenile Grey Butcher Bird.
Snakes - pah, they don't bother me. (Maybe that's because it's rubber Eric)
The birder amongst us had been browsing the internet the previous night and seen some binoculars that would take a picture of anything you were looking at through them. They are Sony and there's a Sony Center that sells them in another Melbourne suburb. Armed with our map and Myki Cards we therefore venture forth to the aforementioned suburb (or burb for short) - Nunawadding - to try and find the shop.
The train is covered with graffiti on the inside and all the way along the railway line, but the journey passes without incident. Some of the graffiti is very artistic and must have taken significant time and effort to create. How to find the shop? (as our map didn't cover that sort of thing). Uncharacteristically we ask a young lad disembarking at the same time as us if he knew where the Sony Centre was - amazingly he did. Not only that, but armed with his phone he looked up exact directions and we were on our way. As you may have expected, of course, they didn't have the binoculars in stock!
Return to Camberwell via another train line on which we had to change trains - all managed with aplomb.
Eric waits patiently on the platform at Nunawadding. The train to Camberwell - will I see Hugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub? No Eric, that's Camberwick Green.
We saunter along the main shopping street and find a rather posh looking French Patisserie for lunch. Some delicious food and two weak cappuccinos later we set off to have a tram experience on our way back to the house.
Eric enjoys the tram ride.
Melbourne is well served by trams - they run from the burbs into the city, and there is even a free tourist one on a central loop that you can hop on and off as you wish. Enjoying ourselves so much we miss the closest stop to walk back. From the next junction it's an uphill walk trying to keep in the shade as it is hot, sunny and about 26degC.
A further short outing was undertaken to the local wildlife area at Gardiner's Creek. Birding and people coming home along the bicycle track do not go together very well!
A Noisy Myna and her (or his?) chicks.
A Red Wattle Bird.
A Pacific Black Duck, we knew these as Grey Duck in New Zealand.
Return to the house. Eric sees something in the front garden and goes to investigate.
Out for a pizza with the family for our evening meal. Food was good although the restaurant was very noisy (the usual in terms of no sound deadening furniture).
After all theses exertions a fairly early bedtime means we should be ready for the morrow.