Melbourne madness

Stephen was keen to keep contact with his AUC colleagues so headed off to Melbourne for one of their conferences Sept 27 - Oct 1. It was also a great time to catch up with friends, so Paulie came along too. We stayed a few nights with Darien and Donald. We saw Donald when he rode his bike up from Tasmania last December. It had been 3-4 months since Stephen was last in Melbourne, but that's when Apple paid the bills! The guys then moved to Gordon Place, an interesting complex built in the 1800s for "the respectable poor".

Catching Donald and Darien was grand as was a catch up with pals Joe and Chris. We met Joe's lovely friend Maryann. Chloe joined us for dinner. Now based in Melbourne as an RMIT student, we hadn't seen her since she stayed with us in Arles, France in 2012.

Meanwhile, back in Brisbane Nick changed his travel plans and jumped on a plane to stay with James in Oxford until the 7th when he heads back to Spain. Olivia finished off Physio exams with amazing dedication whilst babysitting pal John Webb's house.

Arriving at Williamstown to stay with Donald and Darien	...who take us for a walk around their turf. And Sea Shepherd's
	Melbourne's first morgue	A long morning walk Around Hobsons Bay
	Darien instructs Stephen in wall leaping skills	He did make it across one gap in the wall	Another 2 hour walk on the Sunday morning whilst the guys go to Vic Markets
The Time Ball once used by ships at sea to set their clocks. Super windy that day	Paulie tries to stop the canon shifing in the gale force winds	With no luck. Melbourne city is in the sights	On Monday the guys move into town.
Gordon Place on Little Collins Street up near great bars and State Parliament
Stephen is registered at the dev/world 2014 conference. And boasts of his "employer"	.. so is put to work experience on the rego desk	Young Judit from AUT in NZ is surprised- boyfriend Nick flew in unannounced from Apple HQ in California and is manning the rego desk too.	The conference dinner trivia contest
	Out for exercise on Tuesday	Capt Cook's house	...and then breakfast with pal Chris Feil
Back at the conference artistic AUC chair, Tony Gray, takes some photos		Meanwhile Paulie keeps in touch with urban nature
... and Melbourne bookshops	The morning's exercise negated after numerous bottles of wine	But we caught up with Chloe Madge, so worth celebrating	Joined by Apple pal Joe Cox and his lovely friend Maryann.