April 2024 - Melbourne and Palm Cove
^What 56 looks like đ
April started with Easter. Well, it didnât really as Easter Sunday was 31 March but Iâll claim it for April. We had the extended family to Rye for lunch and the weather turned it on! The kids all stayed with us for the entire break which was lovely.
Just after Easter, Andrew set off for Palm Cove. By car! He wanted to tow his boat and keep it at the local marina for a while. His Mum kept him company for the first couple of days. They parted company on the Sunshine Coast where one of her daughterâs (one of Andrewâs sisters) and her family are having a sea change for a year. He drove the last couple of days on his own and then had a few days fishing in beautiful weather and calm seas. Fillets of delicious coral trout were brought home and eaten at our next family âshindigâ which was my birthday in mid April.
Andrew was away for about 10 days and I enjoyed the time to myself in Rye and then back in Melbourne. Easter signalled the last of the beautiful Autumn weather but I managed to do some retail therapy and to visit the Triennial at the National Gallery of Victoria. AndâŠI donât know what else!!
My eldest son, M, is getting married just before Christmas (very exciting) so I started scouting for dresses. MmmmmâŠ.not the easiest feat to find fancy but not matronly. After all, I am only 56 (just turned!)
Andrew was back home by my birthday. He flew back (with the coral trout fillets!) and left his car at Cairns airport for a week. We visited The Lume which is about Leonardo da Vinci and lunched at Reine & La Rue before having a family dinner at home.
The Lume for those who donât know is a, âColossal canvas at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. This ground-breaking presentation allows visitors to be immersed in the grandeur and intricacies of these masterpieces, providing an intimate encounter with the brilliance of Leonardo's artistry not possible in traditional museum settings.â Basically, da Vinciâs paintings (and paintings and sculptures by others who lived at a similar time) are projected on to the ceiling, the walls and the floor accompanied by classical music. Itâs an amazing experience and, accompanied by information and some original notebooks, it gives you a glimpse into the genius of da Vinci. A polymath (I had to Google that but it means a person of wide knowledge or learning), da Vinci was a genius. âArtist, inventor, scientist, philosopher and musician, Leonardo da Vinci transcends his era. Not only did he create masterpieces never surpassed for their beauty, technique and anatomical accuracy; his pioneering contributions in architecture, engineering and even flight (to name but a few), laid the foundations for many modern innovations, making his influence more profound and far-reaching than anyone who has followed.â Seeing da Vinciâs models for inventions like a plane and his art (some of which I have been lucky enough to see in real life) was truly amazing. When you consider that he lived 500 years ago, the mind boggles.
Reine & La Rue was another special treat. It opened a year or so ago in a Gothic building which was an ANZ branch. The architecture of the building is magnificent but the restaurant is a treat too. We especially loved the âbitesâ we had as entrĂ©es. Beef tartare for Andrew and scallop in a broth for me. Lip smacking!!
Just after my birthday, Andrew and I flew to Cairns with our youngest child, G, collected our car and established Palm Cove as our home base for a couple of weeks. We havenât been to Far North Queensland at this time of year before and, although warm (approximately 28 degrees Celsius every day), it has been overcast and a bit rainy. It doesnât really matter to us but not ideal if you are only here for a few days of sun and fun.
We didnât do too much whilst G was in Palm Cove as she had uni study to do. We did take a trip to the Port Douglas market (which runs every Sunday). It was a large market this time of year and we had a lovely wander through it and through the town with lunch at a new brisket place on the main street, Macrossan Street - Smokey Pint
G went home and, a couple of days later, our son, M, and his fiancée, A, arrived.
We had a great time showing M and A around. We went to Port Douglas again for market day (and Smokey Pint again!) but we also had a really fun day at Hartleyâs Crocodile Adventures (about 15 minutesâ drive north of Palm Cove). We had been there in 2021 and really enjoyed it and we did this time too. If you want to see crocodiles, koalas, kangaroos, cassowaries, snakes and other cool creatures all in the one place, spend a day at Hartley's!
The weather has continued to be warm but overcast, windy and increasingly showery. Not ideal for swimming, boating and sunning but great for reading and writing!!
I started this blog not knowing what my future held and, to be honest, a bit down in the dumps that the new owner of the business we sold didnât want to keep me on even as a consultant. I felt purposeless and directionless for the first time in my life.
Fast forward and I have my contract legal job and I am doing a lot of writing. My fiction has had a little success but my travel writing is starting to take off (pardon the pun!!) Donât worry, no one is more surprised than me! I am even getting some interest in famils (ie free trips which you obtain in return for commissioned articles). More on that to come (I hope!!)
Writing Wins for the month are my best yet in terms of number of articles published. I loved being published again by Mamamia and I was really pleased to see the article published by Scenic. I had known about this in November so it can take a long time for an idea to appear in print!
Here's my list of published articles in April:
Wildlife at Hartley's:
Reine & La Rue:
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