Quite a boring one today! I had a work call about a potential job so Nick took Millie out this morning. It feels strange, but also kind of nice, to start thinking about what might be on the other side of this trip for me. After that was done, I did some trip planning, digital housekeeping, and got our budget spreadsheet up to date. This unfortunately confirmed what I already knew: Australia is expensive as hell.

While I was relishing in the quiet, Nick took Millie to the Science museum. They apparently didn’t spend a lot of time looking at the actual contents, and instead spent almost the entire day at the two play areas there. Nick said she made a million friends. Towards the end of their day, she met two sisters and Nick spent an hour talking to their dad. He left with the family’s full contact information in case we ever find ourselves back in Melbourne.

Photos from their day:

In the late afternoon we made a plan to meet up at Stomping Ground brewery in the Colingwood neighborhood. This was a 45 minute walk from our apartment and I very much enjoyed my solo walk there. It was a nice change to not have to slow down for the little legs of my companion. The walk took me out of the corporate business district and through a hip neighborhood.

We had a surprisingly delicious dinner (lamb for me, fish for Nick) and Millie did her new thing where she talks to strangers. Before we knew it she was having dinner with another family and telling them our life story.

She went off and played with her new friend and the mom joined us at our table. She was an American who has lived here for years and recently gotten citizenship, so we had a fascinating conversation. The girls played and then we all left together to make the transition easier.

We walked the 45 minutes back again. A simple, fun day.