Blogs from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 11

4/2/18 The C.O. enthusiastically supported the suggestion of a visit to the Sunday market at South Melbourne. So we boarded the tram and tapped on with our Wykie cards to pay for the ride. A Wykie card is a prepayment contact card used to pay for your journey. The card only has to be tapped on a small screen at the start of your journey as all the journeys are the same price. The screen tells you that it has been successful and also your cash balance left on the card. It sounds a bit complicated but works very well. We alighted the tram at South Melbourne and went into the market the which is very big and sells a wide variety of products which are bought by the locals. It is very well supported and ... read more

Weather today is sunny and warmer but still windy. C.O. ordered another attack on the walk that was abandoned yesterday. She is a determined commander - not to be denied. We again marched to the shore at St. Kilda and went past the Royal Melbourne Yatch Squadron (impressive title or what!). We went along the sure making good use of the boardwalk terrain. We then advanced along the pier to the end and made observations on the penguin,s base of operations in readiness for advancing on them at a future sunset. The next objective was St. Kinda Botanical Garden which turned out to be a very pleasant sizeable park. In the middle of the park we happened across a fashion photoshoot. I remarked to the star that she looked stunningly beautiful. The C. O. did not ... read more

Leaving for Melbourne later today. The pods are all packed and the luggage train has been left in the capable hands of the hotel concierge. We strolled off to our favourite cafe for breakfast. We then made the short walk to the Te Papa museum for another look. The C. O. believes that she may have missed a retail opportunity. There is an awful lot of very good geological and earthquake information but the highlight of our return trip was a simulated earthquake in a house. Very realistic and caused the C. O. to utter an expletive. I adjourned to another part of the museum dealing with the migration of the South Pacific Islanders to N. Z. The C. O. found the shop and could not be moved. I still do not fully understand why the ... read more

Wie angekündigt , fuhren wir vor 1 Woche von Dunedin nach Norden, durch eine nette hügelige Landschaft und teilweise dem Meer entlang- allerdings zuerst nach Akaroa auf der Banks Peninsula - wunderschön an einer tiefen Bay gelegen und total von Ausflüglern überlaufen (es waren auch noch Schulferien). Man muss über eine echte Passstrasse - kein Wunder dass es am Sonntagnachmittag von Motorrädern wimmelt! Akaroa betont sein französisches Erbe ( es hatte einmal eine Walfangstation). Am Montag besuchten wir die sehr sehenswerte Art Gallery in Christchurch (welche den Quake überstanden hat) und den riesigen und wunderschönen botanischen Garten mit riesigen Bäumen. Nach unruhigem Flug mit schlechtem Essen (Quantas!) kamen wir um 22 Uhr in Melbourne an, waren aber erst um halb 2 Uhr im Hotel The Prince in St. Kilda. Dieser Stadtteil liegt zT am Meer und ... read more

This is my last blog post before taking off this evening for Texas, via Hawaii. During these last few days my main occupation (and preoccupation) has been packing and re-packing and catching up with Melbourne friends. (Pictured below are John and Joan and, finally, departure at the airport.) There have been so many phone calls and messages, I feel quite overwhelmed at such kindness. I leave Australia well-supported, but also eagerly awaiting what lies ahead and, above all, grateful for this wonderful opportunity.... read more