Blog 6 posted Melbourne February 19

Short due to time pressure.
We flew down here on Tuesday morning in the company of 50 or so NSW Fire fighters who were being drafted in to help fight the ongoing forest fires. Virgin Blue held a collection on board the flight, and $750 was collected on our flight alone which Virgin matched so $1500 went to the Red Cross to help the victims. They have been doing this on all flights so a lot of money was raised and we found it very moving, See Photo of some of the firemen.We were met by David and Elizabeth and after a sight seing tour of the area, including a drive round the Australian F1 Grand Prix track we had a very good supper, see photo.The next two days were wonderful as we were driven to lovely beaches where we relaxed and swam in the warm sea. Our thanks to David and Elizabeth for making us so welcome and for driving us around the wonderful, if dry, countryside. Uncle Alf, at 88 was in good form as you can see in the photos. John wants to move here for ever.Tomorrow Friday we are off with another friend Alan Coleman to explore the city and then it’s back northwards to Sydney.