Melbourne - Into the Big Smoke-Literally!

After liberally applying shampoo to my legs, believing it to be moisturizer, we head into a hazy, smoke filled Melbourne.
I'm in for as family fix, which includes a lovely lunch with Johanna and her man in Fitzroy....here for Valentines Day...but still no proposal...Seamus!!!! I am so happy to see her and then, ever so quickly, so sad to say goodbye that as I walk away tears stream down my face and I keep looking back to get a last glance of her.
Steve takes a trip down memory lane by taking me to the house he lived in as a child, other old haunts, and the lake where his Father taught him how to fish. He sees someone catching yabbies, just like he did as a child, and can't resist a chat......clearly he is reminiscing.
I have arranged to stay at my cousin Michaels place and am so happy to see him after 30years. I barely remember his lovely wife Jo , but she welcomes me very warmly and I immediately feel at home with family. They are wonderful hosts and spoil us with delicious meals and a very comfy bed. Their daughter Kristen is drop dead beautiful, very sweet and Johanna's age and I resist the urge to smother her with hugs, but find myself giving her, probably unwanted, advice.
We make a trip to Mount Dandenong and surrounds, stopping for walks through gardens devastated by the hot dry winds of last week, and visiting galleries etc.
It makes me nervous driving through these great forests, with the stunningly beautiful mountain ash trees, high up in the mountains, with so much potential fuel for more fires. I imagine everyone living and working here is more nervous than I. But, there is still beauty in the native bushland.