Today was the day to explore Melbourne. Breakfast at the Rendezvous Hotel was a nice selection of pastries and hot dishes. Not many of us are fans of the automatic coffee dispensers.
Wheels rolling at 9:00 for the city tour. With Will as our coach driver we really were treated to a great overview of this city, once the capital of Australia. They are projecting because of the growth of the city and its desirable living opportunities, that it will surpass Sydney in size by 2050.
Our first stop of the day was the Victorian Market. It was huge and bustling on a Sunday morning. There were lots of venders, some showing very nice wares and others lots of stuff bordering on junk that may or may not have been produced in Australia. Headed for the food aisles, which I find more interesting. The produce is always so enticing. Did not find any meat venders except a little stand selling mussels. If only it hadn’t been 9:15 in the morning, they would have been very tempting. Bought a wooden, carved bookmark that shows many of the native animals.
From there we toured through some of the different neighborhoods, the first one being Carlton. The homes were very different with the balconies that were reminiscent of New Orleans.
The architecture of the CBD is stunningly modern. One of the more recent additions was an apartment building that features the face of William Barak, elder of Melbourne's Wurundjeri tribe and was instrumental in bridging the gulf between black and white cultures. Unfortunately, pictures from a coach tour never can capture what the eye cans see.
We had a brief stop at the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Botanical Gardens. With a beautiful sunny day and temperatures on the low 60s, it was so pleasant to step off the coach and wander for a brief time. What we found fascinating in a number of places was that the leaves are falling (it is fall here, nearly winter) but flowers are still being planted, and palm trees are swaying.
The 888 Monument signifies 8 hours of work, 8 hours of play, and 8 hours of sleep. If only!
We arrived at St. Patrick’s Cathedral just as mass was ending and so we were able to enter the church. It was a very pretty, but not ornate church. The stained glass windows were reminiscent of those at York, England.
At the Royal Conservatory we walked back to Captain Cooks’s cottage. It was moved to Australia from Cook’s birthplace in Great Ayton, England. It seemed quite large as cottages go and was surrounded by some beautiful landscaping.
We then drove past the Olympic sites from the 1956 games in Melbourne. In virtually the same complex are the Rod Laver Stadium, the Melbourne Cricket Ground or “the G.” It seats 100,000 people and the largest crowd ever to fill the stadium was to witness Billy Graham’s crusade in 1959.
We had some extra time so we got to see St. Kilda, a very exclusive area to live and also home to the oldest wooden roller coaster in Australia in Luna Park.
We got back to the hotel about 1:00 and had the rest of the day free.
After lunch Gerald and Charles headed for the aquarium. Lois, Barbara, and Sharon headed off to the Eureka Tower. At 91 stories it is the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere. It features a section of the skydeck that extends from the building as you walked on it so that you are surrounded on all sides by glass.
It was then on the The Star, Melbourne’s answer to the London Eye. It was just dusk and one could catch the moon rising and sun setting. More spectacular views.
Back to the hotel for dinner that featured for Lois salmon, Gerald snapper, Barbara chicken satay, Sharon French fries and Creme Bruleé, Charles salmon, and Carole and Earle risotto.
To bed because it will be an early morning on Monday.
Keeping up with the Bucs is difficult in such different time zones. Our Sunday was their Saturday and a tough loss again to the Marlins.
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