Blogs from City Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

No tour responsibilities today! So it was a leisurely stroll to the Southgate entertainment precinct on the banks of the Yarra river for a very nice and relaxing breakfast at Soho Cafe. From there we had a wander around the CBD, we stumbled on the former Commercial Bank of Australia building where back in the gold rush prospectors brought their golden treasure to be weighed and paid out. The concierge in the building gave us a brief but very informative run down on the checkered history of the building, including how the panels below the tellers were hollow and if there was any trouble the tellers (who were all armed) were instructed to shoot through the panels - not the iron bars where a bullet could ricochet anywhere. There were panels riddled with bullet holes closeted ... read more

Today most of the tour group went lawn bowling, which would have been great fun, however because it was our first time in Melbourne we decided not to bowl but to explore the city a bit. This also meant we were able to watch the Melbourne Cup Parade which was very spectacular indeed. The parade started at 12 noon and we took up our position near the hotel around 11am. By the time the parade started crowds were 10 deep along the route so definitely a good move being early! We were right where the parade started and there was plenty to entertain us as the participants arrived, the crowd built and the parade came together. There were stilt walkers,clowns, marching girls, highland dancers, skaters dressed as jockeys plenty of colour and variety to keep people ... read more

Very early start today-up at 2am. Final check in time was 4am at Wellington Airport and I hate being late. We were lucky to get a lift to the airport with my cousin Leslie and her brother Gary who were also heading to Melbourne for the Cup. They were on the same wave length in terms of timing and as a result we arrived just after 3am. Top marks for enthusiasm all round but unfortunately the airport was closed at that time of the morning - who would have thought! The doors didn't open until 3.30am so we had to hang around outside for a while. No worries on a typically balmy Wellington morning. Once we were inside it was still after 4am before machines were turned on and we could check in. Bit of a ... read more

Geo: -41.4401, 147.135FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10I did wake up several times during the night. However at 9:00am, we got a wake-up call over the intercom from the Captain. He said "Good morning. I have some very important news for you. During the night our propulsion system failed. And currently we are out at sea a drift. We are in no danger. I have called the authorities and they are sending us a tug boat to tug us back to Melbourne. Again, we are in no danger, but we are not moving. You will all be getting a complete refund for this cruise." Glenn then said, "Judy, I called it! I knew we wouldn't make it to New Zealand". Glenn and I went to breakfast down on Deck 8. The atrium is NOTHING like the last cruise where ... read more

Hi All Rose and I are about to start on our holiday for this year. We have decided to drive around Italy, South France, and Spain for 7 weeks. Our plans are: 1/6/16 - Leave Melbourne for Rome 5/6/16 - Pick up a new Peugeot 3008 and start driving 4/7/16 - Arrive in Barcelona to pick up Allen. 7/7/16 - Arrive in Pamplona for 3 day "Running with the Bulls" experience. 14/7/16 - Hand back the Peugeot. 17/7/16 - Fly from Barcelona to Dubai for 2 days poolside rest. 20/7/16 - Fly from Dubai to Melbourne. We look forward to updating you through the trip and hope you enjoy our blog. Have fun. Greg... read more