Welcome back!
And welcome to our new adventure. Since last post, a lot has happened, which means that I've got a lot to tell you about. So I think I'll just launch into our latest, which was Melbourne.
Two days ago we returned from 10 days in Melbourne. As a city of 4.4 million people, and the second most populous city in Australia, there is a lot to see and do there. And as such, it's hard to know where to start.
So we, like any good traveler, did our homework. We read online, found a few books, and asked advice from our Aussie friends.
Now I liken Queenslanders to Texans, and when asking locals about Melbourne, it's a lot like asking Texans about New York. "They're weird there" "It's too cold" "Cities are dangerous" "Why would anyone want to go there?", etc.. But out of the criticism did come some very good advice, like that we should go to a Football game and travel on the trams, visit the Mornington Peninsula, and enjoy the good cheap food. So thanks and good on ya!
As it's such a large and diverse area, each little section had it's own flavor, from the city center to the surrounding dramatic landscapes, and we really did try to see it all (because who knows when we'll ever come back). I've decided it would be best to describe our trip in three parts: Melbourne City, west to The Great Ocean Road, and east to the Mornington Peninsula and Phillip Island. Let's start with the city.
Traveling to Melbourne was easy. Catch a flight from Rockhampton, change planes in Brisbane, in Melbourne catch the Sky Bus to Southern Cross Station. From there, a free bus to our apartment, up to the 20th floor and we were there.
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| City view from our apartment |
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| City view from our apartment |
So now what? Well, night one was all about food. We made a quick scan of the map, and headed off for a short walk to China Town where we found a great dumpling place before heading back for bed.
Two days later, after a trip out west, it was time to explore the city proper. We started with a guided walking tour, which I'd highly recommend. On this tour, I really understood the metaphor of a city as a jungle. We came down from our home in the canopy, and delved into the undergrowth on ground level, or below. It took us through the main part of the city, and opened up worlds we would never have known. Like the walkway beneath the streets built for the locals to use during the 1956 Olympics. And the lanes and arcades were magnificent!
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| Underground walkway and our tour guide |
Walking down the street, certainly driving, you might miss the lanes, but every so often a small walkway would turn off, and following it we found ourselves immersed in a narrow space packed full of small shops, cafes, underground record shops, and even a store selling honey collected from the beehive on the roof. The whole area oozed charm. Mostly, the wall décor was street art - graffiti, tagging, murals, call it what you will, but it was beautiful. We even chatted with a local artist while he worked.
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| Café in a lane |
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| Lane shopping |
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| Street art |
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| Artist at work |
Connected to all of this were the opulent arcades. These were the traditional shopping centers between the city streets, within the old Victorian buildings, and the home to more refined stores such as an exclusive tea-room where there's a months-long waiting list to book high tea, an opal jeweler, a traditional toy store, and a menswear boutique. We loved every minute!
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| High tea in the Block Arcade |
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| The Royal Arcade |
The Queen Victoria Markets are the largest open air markets in the southern hemisphere. A wander around there and we saw every kind of fruit imaginable, as well as vegetables, clothes, bags, souvenirs and just about everything else to be found at a market.
We also found time for traditional shopping, as there's an unlimited number of higher-up stores including Myer Department Store and all of the other nearby necessities. And, of course, we found The Gap.
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| Queen Vic Markets |
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| Queen Vic Markets |
Food in the city was really great. Coffee on every corner, I think we all found our favorite hot drink - latte, chai tea, hot chocolate. I mentioned the Chinese food, but there was also abundant Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Greek, and Middle-Eastern. The funniest was "Lord of the Fries". Made us laugh every time we walked by. We tried Italian (twice), Chinese (twice), Thai, and hamburgers. Our staple, though, was breakfast. Often the best meal of the day, and certainly Will's favorite, we fell in love with the eggs, pancakes, toast, cereal, fruit, scones (biscuits in America), donuts, and bacon. And of course, with our favorite hot drink. For dessert, there were gourmet chocolates (both French and Belgian), an entire store for macaroons, and gourmet ice creams (I did NOT try the Vegemite). We even bought hot-sauce and corn tortillas from a company owned by a man from Mexico City. I think he was glad to meet some Texans.
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| Hot chocolates! |
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| Our favorite breakfast spot |
What can I say about the public transportation? If your feet won't get you where you're going, then there's a bus or tram or train or trolley or taxi that will. Our favorites were the free City Circle trolley that loops around the downtown and the $5 hop-on hop-off tourist bus. But really, walking is quite feasible pretty much everywhere one needs to go. And very impressive is the iconic Flinders Station, the red brick train station right on the bank of the Yarra river.
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| Grace aboard the trolley |
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| Yarra river |
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| Old bath house with city train passing by |
We were honestly a little light on museums. A brief stay in the NGV's Ian Potter Center for Australian art. A wander through the beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens. The city looked impressive from the observation deck of the Eureka Tower. We enjoyed the Immigration Museum (possibly because we're immigrants?). But the favorite was the National Sports Museum. Will really enjoyed the interactive sports section, pretending to play cricket or rugby, soccer or archery. What fun!
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| Royal Botanic Garden with city skyline in background |
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| Eureka tower |
As for entertainment, some of our group count this as their favorite.
We had tickets to see the musical The Lion King. Tricia and I have seen it before, in Dallas, but the kids had not. And we all really loved it! All except for the occasional Australian accent. Why that would be any worse than an American accent in a story about Africa, I don't know. But it just didn't feel right. Funny.
And we couldn't leave Melbourne without going to an Australian Rules Football game. It was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the centerpiece venue of the 1956 Olympics, and set in a town possibly considered the birthplace of Aussie Football. It rained a little during the game, but we had a great time. After an exciting opening in which St. Kilda quickly took the lead, Collingwood "Magpies" came back for a resounding win. Maggie is a new fan of both "Footy" and the Magpies. Will is the proud owner of an AFL junior football. And I tried the traditional meat pie. Not bad!
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| Mmm... meat pie! |
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| Magpie fans |
Never fear, we did address our faith while in town. This past Sunday we attended both St. Paul Cathedral (Anglican) and Scots Church (Presbyterian) in downtown Melbourne. Two different services, and we enjoyed both greatly.
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| St. Paul Cathedral |
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| Scots Church |
If you're looking at photos and wondering about the weather, here's the summary. Before we went, people told us Melbourne was famous for "4 seasons in 1 day". We felt at least 2 seasons per day was more correct. Like Spring and Autumn. In San Francisco. It never got hot, and it never got wintry cold, although we were there in Autumn. But from one minute to the next it could go from sunny to cloudy to rainy to windy and back to sunny. I enjoyed the nice touch of crisp Autumn, and we all got to wear pants (rare, since Yeppoon is usually shorts-weather).
Later, I'll post the link to our full photo gallery, but that's all for now. Goodnight from the warm Capricorn Coast of Australia!
Next post, we'll head west to the Great Ocean Road.
