Market Trip

Picture the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto and multiply it by 5 (conservative estimate) - that's how amazing the Queen Victoria Market is in

Melbourne. We spent 3 hours there on Saturday and feel like we barely scratched the service. We sampled some of the

food (this is a foodie's paradise) and had fun sifting through the flea market buys. We can't wait to go back.

Dinner was at a great mexican restaurant in St. Kilda on Friday night. We had G with us which meant an early start to dinner, going easy on the margaritas, and a quick return home to start her bedtime routine (we've had "Goodnight Moon" memorized for weeks now). Ahhhh, how life has changed! Speaking of the little lady - she isn't so little anymore. At just over 4 months, she now weighs 15lbs +, is rolling over, and so much fun to be around...lots of showing off to keep us entertained. A good thing since we don't get out much at night anymore.

In these pics: G and I in the meat section of the market

Scott checking out the market chickens

Georgia in her big boy pants

Islanders Unite

Too many things to blog about, not enough time (translation: I have been procrastinating). A lot has happened since last weekend -a playgroup joined, a party to celebrate the opening of the winter games, and a fun weekend packed full of events. It started with a dinner date on Thursday evening on Lygon Street in the city. The food was great, the company better. We dined with some PEI connections: Jane and Gordie Beck have been living and working an hour outside of Melbourne for the last 6 months (he has been working in an emerg department here). Also in attendance were their friends, Erol and Ramona, who are also from PEI, (for those Islanders reading: "Ramona is one of the MacDonalds from Charlottetown, you know, 'Tex' MacDonald's sister"). We were also pleased to meet a lovely lady from Melbourne, Kaye, who first visited PEI several years ago because of amazing circumstances, fell in love with it, and has been back 4 more times. She is a police detective in Melbourne and is also apparently looking for a babysitting gig ... don't worry Kaye, we will definitely take you up on it!

On Saturday we hit the Melbourne aquarium. Georgia was just as impressed with the bigger King Penguins here as she was with their little cousins from Phillip Island. She was doing lots of chirping and cooing, hoping to attract their attention.

Finally, we spent Valentine's Day walking around our hood, enjoying the St. Kilda street festival. It is the biggest festival in Australia, with an estimated 2-3 million people stopping by to check out the action (beach volleyball and kite boarding competitions, amusement rides, hundreds of food stalls and street vendors, and several live bands belting out their tunes). We're played out this evening, so are looking forward to a quiet night watching the olympics. Go Canada!

March of the Penguins

We spent the weekend on Phillip Island - a small island 1.5 hours from Melbourne. It's well known for the variety of creatures that live there, and arguably its most famous inhabitants are the little penguins. Every night, just after dusk, several hundred little penguins (they are the smallest in the world) emerge from the ocean and waddle up the beach to their burrows in the dunes. After an amazing seafood spread at a local spot, we bundled Georgia up and joined the other 3000 or so spectators on the beach to watch the waddle. The best part was walking back on the boardwalk, where you are only a couple of feet away from the procession of little guys as they make their way back home. On Sunday, we did a short hike along the beautiful coast line and got our koala sighting fix at a koala conservation centre.

On a somber note, this weekend marked a very sad anniversary for the people in Victoria (the state that Melbourne is in). It was the one year anniversary of Black Saturday, the day when

bush fires (many intentionally set) ravaged several communities just north of this city, killing 173 people. There has been a lot in the media this week to remember the thousands whose lives were impacted by these tragic events. When we got home last night, we watched a gut wrenching documentary about the devastation that existed this time last year.

Pics: Our 'seafood for two' extravaganza

March of the penguins

Koala cuteness

First Date

I'm having the friendship version of a first date today. Meeting people in a new place isn't easy when you don't have access to the instant social network that a workplace often provides. In an attempt to seek out adult conversation during the day, I've started doing a lot of random chatter with complete strangers in a variety of public places. Earlier in the week, I chatted up a young woman and her 18 month old in our neighbourhood bakery. I got some really great info about infant health care and play groups in the area. One thing eventually led to another, and we exchanged phone numbers. She called the next day and asked me out for coffee. A good step in the right direction.

Scott is in the full swing of things at work, and the Aussie orthopods don't seem as laid back re: work lifestyle as one might imagine! He has really busy days in the OR on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Luckily for all of us, Wednesdays and Fridays are his dedicated research days. I'm hoping these days will come to be known as 'Research fun things to do with your family in Australia' days...

And finally for today, a big shout out to Skype. Such a great way to keep in touch with everyone and for people to watch G grow despite the distance between us. In this picture: G skyping with Nan and Pop this morning. Hope to skype with you soon! Find us on Skype with the username: meganandscott1.

Weekend Happenings

The Sniders left on Saturday morning to start their trek back to Canada. That left Scott, G and I on our own for the weekend. Saturday was a pretty low key day - we went for a run on the great paths along the beach by our house. We worked up an appetite so stopped at a nice outdoor cafe (nothing fancy) in Elwood for some breakfast. The pickings were slim for us - we had only $30 in our running shorts, thereby substantially limiting our menu options. That bought us each 1 slice of toast and 2 poached eggs, and a small coffee. Needless to say, it's not cheap here. The only saving grace for our financial situation is that Georgia's schedule now requires that Scott and I eat in most of the time.

On Sunday, we hit Melbourne Zoo. It is one of the city's most visited attractions, and the 3rd oldest zoo in the world. The animals all seemed quite lazy, probably as a result of the heat...it was 33C and sunny here on Sunday. By mid-day, G had a bit of a schvitz on, so went topless for the rest of the day.