Lonely in Melbourne? Not when you have friends and family.

A lot of people worry that we have moved to a friendless location in Melbourne, now boasting a population of 4 million. I can happily inform you that we have been bumping into people we know from Darwin and as of writing this Joe has had two of his classmates from Essington in Darwin sleep over.

Joe’s cousin Jasmine was in Melbourne last week and her Aunt who lives literally just down the road was hosting her. She came around and we had lunch at a Malaysian restaurant in Clayton which is quite close to Oakleigh and is also a location with a strong Asian influence in the types of shops. Box Hill, Footscray, Richmond along with Springvale have all very strong Asian affiliations in the businesses that ply their trade in those areas.

We had to drop off the rental car which had been our interim wheels while our vehicle was being trucked down to Melbourne. As it was on the North side of the city where we are going to be living, we decided to stop at Newmarket and check things out.

In our suburb of Kensington/Flemington we are spoilt with an incredible variety of available cuisine from Asian laksa to dumplings, African and Middle Eastern restaurants, pizza, pubs and coffee shops all vying for the business of locals and visitors along the Racecourse Road strip which leads to the famous Flemington Racecourse.

After dining in the famous Laksa King (winner of the best Laksa in Melbourne – again!) we took a walk down to our house, just five minutes away.

I was trying out my new Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8G Lens (b in the article) with two of my favourite subjects Cecilia and Joe. The salesperson in the shop where I purchased it on Elizabeth St was very knowledgeable and for 140 dollars it has turned out to be a really fun lens for portraits and arty depth of field shots. Making Cecilia the focal point for the shot taken in Laksa King was intentional and for the shot where Joe is pushing Cecilia on a swing, our Victorian Terrace where we will be living is in the background. There are just 5 houses in the street which is a cul de sac overlooking a park – Nice.

After I took the photograph and showed other family members, they pointed out that there was a little graffiti on one of the swing’s upright poles. Nothing rude but thanks to Photoshop and the use of content aware filling, it was the fastest graffiti clean-up in history.

Because I can’t help myself, here are the steps in Photoshop I used to get rid of the graffiti.

Around home our talented girls keep us entertained with their skills in everything from karate to acting and even demonstrating how to performing a one handed cartwheel while taking a bite of her ice cream – all without spilling a drop.

Joe’s Uncle Lance and Xavier will be in Melbourne where they will all go to watch the Boxing Day Test. Given recent form I sense Joe will be in for an interesting spectacle. Although, that said, whenever we attend the MCG, the team we are barracking for don’t win – be it Hawthorn in AFL footy or Australia in the Cricket. If the West Indies find form I will put it down to me attending.

So we may be 3000km from Darwin, but we are certainly not alone in this city of four million.

Oh… and of course a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours.