Melbourne

  Melbourne, Australia
Saturday, July 1, 2006

Day 180 Saturday 1 July 2006

I flew to Melbourne today and was met by Rooney and Jen (from the China trip) at the airport as they kindly said I could stop over at theirs whilst I am here. They took down St Kilda way and we went on the oldest wooden rollercoaster in the Southern Hemisphere in Luna Park....it reminded a lot of being on the rollercoaster in Southport back home! This area is on the water and we have dinner in the Espy before a few drinks take us into the bar upstairs where a local rock band are playing. It's still early in the night but there is a real buzz about the place as people get into the band playing rock songs on stage.
I stayed up late watching the footy in the flat and, yet again, we suffer the disappointment of losing in a major championship on penalties. Is it really 5 times in the last 6 that we have reached the knockout stage of a major finals that we have lost out in a penalty shootout???? Don't we practice? Don't we have a goalie good enough to save pens? More to the point, why can't we win the game in 90 or 120 minutes?????

Day 181 Sunday 2 July 2006

It's raining this morning as Rooney and Jen take me into town to see the sights of the city. Unfortunately, the rain and mist put paid to seeing most of the sights but we do stop for a gorgeous lunch in a Chinese Dim Sum restaurant! Mmmmm! The Crown hotel was paid a visit. This place is HUGE with a massive casino inside and fountains that dance and light up to music being played inside the reception!



From there, we went off to Fitzroy where there are a few bars which are busy for a Sunday afternoon and we have a few drinks before catching the tram back to the flat. Melbourne public transport seems to revolve around these trams, as everyone uses them.



There are not may buses and taxis in sight at all and you can generally get to most places in the city by using the tram.

Day 182 Monday 3 July 2006

Had a wander around the city today in clearer weather including a look at Federation Square near to Flinders Street train station. The Square has very strange looking buildings in weird block shapes but it's busy and a bit of a tourist attraction with bars, cafes and shows put on here.



It is next to the Yarra river and you can see the MCG in the distance.



Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to make it to an AFL game here as the game on Saturday was played as I flew to Melbourne and I didn't think there was a game in there yesterday as they had one on Saturday so didn't think to ask in the morning....there was a game. DOH!

Day 183 Tuesday 4 July 2006

Set off early today from the city centre on the 500km round trip on the coach to the Great Ocean Road.



We stop at MANY scenic spots along the way to take some quick piccies as we see some amazing views, steep cliffs, winding roads, high seas and my first Koala in the wild!



The highlights of the day included seeing the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. These are cliffs that have been eroded over time by the ocean's high waves. The Apostles stick out from the sea like giant 50m rocks whilst the Gorge has arches and comes more inland but they are all spectacular sights to see. They argue over how many Apostles there actually are - one collapsed into the sea in July last year under the continuing force of the waves - as people reckon anywhere between 9 and 18!



The Gorge just further down the coast, takes it's name from when the Loch Ard ship crashed into the rocks and sunk in the 1800's killing all but 2 of the people on board.





I thought that the Gorge was more spectacular to see than the more famous Apostles.



Day 184 Wednesday 5 July 2006

Had another quite quiet day today after yesterday's excursions and also getting up early to watch the Germany v Italy semi! Hit town again to try, unsuccessfully, to sort out my Fiji trip from Monday plus how to get to Sydney tomorrow!
A couple of Jen's friends, Bev and Sarah, came over for dinner tonight and we had a really good time sitting round chatting and eating loads of food and drinking loads of red wine....well, me and Rooney did anyway continuing where we left off in China!

Day 185 Thursday 6 July 2006

After sorting out my train to Sydney for this evening and my accommodation for Fiji for Monday, I went to see the Shrine.



It is near the centre of the city and is a large building on a hill overlooking the city centre. It has an obelisk with the eternal flame as the Shrine commemorates all the Victorian war dead from the World Wars, Korean War etc and it is one of those places that make you sit down and think about what has happened in the past....as it should be!
I get the train in the evening which should be getting me into Sydney about 7am tomorrow morning. I'm getting the train as I've had my fill of long bus journeys since being in NZ and Oz and fancy a change. I don't know if I'll be doing it again though as I manage abot 2 hours sleep as people are getting on and off the train making lots of noise as they do so plus one LARGE family don't shut up all night as we all have to sit there and listen to how hard they all are and what they have done in the past.....mostly coming from the hick town father!