Adventure Austrailia begins in Melbourne

MELBOURNE and Surrounding sights 

We flew into Melbourne and checked straightway into our hotel Novtel  on Collins Street. We barely checked in and then went onto the streets to explore the city.  We quickly found the antique tram that tours the city. It is a jump on jump off tram with a conductor that narrates the route.  As is usually the case with Alan we get off at the harbor area.  We got chatting with a local couple who gave us good ideas of  places to check out. It is a Sunday afternoon and there are lots of young families out and about enjoying the beautiful weather.

The red shirt goes good with Al's new buddies

Hungry Dino, good thing it was fake.

After an hour or so we went back to the hotel to let Alan take a run and a nap for me.  After which we went back to the street to find a bite for dinner. While dining at an upstairs pub we saw the formula 1 race car sponsored by Red Bull pass by. Seems there is a race in Melbourne this coming weekend and  they are gathering already for the event.

Red Bull car was driven by a Melbourne fellow

Cool brew while waiting for our food

Lots of harbor area in this town.

We also found that after dark the streets are filled with street performers and young people lining up to go into Max Watt's.  There had to be 300 or so queuing up to get in. Each and everyone of them were being carded.

Popular Night Spot

waiting to get into the hot spot

After our awe at that sight we continued our search for ice cream.  We found it at the chocolate cafe.  Vanilla Bourbon for Alan and Belgian Chocolate for me. Boy they had lots more than ice cream!

Check out the $$$!

Enough fun for one day. Off to get rest for the City Tour and lunch on the dinner tram, followed by the Penguins Parade tomorrow night.

So Monday is a holiday in Victoria. Victoria is the state where Melbourne is located.  We got on the bus at our hotel and made stops at several points of interest; gardens, churches,  government buildings and even the tail end of the laboratory parade.

A stop along the city tour

Alan color coordinated for the bike rack

Huge Church

Row of Black Elm Trees like the ones that once lined the streets of New Haven.

not our Curt but caught my eye.

one of many beautiful gardens we saw on our trip.  Hard to believe it is fall here.

pretty yellow dasiy

 

so pretty

I'd love to have one of these in my back yard

We saw this type of entrance to amusement parks in several cities.

cycling as it used to be

Strange bike

another example of fancy bike and fancy pants and jacket too.

Time for lunch on the tram. This afternoon was one of the high points of the trip but there were lots of high points.

taken while still sober.

Lunch was top shelf! Started with champagne and crackers with hummus. Next came the duck pâté and the smoked salmon with avocado. Alan had chicken and I had beef fillet the champagne continued to flow with the addition of beer and wine. We toasted our trip, the tram, those new friends we have made on the trip and the friends we left home! We were feeling pretty good when the fruit and cheese plate was served and the after dinner drinks included Bailey's, Frangelico, and Conac.  We were a very happy bunch.

Some of the Crew

not so sober.

Returned to the hotel with 45 minutes to departure to see the Fairy Penguins, the tiniest Penguins in the world.  Off to Phillips Island.

this guy was passed around while we drove to see the penguins because they don't let us take pictures on location.

No pictures of the Penguins are allowed so this is the best I can do.  The trip started at 4pm but you don't see any penguins until after dark, not til about 8:15pm. The drive took almost 3 hours but they were spent learning about the Penguins spotting wallabies and cows and lambs and some birds.  There was a watching area where we could see the Penguins coming out of the water.  They would groom themselves, pause and waddle a ways Up the path. We had seen their nests burrowed all over the plans as we drove I and learned about their habits.  Totally fascinating.  Home at 11:30 and wake up call set for 6am so we could head out to the Coastal Road.  So much to do so little time.

Pictures of the penguins that I was able to take at one of our zoo stops.

These are the same critters we saw emerge from the sea. So tiny and cute.