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Published: March 31st 2010
Three days ago we rolled into the city on the Overland train which runs between Adelaide and Melbourne. The trip took twelve hours and it would have been lovely if we'd been able to see the scenery we were passing by! The train has huge picture windows and each car has a row of single seats along one side and double seats on the other, all facing one way. As soon as we boarded in the morning several people pulled the sunscreens on their windows down then fell asleep! Oh, did I mention that Barry and I didn't have much of a window? We were stuck with the post in between windows. At one point I asked the couple in front of us if they'd mind opening their sun blind and they did, for a while. Then they pulled it shut again and fell asleep. So, mostly we got tiny glimpses of the beautiful scenery as it flew by. The land is terribly dry and parched between Adelaide and Melbourne. There were flocks of sheep for hundreds of miles.
We were really tired when we got to our hotel and planned to sleep in the following morning. A 6 a.m. we woke to loud banging sounds, by 7:00 we knew we were in the midst of the hotel renovations because we could hear hammer drills and workmen clumping above our room. I complained ( I'm grumpy when I'm tired) to the management and they moved us to a WONDERFUL and much bigger room. Our second day in Melbourne was pretty much ruined, though, because we were just too groggy to enjoy ourselves. We're in this hotel three nights all in all.
We spent part of today trying to figure out the transit system. Our Canadian translations of trains, trams and buses are often in conflict with the Australian wordings! Barry and I figured out long ago that I'm really good at some things (like organizing this trip) but I'm terrible at others, navigating being a big one. Nadine and Betty-Anne will coroborate. So Barry has been leading me around the city; I just follow confidently. We have a GPS for the motorhome or we'll never get anywhere.
Melbourne is a huge city, the second largest in Australia, and it's really beautiful. We've only seen a portion of it and will certainly never drive in it. They have something here called a 'hook turn' that has to be seen to be believed. It's a driving maneuver that isn't seen anywhere else from what we heard. The first time we saw a car do one in the middle of the intersection our mouths dropped open and we watched with amazement. If someone from Melbourne tries this maneuver anywhere else in the world he'll be dead meat.
We spent today at the Melbourne Zoo and had a good time. We had to move pretty fast to see it all before closing. The Australian animals are wonderful to see and so different from anything we see at home. We watched a big, fat koala climb down a tree, march around in front of us for a while then climb back up. Wombats are strange looking creatures but cute in their own way. The bird sanctuary was gigantic and really realistic. We watched the parrots, cockatiels, etc. for a long time. Barry got good pictures of his favourite birds, pelicans.
Tomorrow is Barry's birthday and in the morning we're taking a train out of town to pick up the motorhome that will be our base for the next two months. We'll be glad to give up restaurant food! It'll be a busy day with learning to drive the Aussie way, shopping for groceries and finding our first campground. It's Barry's birthday too so will be a fun day.
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Jaye
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Hey
... and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, BARRY! Jaye and Don