MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA FROM THE OOSTERDAM

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My day in Melbourne started smoothly, the sun was shining and I was excited about participating in the tour “In the wild! Kangaroos & Koalas”. This is a popular tour and I was originally wait listed but I got lucky and got on. The ride through the city, Melbourne is the second largest Australian city, featured narrative by our tour guide about what we were about to observe. Peter was extremely knowledgeable about kangaroos and koalas and was with a walkabout nature tours organization that specialized in research on these animals in the wild. It was fascinating to see these animals in the wild. The kangaroos we got close to were in a sanctuary and we walked across the savannah grasslands and bush and walked to a billabong. I saw females with joeys in their pouch and groups of several kangaroos (called mobs). Many different birds were also seen and, with the guidance of Peter, spotted a couple of Tawny Frogmouths, a bird with great camouflage and difficult to spot. The koalas were spotted in another sanctuary. The male koala was in one and the female was in another a short distance away. Her joey was old enough to be in a tree on his own during the day. The researchers locate these every day since they move around so as not to defoliate their food source, the eucalyptus tree. On the bus ride back to the ship we stopped several times to observe mobs of wild kangaroos, in fields. I hope my pictures do the experience justice. It was a nice diversion from my usual tours seeing city or historical sights and I missed seeing highlights of the city of Melbourne. Melbourne is a very diverse city. A quarter of the population is foreign-born, and more than 150 languages represent more than 50 national origins.



After return to the city I decided to walk around the waterfront to find a lunch place. I found a great pub, The Local, and had a great fish and chips and a couple of pints of a local brew, Nine Tails Amber Ale. The fish was called Blue Grenadier from local waters. A small salad was added for “balance”.



The last full day on the ship is tomorrow, a sea day before disembarking at Sydney. Most passengers are staying on the ship for another 14 days going to Fiji and back. I’ll be writing from Sydney.



ILYS

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Comments

[Rick Windsor]

Trip pictures
Enjoying the pictures of this far away land. Rick

[fay]

Loving the pictures!
Great to see somewhere my Aunt lived at for 18yrs thank you Chuck! See you soon! xx