Melbourne suburbs by Tram

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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. For dinner we found an excellent Japanese restaurant and had Gyozas, kaarage (crispy chicken) and ramen. Delicious, but we both dreamed weird dreams so suspect the addition of MSG...

Tuesday was even hotter so we headed, by tram again, down to St. Kilda on the cost about 30 minutes south. Nice scenery, lovely little town but not much happening. In fact it seemed quite run down with what seemed like one in three premises empty. Despite everything I’ve heard about Melbourne booming with huge population growth, there was not much evidence in St. Kilda. So we bailed out earlier than planned and visited the botanic gardens instead. It was hot and peaceful and we spent a happy hour comparing western and Japanese gardens. The cafe even had Wi-fi so we were able to check in for the flights home while sat outside...

We had dinner in delightful open air setting in one of the many ally’s in the CBD...that’ll be the last outdoor meal for 2019.

Right now we’re packed, just about ok, we've put the central heating on at home and we’re reading to head home...

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