Kiwis

26 Sept. This was the date of a Musica Viva daytime concert by my trio and also the warmest, finest day predicted for the week so we decided the Grants and Watts minus the Smith should rent an 8-seater and go to Sovereign Hill for the day. As with previous visits, a good time was had by all with the biggest hit being the gold-panning. Dave claims he got the most.

That night we got a babysitter in and Will joined us for an adults' night on the town, showing us some familiar and some obscure night sites.

The next day Kirsty and David had all day to indulge downtown while I took the five kids to the Royal Melbourne Show. The children's zoo is always fun and this time we had the thrill of watching twin lambs being born. A rapt audience watched the poor old mum labouring to no avail (for about half an hour or so while we were there) with just a couple of white hooves making their appearance then finally a girl with gloves on - and another one to hold the sheep still - had to help her out and haul the babies out one after the other. Luckily the lambs were both fine and as soon as they were out the mother took over and started licking them clean.

Jessye and James went on some hideous upside down ride then we checked out some of the craft pavilion including quilting and my personal favourite, the cake decorating display (the basket of wool and soft toy is actually made out of food!).

James and Lachie went on the upside down ride, Rosie, Sophie and Lachie had a go on the dodgems, and then everybody bought the mandatory showbags (mostly sugar in different shapes, colours and sizes).

We caught the train back to the city and stopped off at the sushi train at Melbourne Central for a little civilisation and late lunch on the way home.

Will came over for dinner and games (Eleanor was still in Sydney) and Dave presented one of his purchases from the David Jones Food Hall. After dinner and cards the showbag trading began.

On the second to last day Peter took the clan to the zoo while I rehearsed.

Later we all went out for Vietnamese and then I took the kids to the long-promised Trampoline. That night with nothing to lose since the Grants were flying out the next day, the kids were allowed to sleep in the same room. We finally kicked them out on Friday afternoon.


We started Saturday morning bright and early with haircuts at cousin Stanley's salon. Then, finally, after more than two years of Rosie's persistent begging, I got round to picking up the on-sale sewing machine I had bought earlier in the week on my day out with Kirsty. Rosie and Sophie both managed it perfectly, remembering a previous session with Grandma Chris some years earlier.

After a day off to get the laundry done etc we welcomed the Armstrong Scott household who came in on two of those early morning specials. They were here so the kids could do some diving training. Mary had come from Auckland where she had been on tour with the NZSO and Donald (who had a week off) and the kids came from Wellington. I picked them up and Ollie and Gabe were soundly asleep by the time we got home. After pancakes and a nap we dragged them off to an MSO family concert featuring Peter and the Wolf etc. Donald bumped into John Hopkins who used to conduct the NZSO frequently in the old days. Afterwards we wandered around Southbank.

On Monday night (Oct 2) we had a gathering of several expat Kiwis to catch up and play some chamber music. The catalyst was Martin Lamb, an old friend from Cambridge music school days who now lives in Perth. He was holidaying in Melbourne for a few days while his partner, Bronwyn Todd, also an old Kiwi acqaintance from way back, attended some sort of conference. Martin has had a fascinating career in whimsical educational software development among other things but has never lost his passion for playing music (he is an accomplished pianist and violinist) so whenever he can he rustles up a few of his old mates and whips them through a few pieces. Greg Hill, horn player from the NZSO, happened to be in Melbourne playing with the MSO for a week or so and of course Donald had just arrived the day before. We nabbed Willem van der Vis, a Kiwi cellist who now mostly conducts youth orchestras and other groups in Melbourne who skipped his rehearsal with the Melbourne Chorale (he's a regular member) for a better offer and Mary Allison our Kiwi rugby-watching partner and MSO violinist. All we needed was a violist and we had to invite the only non-Kiwi participant, the very brave Rosia Pasteur, a good friend of mine and Mary's from the MSO. Greg and I played the Brahms Horn Trio together for the first time ever despite having practically grown up together in Auckland. Peter outdid himself and catered a delicious dinner for the hordes and Donald and I cleaned up after a successful night.