Unfinished business...

... ok, well, here are the photos which refused point blank to be downloaded last night. Perhaps they're not so great as you were led to believe - but they're the cherry blossom that the Esplanade is famous for (well, famous in Palmerston North, at least). I have it on good authority that the cherry blossoms in the Esplanade this year are way better than those at IPC, which has just held its annual cherry blossom festival.

Spring has sprung in Palmerston North

It's true.... spring has crept up on us so gradually it is hard to believe it's actually here. It's only when you return from a week away that you really realise how georgeous this season is. Palmerston North has precious little to compare with Melbourne, but spring in the Esplanade on a magic day is one thing that comes close. I went out this afternoon and took a photo or two for those of you who cannot get to see it in all it's glory. Enjoy!

If you look carefully at the last photo, you might be able to make out the windmills on the hills in the background. Not a lot of wind today, so not much going on there...

Now for the bad news... for some reason that I cannot understand, the blog is refusing to upload any more photos - and I was saving the best till last!!! Tune this way again sometime soon, and hopefully by then I will have managed to add the 'piece de resistance'!!!
Apopo...

Melbourne from On High

Melbourne now has a tall building which rivals many others around the world. It's called the 'Eureka Tower. On the Skydeck 88 floors up you can get a great view - so long as the weather cooperates.

Here's a sample of what we saw:

Looking toward St Kilda Beach

Looking toward the city centre

Flinders Street Station

The MCG, where we had dinner on the first night of the conference.

The Eureka Tower is 300m tall, slightly shorter than the Sky Tower in Auckland which is 328m. Both the Jin Mao Tower and the Pearl Tower in Shanghai are over 400 m. For a closer look and more information it's worth a look at the website: www.eurakaskydeck.com.au

Revisiting the 80's...

Murray and I recently went to Melbourne for his company conference. As part of the evening entertainment one night, we were required to dress up in gear from the 1980's. Since I was busy having babies in that decade, most of the fashion passed me by completely and I was at a loss as to what to wear. I visited the op shops, but with little luck, especially as I had no idea what I wanted to find. Several people made helpful suggestions, including one random stranger in a shoe shop whose advice I asked. She told me I should go as Annie Lennox in a tight one piece trouser suit, with white boots and to colour my hair white white. I had to come home and look Annie Lennox up on the internet. My thanks to that lady; she was spot on! However, where was I going to get a jumpsuit to fit, let alone boots of the right variety - or for that matter bleach my hair??? Veena, one of Karen's friends who I ran into in The Square, told me I should wear a bubble skirt, leggings, fingerless gloves etc. It wasn't until I saw a photo a few days later that I understood that she was also completely right. How? She was probably only 3-4 years old in the 80's!!! Anyway, Murray finally came up with a solution. He found a shirt embroidered with 'Trailer Park Rock Festival 1985' and decided that would do for him, along with jeans and a mullet wig. He suggested that we should both wear the same, and so I bought one as well. A few accessories and we were done. Murray even had his original glasses from the 80's. Check us out. The funniest reaction came from a woman who Murray had sat next to on the bus all that day while out visiting the local company sites. She didn't know who he was! Others who dressed up were more imaginative/adventurous than us; there were two people who went as rubiks cubes, groups of Blues Brothers, a few Magnum PI's, a sprinkling of Miami Vice, a Darth Vada or two, some Ghostbusters, Top Guns and 'Officers and Gentlemen' and any number of random bodies who obviously had no idea when the 80's started or finished... there was King Tut and Cleopatra, a ringmaster, the 3 Amigos to name but a few. Most people dressed up. A few didn't. How sad. We finished the night on a high, going home via the casino. Murray came out with $100 more than he went in with. I came out exactly even. It was a good night, all things considered.