New Year 2015 - Melbourne

Happy New Year!

Melbourne's New Year's Eve is always a major event comprising of free entertainments with the midnight fireworks spectacular as its finale. It can be viewed at four live sites; Treasury Gardens, Kings Domain, Flagstaff Gardens and Docklands. At each of the live sites, there will be music from local DJs, special effects and a multimedia countdown. It is an alcohol-free event and fines apply.

The major areas of the city around the Yarra and the Docklands are normally very busy. So on New Year Eve, Wednesday 31st of December 2014, we usher in the New Year with some oversea friends whose son happens to have an apartment overlooking the Flagstaff Gardens.

The apartment serves as a good meeting place for us and friends. It turns out to be a great way to see out the old year and welcome the new in style.

Being summer in Melbourne, it was a very pleasant day to be indoors or outdoors for the New Year celebrations. Hours before the start of the event at 9:00 pm, people were already gathering at the gardens. Many come in groups with picnic rugs, blankets, some with light foldable chairs to claim a piece of ground and wait for the event to start. Fortunately the day was cool.

The balcony of the apartment offers not only the view of the Flagstaff Garden but also the Dockland view, from a distance. Just at the horizon of the view, was the Bolton Bridge and the Melbourne Star a.k.a. the Melbourne Eye.

The following are some photos of the mid-night fireworks. What a show it was. It was a night to remember, made more memorable with the time spend with friends over food and drinks. We usher in the New Year with a BANG!! sort of.

Merry Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:11 (NIV)
¹¹ Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you;
he is Christ! the Lord.

The year 2014 has indeed been a very busy, busy year for us and it has taken me away from posting regularly many of the interesting happenings in the year. I hope to remedy this in the coming year.

Meanwhile, here's hoping that this greeting finds you and your family well and that you will all have a lovely, enjoyable and safe festive celebrations!

And remembering the main theme of Christmas, may Jesus bless you with all manner of blessings and good health.  May His favor precede you in all your endeavors, prospering you with life and life abundantly that it overflows to your household, your extended families, friends and workplace that the name of Jesus and through Him, your name is made known with much favor.

Blessings
Margaret + Simon

My Christmas song selection for the year is: Hallelujah Christmas

Europe River Cruise - Arrive at Budapest

Arrived at the airport of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. We were received by a Scenic representative. We also met with the other passengers from the same flight who will be on the same Scenic cruise. We got on a bus to the Marriott hotel where we gather with the other passengers going for the cruise and passengers arriving from Amsterdam to await transport to the airport.

I guess the intend of gathering with the passengers at the hotel was two fold:

1. Firstly for those going on the cruise, an opportunity to meet and start forming friendships for the cruise. 
2. Secondly to meet with the passengers who are leaving and 'catch' their excitement of their cruise.

While waiting to board the Scenic Space-ship which was to be later in the afternoon, we took the opportunity to do a walk-about around the hotel and see Budapest on our own.

The first place of interest we found is the Vorosmarty Square in the heart of Budapest, where the Christmas Market is said to be held every year.  The square was named after Mihaly Vorosmarty, a renowned Hungarian poet whose statue is seen in the middle of the square.  However the main attraction of the square is the Gerbeaud Cafe, said to be a tenant of the square since 1870.

Not knowing the city very well we thought it's best to walk back towards the river bank. There we found a 50 cm statuette of the 'Little Princess' and Budapest's yellow tram. We then walked along the tram line and took note of some of the other statues and building of interest along the line, such as the statues of Hungary statesmen Jozsef Eotvos and Deak-Ferenc-emlekmu and the Las Vegas Casino, that's correct, a Las Vegas casino in Budapest.

Walking toward the Szechenyi Chain Bridge we then cross the River Danube that separate the Buda and Pest, the western and eastern part of the city of Budapest.

Crossing the bridge takes us to the Buda part of the city where the Buda Castle is located, on the southern tip of Castle Hill. It is a World Heritage site. The castle now houses the Hungarian National Gallery and the Budapest History Museum.

Coming off the Szechenyi Chain Bridge from the Pest side of the city, directly in front is the roundabout to the Buda Castle Tunnel, that allow cars to go under the castle, further into the Buda side of the city.  To the left of the tunnel is the Budapest Castle Hill Funicular, a short railway line that takes people up the Castle Hill, in comfort.

Not wanting to venture any further, crossing the Szechenyi Chain Bridge back to the Pest side of the city, we took in the view of the Hungarian Parliament Building.  It's an awesome Gothic style building.

Feeling a lot more confident of our sense of direction back to the Marriott hotel, we started walking back via the city centre looking for any shops of interest.

It was in one of the streets that we got a glimpse of the St. Stephen's Basilica. It is said to be largest church in Budapest, dedicated to Hungary's first king, St. Stephen.

Here's where I wished I did some research on Budapest.  If I had, we would have taken the time to see the inside of the basilica or at the very least walk to the basilica square for a more complete view of the church.

It was not one of Scenic Cruise place to visit when the cruise officially starts.

Europe River Cruise on the Scenic Crystal

Always wanted to do the European river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam on one of the Scenic Space-Ship Cruise that we saw advertised on TV. The idea of not having to pack and unpack at each township or city the ship travel to, sounds more appealing that the usual land tour via buses. As it is on a river and not the sea, no motion sickness to deal with. Buffet breakfast served every morning with most lunch and dinner meals included onboard the ship, it sounds pretty good.  All smiles here.

The space-ship cruise we got on is the Scenic Crystal, built in 2012, 135m in length, 11.4m in breadth, with a maximum speed of 22 km/h.  The ship has four decks boasting a selection of private suites, public lounge and dining venues.  It has a staff-to-guest ratio of 1:3, a wellness area and gym, Wi-Fi internet, e-bikes to explore the village, town or city the ship stopover for the day or night.

For a detail deck plan of the ship click here.

Now for a visual look of the Scenic Crystal. First the receptions area. Going up or down the stairs will lead to the many bedrooms as the stern (rear) of the ship. The opposite of the reception stairs is the bow (front) of the ship which leads to the lounge and dining area of the ship.

Going from the reception to the top is the sun deck with a view of the ship's wheelhouse at the bow (front) of the ship, in the background.

From the ship's reception, I could access the lounge and bar.

A view of the ship's kitchen and the dining area from one of the kitchen window.

The bedroom with a balcony.  Quite spacious and cosy.

Now, which of these two photos below shows the real captain of the ship?

Healesville - A Santuary

Healesville is a small country town about 52km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. It is a major tourist destination, located in the famous Yarra Valley grape growing region. The town itself is surrounded by mountains, forests and rolling hills dotted with wineries, fruit and berry farms.

Healesville is also well known for its Healesville Sanctuary, just four kilometres south of the town centre. Healesville Sanctuary first opened in 1934, a nature park with hundreds of native Australian animals displayed in a semi-open natural setting.

The town is a santurary from the hussle and bussle of the city and is one of our favorite places to get away to in spring or autumn when the days are cooler. During spring, many Rainbow Lorikeet appear in this season to feed on the nectar of the flowers from the trees along the shady tree-lined boulevard of Nicholson Street. They can be quite 'noisy' but they are part of the attraction of the town.

Nicholson Street features a large selection of speciality shops, hotels, cafes, and a modern shopping complex built around a major supermarket. A stroll along the footpath, is a leisure way of spending the day, relaxing and you just might snap up some bargains in one of the speciality shops or second-hand shops.

One other favorite attraction of the town is the Healesville Hotel, an old world charm with new world style cooking. It has an award winning restaurant, Quince Dining and if you do not fancy a restaurant type lunch or dinner, there is the cafe-pub corner called the Hotel Bar and Garden which serve very good pub food which always go well with good cold beer from the tap.

Everytime we come into town, we have our lunch at the hotel. The following are photos of the food served at the Quince Dining restaurant.

These are photos of pub food served at the Hotel Bar and Garden.

The Beechworth Bakery is also worth a stop over: for some coffee and cakes. The original Beechworth Bakery, is located in the town of Beechworth, north-east of Victoria near the border of NSW. The bakery in Healesville is the latest edition to the Beechworth Bakery chain and is the first one to be purpose built from the ground up.