Ella Mae's 6th Belated Birthday Present

Ella Mae's belated birthday present went with a bang.

The cool morning air was pleasant. The colours of the leaves were starting to change to rich yellows, oranges and reds. Some leaves had already fallen and were crunching under the weight of our wheels.

 

 

We rode steadily. She was so excited. We were a little distracted from the water-skiing competition on the Yarra River. Moomba festival was on the weekend as well.

We caught the 1230pm ferry from Southbank after weaving through the masses. Our ticket seller, Rob, amazingly remembered Thomas and I from 3 years ago. He neither charged Ella Mae's fare nor any of our bikes. The differences from this time around were the new ticket booth structure, the ramp and the almost level landing entry into the ferry. I remembered having to carry the bikes onto the ferry last time and feared that I would be devoured by the narrow gap between the ferry and landing.

The air was warm and very little wind. The 50 minutes journey was spent admiring the landmarks of Melbourne, containers loaded into ships, moored boats in the harbours, someone pulling in a fish on his fishing rod and flocks of soaring seagulls.

Fish and Chips were in order at Off the Pier. The order area was very tight. There were some under cover seating at the back. There were also some seating at the front which we liked, but as the sun was belting down on us, we chose to seat at the back of the shop that was undercover. The fish were ok. Chips were nice. Greek salad was ok. I thought they were a bit stingy. They charged us for the sauce and only gave us one fork to share between all of us. 

Gelato was amazingly divine at Gelateria Capriccio. The servings were generous. The service was ok.

With satisfied bellies, we rode towards the city.

We stopped by the HMAS Yarra Memorial to revisit the kookaburra mosaics. 

When we were passing the punt landing, the punt was docked but we decided to keep on riding. 

We flew past the Westgate Bridge Memorial and was tempted by the mangroves along Stoney Creek Walk. Another time perhaps.

Yarraville had an interesting method to help keep cyclists safe on the road. I think we should adopt this everywhere.

Ella Mae only stopped once on the way up Shepherd’sBridge. The view coming down towards the city was stark and beautiful.

We stopped and watched shipping containers being loaded off a train. It was most interesting. The person who drove the shipping container machinery was very skilful. The clanging and banging must be quite satisfying sounds for him. I could easily sit there and watch him all day.

Ella Mae’s helmet was annoying her as much as it annoys me. It doesn’t really fit her head properly. I truly think it is time for a new helmet for her.

We rode past Victoria Harbour and the Cow up a Tree. Then we zoomed down the Webb Bridge to get to our accommodation for the night, Novotel. 

The concierge was amazing. He took care of our bikes straight away and assured us that he would be storing them away safely away from the other luggage so they do not get knocked. He even offered to take them out for us if we so wished for a midnight ride. 

Our room view was not on the best side of Melbourne, but it was interesting. We watched planes fly in and out and reviewed where we had been on that day. After freshening up, we had dinner at Mr Carpano. The children had calamari and Kim and I had tuna. The meal was quite delicious. It was a shame that the window was high up as the sunset was special. 

That evening, we walked along the Yarra River towards Crown Casino to watch the fire towers. The children were so tired. We didn’t bother with Moomba Festival and retreated to the hotel. 

The next morning, breakfast buffet was plentiful. I hope the leftovers went to charities.

I met up with my primary school friend, Sarazin, whom I have not seen in about 20 years. She happened to be on a holiday here with her husband. It was a great catch up at the Mad Duck. We sat outside overlooking the harbour and chatted. After saying our goodbyes, I went back up to our room to get organised so we could check out. As we requested late checkout, the concierge was not at all busy.

We continued our cycling adventure towards Port Melbourne and to Sandridge Lookout. The wind magically played music on the structure’s banister. 

The children enjoyed the new sea themed adventure park at Maritime Cove Community Park. Their favourite was the sand play with hoists. 

The weather was getting cooler and more overcast as we rode along the Bay Trail by the sea. As we entered Albert Park, it started to drizzle. We were suddenly stuck within the Albert Park tracks as preparations had started for the Australian Grand Prix. Then it bucketed. Luckily we packed our rain jackets for these “just-in-case” moments. 

Cold but undefeated, we headed for the Shrine of Remembrance and Botanical Gardens. Due to a large part of the Domain Interchange being under construction for the Metro Tunnel project, we detoured and found a quick lunch stop at Entrecote. Delicious pastries warmed our insides and like a blanket, they also halted the raindrops. 

On the way up Anderson Street, Ella Mae slipped off her pedals and hurt herself. I clipped her on the Follow-me Tandem and rode onwards to Burnley Bouldering wall. The children love it here and we rested a little while they climbed. She went on her bike again and away we went. She conquered the hills beautifully. Thomas was very encouraging. 

We foraged for blackberries by the new Anaconda shop in Richmond until the juices dribbled down our chins.

Kim and Thomas then rode ahead while Ella Mae and I took our time to ride the rest of the journey. She rode up Prospect Hill Road with clear determination.

A bubble bath topped the weekend off.