DAY 176 – CHRISTMAS EVE IN MELBOURNE

A bit of a sleep in this morning.. We didn’t even wake up till 8am and we just had a leisurely morning….  We still had a bit of Christmas shopping we wanted to finish this morning and Chloe and I were looking forward to getting a manicure and a pedicure together for Christmas.  

Steve spent the morning backing up his phone as we had planned to buy him a new iPhone for Christmas and as I also needed a new phone, I would then take on is old iPhone 6+.

We headed into the huge shopping Centre at Chadstone just before lunch where we met up with Chloe and Dan and also Hanne and Julia ( our guests from Denmark)  

Steve and I went off to finalize our new phones and once we had finished doing that we met up with Chloe and the girls to finish off our last bit of Christmas shopping.  

Chloe and I were fortunate enough to get one of the last appointments of the day for our pedicure and manicure and I have to say it was so nice having nice feet again as they had taken a bit of a caning whilst we were on our trip and this was the first bit of attention they had really received since leaving home.

 

It felt good walking out of there with pretty nails again…. I still had a few things I wanted to do but Chloe was in a hurry to get home and wouldn’t let me finish my shopping.  She was on a mission which I was to find out later just why that was so.  

Normally our tradition for Christmas Eve is to have an easy dinner, such as prawns on the lawn, which involves getting a couple of kilo’s of prawns, some cocktail sauce,  a platter for fruit, and crackers and cheese with a nice bottle of wine.  We raced home and packed up all of this and then Chloe produced Santa hats or reindeer headbands for us all to wear and Christmas jewellery.

 

Catching the train into the city of Melbourne

Off for our Christmas Eve tradition of prawns on the Lawn

I thought it was a little strange that she was insistent that we should wear it all even as we were catching the train into town to go have our dinner in one of the many beautiful gardens around Melbourne.  

Anyway I didn’t think too much about it as there were quite a few other commuters on the train that were also decked out for Christmas, and I just put it down to something that Melbourneites do when it is Christmas time.  

We were laden down with seats, a little picnic table, our Christmas Eve food as we boarded the train and this took us right into Flinders Street staion close to where the attack had been a couple of nights earlier.  It kind of made you realise that you a not necessarily safe where ever you go.  

Once we arrived in the city we seemed to be walking for ages, and I was wondering where the heck Chloe was taking us…

Well it turned out to be a huge surprise for me… Both she and Dan had bought tickets for us all to go to the Melbourne Carols by Candlelight in at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.  Oh my goodness what a treat. What a surprise and how awesome a night it was…

Initially our seating was not to good.  We were on a side hill where we couldn’t see to much, but I wasn’t complaining as it was just a super treat to be there and share in the atmosphere.  We seemed to have a constant line of people in front of us queuing up for coffee and pancakes from a mobile food van just behind us.  

Prawns on the lawn Christmas Eve

We enjoyed our Tradition Christmas Eve meal of prawns on the lawn and I was still pinching myself that we were actually there.  About half an hour  into the concert, a security person came over to us and asked us if we were having problems seeing and we said yes, so he got us to pack everything up and escorted us right down to the front, just at the edge of the overhead awning over the stage. 

We were blown away, so close and smack bang in the middle.  We had an excellent view.  What a magical night.  We were well and truly in the thick of everything now.  The music was sensational, the atmosphere was amazing and the sights of 10,000 people of more waving their candles as they sand was breathtaking.  Feeling so so incredibly blessed.    It was a wonderful night, a whole 4 hours or more of incredible talented entertainment with some of the best known musicians in our country.  Still pinching myself to believe that I even got to go to this amazing event.  

Feeling very loved and spoilt by Dan and Chloe…. They are an amazing generous kind-hearted couple and I am so super proud of the wonderful people they are.

It was such a special night,  I don’t think in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to attend a live performance  of the Melbourne Carols by Candlelight.  I normally watch it on the TV at home…. It is a night I will never forget..

Christmas in the city of Melbourne

It was about 11.30pm by the time it finished and we still had a one and a half Km walk back to the train station.  Melbourne city was alive and buzzing,  there were people everywhere, there were Christmas lights everywhere, just being in the city was special.  We did stop and take some photos of the large Christmas Tree and lit Christmas babble in the city before catching the train.

It was well and truly midnight by the time we got home.  I still had some presents to wrap before I went to bed and we still needed to have showers…

I am still buzzing from the special night it has been….