And now we come to southern Australia, to the country's second largest city. Our flight out of Sydney was supposed to leave at 9:35 this morning, but a delay (some air traffic control problem) didn't see us leave until after 11. Though a bit late, we touched down in sunny Melbourne just before 1 o'clock.
Afters settling down in the hotel, we set out for our first taste of the city. Our hotel is located in the south of the city, in an area known as South Wharf. It isn't too far a walk from the city center, but, interestingly enough, there is a free tram service that runs a ring around the city center, and a stop is about a five minute walk away. Service is a bit slow but, as we have found, when something is free in this country, you take it.
The girls were hungry, so we set out for food. I had noticed in earlier reading that Melbourne had a Greek district, and when I mentioned that they immediately had their hearts set on Greek salad and souvlaki. We took the free tram to Swanston street, one of the main drags in the city, and walked up a few blocks until we found ourselves in the Greek district, and were sitting down with massive lamb gyros in a our hands.
Unfortunately, as we were sitting enjoying our meal, sunny Melbourne went away, and the deluge came, and I mean the deluge. Starting pouring buckets. We waited a bit to see if it would let up, and it did some, but was still enough to put paid to any plans we had walking around. Luckily most shops along Swanston have awnings, which kept us from getting absolutely soaked (it was so nice out when we left, no one bothered with rain gear. Won't make that mistake again).
So our evening basically ended with a quick stop in a Woolworth's for some provisions and a quick walk back to the tram stop. Things appear to be clearing up, so maybe we will venture out again, we'll see. Either way, the hotel concierge was filling us in on some things to do/see in the city, and it looks promising. Even from the little bit we saw today, I am liking Melbourne. It has a very European feel to it, and its very multi-ethnic/cultural. Word is that its Australia's most cosmopolitan city, so I am looking forward to more exploration tomorrow.
So that will be it for today, if anything else happens, look for it in tomorrow's post. Here's a couple images from today's festivities:
Photos: Your Correspondent in front of the pedestrian bridge over the Yarra River, linking South Wharf to the rest of the city; view of city skyline from pedestrian bridge; Flinders Street railway station, main station of the Melbourne suburban rail-line.
Afters settling down in the hotel, we set out for our first taste of the city. Our hotel is located in the south of the city, in an area known as South Wharf. It isn't too far a walk from the city center, but, interestingly enough, there is a free tram service that runs a ring around the city center, and a stop is about a five minute walk away. Service is a bit slow but, as we have found, when something is free in this country, you take it.
The girls were hungry, so we set out for food. I had noticed in earlier reading that Melbourne had a Greek district, and when I mentioned that they immediately had their hearts set on Greek salad and souvlaki. We took the free tram to Swanston street, one of the main drags in the city, and walked up a few blocks until we found ourselves in the Greek district, and were sitting down with massive lamb gyros in a our hands.
Unfortunately, as we were sitting enjoying our meal, sunny Melbourne went away, and the deluge came, and I mean the deluge. Starting pouring buckets. We waited a bit to see if it would let up, and it did some, but was still enough to put paid to any plans we had walking around. Luckily most shops along Swanston have awnings, which kept us from getting absolutely soaked (it was so nice out when we left, no one bothered with rain gear. Won't make that mistake again).
So our evening basically ended with a quick stop in a Woolworth's for some provisions and a quick walk back to the tram stop. Things appear to be clearing up, so maybe we will venture out again, we'll see. Either way, the hotel concierge was filling us in on some things to do/see in the city, and it looks promising. Even from the little bit we saw today, I am liking Melbourne. It has a very European feel to it, and its very multi-ethnic/cultural. Word is that its Australia's most cosmopolitan city, so I am looking forward to more exploration tomorrow.
So that will be it for today, if anything else happens, look for it in tomorrow's post. Here's a couple images from today's festivities:
Photos: Your Correspondent in front of the pedestrian bridge over the Yarra River, linking South Wharf to the rest of the city; view of city skyline from pedestrian bridge; Flinders Street railway station, main station of the Melbourne suburban rail-line.
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