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Balloons of March

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 A few dropped in on 19 March! A larger group took off on the 22nd.   They seemed a bit undecided as to where they were going.  I assume this means the winds near the ground were being affected by the buildings along St Kilda Rd and as they rose they got the actual Southerly and headed for the City.  We saw some of them when we went for a walk about 0 minutes later.
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The GP (sort of) on TV

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One of the decisions we made when we purchased in 505 St Kilda Rd was that we would not be present in the period of the Australian Grand Prix. We didn't need the noise.  However I decided to watch it on TV - mainly to see if I could spot 505 in the background: the building is about 600m from the nearest part of the track.  During the day the constant was the cancellation of supporting races due to rain: wimps - if its wet go slower!  Ducks were running a Piquet line. But it seemed the rain was stopping before the main event so I Normed myself and turned on the TV which was set on NITV.  They were showing football ... This turns out to be the Big Rivers  League from the NT!  The Camels are one of the teams from Katherine.  I have been unable to find the final score but, from the score with a minute to go, the Camels would be my pick! When I switched to Ch10 a helicopter had a good view of the CBD. This stand is on the golf course - I think on the first...
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St Kilda Festival

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 I read in The Age about plans for the St Kilda Festival on 15-16 February.  It seemed to be a massive event with talk about 350,000 people attending, many acts and the whole suburb being closed off.  I didn't recognise many of the acts: Troy Cassar-Daly stood out on the first day (devoted to indigenous performers) while Peter Garrett fronting a new band called the Alter Egos was about the only one I recognised on the Sunday.  I decided, with Frances encouragement, to have a rubberneck at Peter Garrett (PG) on the Sunday. It seemed that tram was the way of getting there, with information available early on suggesting a need to walk from about St Kilda Station (say 1.6 km to the main stage).  On the day it appeared that in fact the trams were stopping at St Kilda Junction meaning a further 400m on the hoof.  Despite the promise of "extra trams" when I got out to the stop it seemed that the next 16A wasn't due for 23 minutes so I might as well walk the whole ...
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balloons up close

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 On 12 February as we went into Fawkner Park at Arthur St a balloon retrieval truck went in beside us. So we spotted the landing zone and wandered over.  The first sight was this balloon being dragged so that it wouldn't block a path. The top is then pulled down to the ground. We then saw another balloon incoming ..... .. and decided to shelter under a tree. It really was that close! Talking of close... Packing up.
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The Roulettes do Mallacoota

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 A few snaps from the display by the RAAF Roulettes.  We knew they were just about due when we got there, as a friend had a call from a contact in Lakes to say they had just overflown there (about 150 km straight line).
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Balloons of the New Year

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 On 8 January Frances was doing the dishes when a couple of hot air balloons when by the window, heading for Albert Park.  By the time I got to the Wintergarden they were over the Park. The Chadstone was dropping. And the 711 gradually joined it. After that Frances went to her room and found Fawkner Park full of Balloons. When we got out the back door we found one right by the path. Pulling this rope drops the canopy! Going further in to the Park found the balloons all over the ground. There was much fiddling about to fold and flatten the canopies.  They then get formed into a sausage and stuffed in a big bag. The basket is winched into a trailer ...  .. and the trailer jam was sorted. Not balloons but we though this fig tree growing on a palm tree, at Toorak Rd was interesting!
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