It's a girl, three kinds of fish, sunset

 Funny little car on Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds

I'm still playing blog catch-up, but at least I'm only a few days behind now. Luke's sister had her third baby on Friday - a little girl after two boys. Yay! We visited on Saturday afternoon. So tiny and cute and not at all happy about being woken up to have a bath. Luke has an adorably funny picture of her reaction, which he will no doubt bring out for her 21st birthday.

Luke wore his Planet Terror t-shirt on Saturday, which was April 6.  When we were in the lift going up to the maternity ward I noticed the date at the bottom of the print. 

After we left the hospital, we visited Middle Brighton Beach. It was a warm, sunny day. Our Indian summer isn't quite over yet. 

 Brighton's famous bathing boxes

 They're a popular backdrop for wedding photos

Look at all these little fish!

There were thousands - probably tens of thousands - of them swimming in the shallows  around the Middle Brighton Pier, flashing silver in the sun. They were mesmerising. 

Jellyfish!

Starfish! 

This starfish is far more laid back than Sassy Starfish. 

 

The hazy city

The clouds rolled in, but it didn't rain where we were

After Brighton, we stopped in St Kilda, just before the sun set. It was a pearler. 

 

Puffy cloud on the horizon opposite the sun

We had dinner on Acland Street, and then gelato...well, had gelato; Luke didn't because his belly was full with the giant chicken parmagiana he had for dinner. I had the coconut meringue and the caramel popcorn flavoured gelato from 7 Apples (yes, it actually had bits of popccorn in it). The popcorn was OK and the coconut was pleasant. My heart/stomach still belongs to Fritz Gelato.  

Ghost signs from all over the place

Ghost sign time! Here are the photos from our Good Friday day trip as well as my jaunt  through Melbourne's inner north west on Easter Monday. I walked all the way from Maribyrnong to Victoria Market on the edge of the CBD, which is about 10kms, and that was after I'd wandered around Highpoint Shopping centre for a few hours. 

As I neared Flemington racecourse I thought, 'OK, my legs can't take me any further; I've gotta catch the tram now." But my ghost sign obsession kept me going, and I'm glad it did because my best finds of the day were between Flemington and the city. 

Anyway, enough chat. 

TRENTHAM

 Yeah, I know, I showed you this already

***

DAYLESFORD

 I'm glad the day spa kept the old sign

 Something stables. I like the lettering

The Daylesford & District Historical Museum 

and Culture Centre formerly known as...

 Hotel...something. The end of the bottom word

 looks like LAGER. I think I chopped off the start 

of the word because it was hard to see. Anyone know?

***

BENDIGO

 There's a few signs going on here, and it looks like they 

painted over the lot

The Beehive Store for Better Value

The Beehive Building on Pall Mall was built in 1872 and is heritage listed. It got a facelift last year, but I don't think the side of the building was included in the works. I'm perplexed as to why most of 'The Beehive' is chopped off at the top. Why bother if it wouldn't all fit?

There were signs on both sides and the  rear of 

this building, but they are mostly indecipherable

 The other side

 And the back. When Luke and I were there, 

we thought the word at the top left was 'Jones' 

but now I'm not sure

  

And now for the Easter Monday signs. These are the best ones.

 Sunday Best. This was Maribyrnong Road, Maribyrnong 

 Foster's Lager, Union Road, Ascot Vale

 Union Road, Ascot Vale again. Not sure what it says.  

Something about sport?

I think the sign on the side says Carters Self Storage

 Union Road again. Something tea?

 I reckon that's the R at the end of Robur (the tea). 

Another Union Road sign. What a waste of a good sign

 

 A. Pearse Manufacturers of All Kinds off Harness and Saddlery Goods

I saw this just after deciding not to catch the tram near Flemington Racecourse. It's just off Flemington Road. Of course I love that they retained the sign when turning it into a dwelling and removed the foliage so it's easier to see.

 Flemington road, Newmarket. I think it says something 

about a newsagent and a weekly publication

  Canning Street in North Melbourne

My favourite find the day, which I could so easily have missed. Canning Street runs down either side of a long rectangle park with well established trees. I was walking along the other side of the park and only just caught a glimpse of the sign partly hidden by foliage when I looked to the left.

 

 The top of the building

 Abbotsford Street, North Melbourne. Astor Quality Radio

 Victoria Street, North Melbourne. I think I've posted photos

 of these signs before, but they're good enough for a re-run

 Victoria Street again. Wattyl is a brand of paint, 

which makes this fading sign mildly ironic

 Just off Victoria Street. My guess is the bottom 

two words are Lumber Carter

 

This is on the rear of the McDonald's on Elizabeth Street

near Victoria Market. I've posted photos of the bricked-in 

window/door (below) before but I wasn't in the

 right spot to see the sign at the top

Finally, two signs from yesterday, both in Moonee Ponds. 

 There's a couple of signs here, both hard to read. Puckle Street

 W Rayner, Tobacconist and Dainty Maid Custard Powder. 
Opposite the train station

Good Friday - Part II (better late than never)

Yes, I know it's now been more than a week since Good Friday. I'd better crack on with Part II of my Easter blog post before I forget what we did. Lucky I have photos.

After Daylesford, we continued on to Bendigo to visit my friend and my two 'nephews' who moved there late last year. I hadn't seen the boys for aaaages. The eldest started school this year and the youngest is three. They're gorgeous, funny little boys. Luke kept them entertained kicking and throwing balls around their big back yard while Deliea and I sat and had a natter. 

We headed off around 4.00pm for a wander around the centre of town before the light started to fade (so I could take photos of ghost signs, of course). I hadn't been to Bendigo in more than 10 years, and I didn't see much of the place then, so I was essentially visiting for the first time. I liked it a lot. 

Bendigo is the fourth largest city in Victoria (with a population of 82,000 to 100,000...make up your mind, internet) and is yet another city that boomed during the gold rush of the 1850s. It has glorious Victorian architecture - its civic buildings are as beautiful as Melbourne's - and Rosalind Park on the edge of the CBD is lovely. 

 The view from the Poppet Head lookout in Rosalind Park 

 
There was a very large petting zoo in the gardens which had a funny little brown piglet trotting about hapharzardly with his snout to the ground. It barely stood still long enough for me to take a photo.

 The imposing Sacred Heart Cathedral

A closer look

Even closer

 Part of the impressive Alexander Fountain

 Shamrock Hotel

 Detail of a lamp post in front of the court house

 On the facade of the court house. I think
 they liked their buildings to have fierce 
creatures on them

Look at this evil little fella!

 

Here be dragons! Chinese dragons, actually. A lot of Chinese 

came to Victoria to strike it rich in the gold rush of the 1850s

The Easter bunny came early to Hargreaves Mall...

or maybe the goose laid these

 

 The golden hour

  One of the very handsome park benches in Rosalind Park

Buzzzzz

Raaaark

Camp Hill Primary School

Camp Hill Primary School, as the name suggests, is high the hill overlooking and adjoining Rosalind Park, and Bendigo Secondary College is right beside it.  What a lovely setting for a school. 

 Lake Weeroona

Aaargh! My head!