Blogs from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 5

Hi Jennifer, lets hope this works!... read more

For some time, we have been planning a protracted trip to Australia and New Zealand. Jennie and I came to Oz in 2003, but were unable to see some things, with only two weeks to tour around (one week of our trip was spent on a dive boat trip to the Coral Sea). We have never been to New Zealand. Since Chuck and Lucie had never been to either one, and given the length of the journey, we decided to spend an unprecedented 5 weeks seeing both countries as best we could in that time. We made some choices with an eye on the length of the trip. First, although we had wanted to visit the Ningaloo Reef to see whale sharks and see the oldest living things on Earth, the stromatolites of Shark Bay, we ... read more

The weather finally turned on Monday...it was glorious! Melbourne has the largest and longest tram network in the world. The network is comprehensive but slow. Nevertheless we used the good weather and the trams to explore the wider environs .. places like Fitzroy, North Melbourne and the like. You never know what you find and we found all sorts of quirky shops. E.g a great lighting store that had me thinking about my lounge lighting again... also a fine fabrics shop which enticed Cathy into buying ..... ooh err that luggage is looking a bit stuffed. In the evening we explored Chinatown. There are times in Melbourne when it feels like an Asian city. At least 50% of the guests in our hotel are Chinese and there are masses of tourists from China, Korea, Japan everywhere. ... read more

We had a very comfortable night in the McCarthy's spacious home. Julie and Mike cooked us a great breakfast of fried eggs and bacon for all the family, including Mike's parents Kerry and Jed, who had called over from their farm nearby. It was good to see them again. Kerry brough her freshly baked scones, with jam and cream. After breakfast we set off to drive into Melbourne to Nicola and Nicholas' cute little home in Albert Park, near Melbourne. Unfortunately Nicholas had to go into Melbourne to work but joined us later, in the park. After tea and coffee in their garden we set off in two cars for the The Royal Botanical Gardens which are enormous and interesting. We had a picnic in the children's safe play area. Elliot and Gorgina had great fun ... read more

We’re up at 4.30am for a long day of travelling home. I accidentally push the alarm button on the hire car, so we suspect that the rest of the guests at our previously quiet Kauai hotel are now also awake. We drive away quickly before we manage to wreak any further havoc. We get to the airport as the sun is coming up, and if we needed any more reminding that the whole island seems to be overrun with wild chickens it comes in the form of multiple roosters crowing very loudly to greet the new day. It is 11 September and we pause for half a minute’s silence at Honolulu airport at 8.45am, which was apparently the exact time that the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Centre back in 2001. ... read more