This is our final full day in Australia, and I am full of mixed emotions. I’ve got the joy and peace of Christmas going on. As I noted in some previous blogs, this is a great city to inspire Christmas cheer! But I am also having my first big emotions at being so far away from family and friends during a holiday where we would usually be together. Thanksgiving was a bit easier for me, as we don’t have any major traditions there, but Christmas… man. Sure missing our Jenna, and so many others. I am also sad at the same time to leave Australia, where we have had such excellent adventures for the past two months. Above all, I am profoundly grateful that we have been able to accomplish lifelong goals this year and retire, sell our home, see our girl get engaged, and take our dream retirement trip, all while maintaining good health. We are so blessed. So yes, definitely mixed emotions today!

National Gallery of Victoria

We decided to get out a bit today and spend one last day enjoying things Melbourne has to offer. After a nice brunch, we headed to the National Gallery of Art (cost: free- Australia’s free art offerings still amaze us!) to spend the afternoon looking at their collections of beauty and inspiration. And of course, for Rob to practice his statue skills. He is getting better, and should be available to model for an art class near you in the future. In fact, that may be his new retirement hobby!

We decided to walk back to our place from the museum and enjoy the temps in the 60s. Along the way, here were some sights we passed:

This evening we headed out to Melbourne’s St. Patrick’s cathedral for their Christmas Eve carols service and mass.

After church we made our way to a late dinner, the crowds were definitely still out and about, even on Christmas Eve. Passed some great buildings we hadn’t seen yet!

Our Christmas dinner tonight was at Maison Batard (another excellent recommendation from our wine tour friends) for an incredible Christmas Eve steak dinner. Delicious!

As we sign off from Melbourne tonight, I want to thank all of our family and friends reading this blog (and even a few strangers who managed to come across it!) for supporting us in our travels and keeping us connected to everyone back home. The past two months in Australia have been everything we have dreamed and more. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and joyous holidays to everyone!