November: day 3

Luke and I decided to go beyond our usual brunch/lunch hangouts today so we ventured over the Westgate Bridge to the pretty seaside suburb of Williamstown. 

I just love the little old cottages there  - they are so damn cute - and it's a great spot for ghost sign hunting. I don't have any photos of the cottages or ghost signs, so you'll have to take my word for it. 

I do have photos of lots of boats though. We saw the usual ranks of yachts and the HMAS Castlemaine  (which is permanently moored at Gem Pier), but also some huge cruise ships docked at Station Pier and a container ship (sans containers) making its way out to the bay. 

Cruise ships to the right. They were bigger than they look here

(I didn't have my 'real' camera so the photos aren't great) 

 Yachts

 More yachts and the Westgate in the distance

 HMAS Castlemaine (now a museum)

 Boats and a bit of the city skyline

Love this old boat

It was breezy on the pier

We saw starfish in the shallows (Me: Look! Starfish! It always thrills me seeing creatures in the water) and an egret fishing for lunch. After having an icecream, we headed off home. 

Back to work tomorrow but now there's only three days until the weekend! 

The rest of Saturday's glee

Heading back over the Westgate on our way to St Kilda

St Kilda's lovely old Palais Theatre

A different side to Luna Park's Mr Moon entrance

Melbourne's Luna Park is 100 years old next month

Luna Park's beautiful carousel. As we took photos, 

a group of 60-something couples saddled up. 

You're never too old for a merry-go-round

We're midgets! Oh, how we laughed

 Early evening, St Kilda Pier

When I looked at this photo of a skydiver over

 St Kilda on my PC, I realised I'd also taken a photo 

of two rainbow lorikeets sitting in a tree

After St Kilda, we drove to Richmond for a burger and Fritz Gelato. Before we decided to go to Williamstown, Luke asked me what I wanted to do with the day and my only plan was to have the blood orange gelati at Fritz Gelato. I had to resist the lure of all the icecream shops in Willamstown to hold out for Fritz, and it was worth the wait. I had the blood orange, passionfruit and lemon. They were all zesty and tangy and delicious.

 Finally, here's all the old signs from Saturday and a couple from Sunday.

McWilliams Cream Sherry, on the derelict 

Britannia Hotel in Williamstown (below)

I can't tell what this one says. When I got out of the

 car to take this photo...

I saw this one on the side of another pub in Williamstown

The best sign find of the day (thanks to Luke)

There's several signs on this old grocery store on Melbourne Road, Williamstown. Some are too faint to make out, but some  are clear enough to read. 

 Berger Master paint - keeps on keeping on. It looks 

like there might be another old sign underneath

 Kem-Tone?

McAlpins

Cheap cash grocer

 Nestle's Chocolate, Burnley Street, Richmond

 (taken Sunday)

Fancy a counter lunch at the Grand Hotel? 

Turns out pubs are quite a good source of

 old signs. Also on Burnley Street 

This isn't an old sign, but it amuses me. I guess it turned

 out Keith was way better at pasties than pies

Epic glee in Williamstown

Heading over the Westgate Bridge on our way to Williamstown

Penfolds Sherry...sweet or dry. Ferguson Street, Williamstown

Old boat at Gem Pier, Williamstown

Another old boat...HMAS Castlemaine, now a museum 

permanently berthed at Gem Pier

Window boxes on Nelson Place, Williamstown

Williamstown lighthouse and timeball tower, Point Gelibrand

I've never seen so many shells on a beach before. 

Point Gellibrand Coastal Heritage Park

Piggyback

Mother of pearl

I picked up a large, perfect abalone shell like this and was going to bring it home, but then I noticed a hideous stench. At first I thought, 'Man, does my breath smell today or what?", but then I realised it was the shell in my hand. It got to stay behind, but I did bring home a small, pretty, non-stinky pearly shell. 

 There were lots of yachts on the bay, but most of them were too far away

 (that's poetry, that is...OK, it just rhymes)

Left out...or maybe way in front (maximum zoom engaged)

Seaweed tree. Seatree

 Licheny (and bird poopy) rocks

Despite the fact I'm the clumsy one who falls in creeks (Montezuma Falls, Tassie), I still told Luke to be careful walking on the rocks, then had to chuckle at myself. I didn't fall in, but I did step in shallow water a few times. I'm pleased to report my boots are waterproof. 

Jellyfish

It's windy round these parts

Great Dane way stronger than small boy 

Soon after I took this shot, the dog yanked itself free and started galloping right for me.  I thought it was going to jump on me and eat me, but the boy's dad intervened. Phew

A better indication of their size. Very big dog. Perhaps not 

the best choice of pet when you have young children

The compact, but pretty, Williamstown Botanic gardens

Water lily

I'm in love with this deep purple iris. In some 

places it's so dark, it's almost black 

 The path above was lined with succulents that
 still had droplets  of water nestled in their centres
 in the late afternoon of a sunny day

Chubby tree

Furry 

 Granny's bonnet

The rather handsome garden gates

Even skeletons go to church in Williamstown

The also rather handsome old Mechanics Institute, now a museum

Lovely shady Electra Street, with lots of picket fences 

Old lacework on a verandah

Gargoyle

Back to Nelson Place, looking towards the city. This was where

 I saw the silly seagull in yesterday's video 

After Williamstown, we drove to St Kilda, but I will save that bit for tomorrow since this is probably now the most photo-heavy post I've ever done. It was a severely gleeful day, I must say. 

I also took photos of other old signs I saw yesterday, but I'll save them for another time  because I want to go to bed soon.

Before I finish though, I have to tell you I started reading The Horologicon on  Friday night and was smitten before I'd even finished scanning the table of contents. Somewhere in the epilogue is a section called Dictionaries and idioticons. Idioticons! I didn't skip ahead to investigate though.

I'm now a few chapters in and I'm infatuated. I started making notes of words I wanted to remember and share, but it turned out I wanted to remember nearly every single word, so I gave that away.