our annual family vacation 2013

all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, & this is where i stop feeling like Jack.

this year's time out with the family was in Melbourne, often & widely proclaimed as the most livable city in the world.

no doubt it was the hottest we've been - on our 1st day there, it was a blazing 39*C! so out came the sunshades, sunglasses & sun-block lotion! there's also a month's window when cherries are just ripe for the picking & because workers are few, the farmers invite locals & tourists to pick them, charging entrance fees as well as cherries by weight.

 so that's our 1st experience at a cherry farm. we've also tried picking at a strawberry farm many years previously but that was near the end-of-season, so the fruits were small & unappealing.

many cafes ground & brew their own coffee & this has led melbourne to be touted as one of the coffee capitals of the world. well, i'm not surprised - even my host owns a coffee machine which grinds, brews & filter the drink & even has a steamer for milk.

how cool is that!!

but on a hot day, i wanted an iced coffee instead of the usual brew in a cup. to my pleasant surprise, an iced coffee over there is coffee in a tall glass chilled with a huge scoop of vanilla ice-cream & cream.

ah, i'm beginning to like this city already......

(to be continued)