Off to Melbourne

From Uluru to Melbourne

I sleep in until 5:45am this morning. We take our time finishing packing, reading and watching the news. An interesting story came up…a resort in Port Douglas found a juvenile crocodile in their luxury swimming pool. You can’t make this stuff up. Click here for the news video.

Our flight leaves at 11:10am. We are flying Jet Star.

About three hours later (of which I spend most of it sleeping), we land in Melbourne. We have gone from 38° C to 16°C. We are also now 15 hours ahead of Toronto.

We walk a very long way from our departure gate to baggage claim. We pick up our rental car and head to our cousin Andy’s place where he lives with his wife Belinda and their dog Jasper.

We get a great view of the Melbourne skyline on our way into the city. There looks to be a lot of interesting architecture.

We arrive at Andy & Belinda’s where they make us a wonderful home cooked meal and we start to catch up.

Exploring Melbourne- Federation Square

Today, day John and I sleep in to 8:00am and have breakfast with Andy and Belinda. Belinda needs to work so Andy, John and I set out to explore Melbourne.

We grab a nearby tram to Federation Square which is like the heart of the city. Melbourne is a very walkable city with a pleasing eclectic mix of historical and modern architecture.

We have a great view of Flinders Street Station which is an Edwardian/baroque train station.

We also see the beautiful St Paul’s Cathedral.

Throughout the day we briefly chat to many friendly locals who offer us tour advice or to take our picture for us.

Yarra River and the Arcades

We walk along the Yarra River and make our way to the Block Arcade. Along the way I pass some very funny business signs. Especially one for a men’s barbershop.

The Block Arcade is a late Victorian high-end shopping arcade. It is lovely.

We head over to the Royal Arcade which is another high-end area of shops and cafes. It was built in 1869. We have a break with some of the most decadent cups of hot chocolate at Koko Cafe.

In the Arcade there is a clock with two characters that clang on the hour.

Queen Victoria Market

We do some shopping for supper ingredients at the Queen Victoria Market and stop for lunch near the seafood area at a sushi and seafood place. Yum.

This market has been around since 1878 and has over 600 businesses. I would like to do some souvenir shopping but John had that “I’d rather poke my eyes out with a pointy item” look on his face so I didn’t push it.

Walking around Melbourne

We meander through parts of Chinatown, and Collins Street (high end shopping) to Carlton Gardens which has some pretty ponds (inhabited by a duck family with 16 chicks).

The beautiful 1880 Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Melbourne Museum is very close.

We go down trendy Gertrude Street to Fitzroy Gardens where we see Cook’s Cottage. Originally built in 1755 in Yorkshire, England by Captain Cook’s father, it was taken apart and shipped to Australia in 1934 and rebuilt brick by brick. It is technically the oldest building in Australia.

Evening at Andy and Belinda’s

We take the tram back towards the house, stopping off at the local Coles grocery store.

Belinda and Andrew have a sweet dog named Jasper. I am enjoying having a cuddly dog to pet.

John and I make a Canadian inspired dinner (maple syrup,  salmon, ice wine etc.) and we have a great evening chatting away.