Melbourne, Australia

Sunday, January 19, 2015

Thick salt on the glass and rough seas outside.

The ride from Tasmania to Melbourne involved another day at sea ... yes, the Tasman Sea.  It didn't disappoint.   Rough as ever, we rocked and rolled our way to Melbourne, finally arriving Sunday morning.   

Melbourne, Australia's second most populous city, has been named the cultural capital of Australia.  With it's edgy street art and chic Laneway restaurants, there is definitely a "coolness" factor going on here.

With no firm plans, we got off the ship and headed to town.   I remembered exploring interesting Laneways last year and set off to find them again.  Our shuttle to town dropped us at the river.  I didn't even remember a river in Melbourne last year, so this was all new territory.  

A sidewalk art show was in full swing with interesting vendors selling their wares.  I found the cutest pair of Koala earrings and an amazing Kaleidoscope   

A treasure Kaleidoscope from the Sidewalk Art Show in Melbourne.

Jess found a great wooden box with a lid made of Gimlet Burl, a very rare wood found in Australia.  The river walk was lined with very trendy restaurants and shops and appeared to be fairly new, but no sign of a "Laneway."  After googling The Sofitel Hotel to get my bearings, we set off to find familiar turf, but not before we found  ourselves in the "men's club" section of town, which was booming even at 11:00 on a Sunday morning.  Not the best neighborhood, we continued on towards the hotel trying to put as much distance as we could between us and this undesirable part of town.  

A typical Melbourne Laneway.

A few kilometers away, I finally found one of the colorful Laneways that I remembered in Melbourne.  Filled with character and characters, the Laneways are narrow alleys with shops and restaurants of all ethnicities.  Tables and chairs fill the narrow streets and whiffs of Pizza, Falafels, Korean BBQ and much more, linger in the air.  

Union Street - Graffiti Art Gallery

We also found Union Street where local graffiti artists paint the walls with their political and artistic views of the world.  

Happenstance meeting of friends in Melbourne

And then, we found, quite by accident, the Block Arcade, which is a covered Laneway with upscale boutiques and beautifully tiled floors.   While admiring the floors, I looked up and came face to face with my friends, Bruce and Gail, whom we'd said goodbye to the night before.  They left the ship, ending their voyage in Melbourne, to attend the Australian Open Tennis event.  Such a large city to run into friends on the street.  Guess Melbourne isn't so big after all.

Pedestrian Bridge across the river in Melbourne.

By now, we were starving and decided to find a lunch spot.  We were looking for a good fish and chips place and Gail's guide recommended a spot in the Southgate area along the river.  We found an Irish Pub with fish and chips, good beer and a glass of cold wine.  After lunch, we found ourselves sitting on a park bench beside the river watching the people go by.  What a great way to experience Melbourne on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  

Interesting People Watching in Melbourne.

The people watching was tremendously entertaining as we concocted amusing stories about nearly everybody walking by.  I had to compliment a girl on her hair style and she graciously allowed me to take her photo.  Now I like ALMOST anything Leopard print, but this may be the exception.  I thought my niece, a hairdresser in Virginia might get a kick out of it.  What do you think, Jessica?

Tea time on the ship.

Time to head back to the ship for one more day at sea heading back to Sydney to catch our flight home.  We arrived back just in time for afternoon tea.  God forbid, we should miss an opportunity at another feeding!  

This has been such an amazing journey filled with new memories,  this blog being, my "journal" chronicling fun experiences along the way.  And it's not over yet.  We have another day at sea and another day in Sydney.  I'll report in later.