Our first port in Australia--Melbourne

One of the advantages to traveling in a westward direction is that as we move from one time zone to another, we set our clocks back one hour.  That keeps us feeling well rested and makes it easy to wake up in time to see wonderful sunrises.  

Early morning has always been a special part of the day for me and I savor the excitement of sailing in to a new harbor just as the day begins.  I love the way the light is hitting the sides of the buildings in this photo as we get our first glimpse of Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most populous (over 4.7 million) city in all of Oceania.    

The city sits at the far inland point of a huge bay with miles of sandy beaches, across the Bass Strait from Tasmania.  I think it took us nearly three hours to sail from the dock to the mouth of the harbor last night.  It's very flat--not a hill to be seen.  In contrast to New Zealand, there are no volcanoes.

Melbourne was established in 1835 by free settlers from Tasmania.  The gold rush in the 1850s made it one of the world's biggest cities.  It hosted the Summer Olympics in 1956 with the Melbourne Cricket Ground as the main stadium which has since been expanded to a capacity of over 100,000.  Close by is the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, also called the AAMI Park which hosts rugby and soccer matches.  The exterior is covered with programmable LED lights which can show a variety of patterns and images. The two end "soccer balls can be extended to provide more seating.

The Yarra River runs along the southern edge of the CBD (central business district-one mile long by 1/2 mile wide) which was laid out in what's called the Hoddle Grid, a rectangular grid with streets 99 ft. wide so you could drive your horse and wagon on each side leaving an area in the middle to drive the sheep to market.

The grid left no room for parks, so the parks have since been situated around the  perimeter; we stopped for a wander through Fitzroy Gardens.  We enjoyed just a small corner of the 64 acres which included avenues of elm trees (the kind decimated in America by Dutch Elm disease), Cook's Cottage  (a house were Capt. Cook's parents lived which was brought over from England in the 1930s), and the Conservatory containing begonias, gloxinia, and other beautiful flowers.  This tree in front of Cook's Cabin was labeled as a fig, but the fruit is much smaller and the leaves didn't look at all like the figs with which we are familiar.


I've got to include another flower picture here--I know at least Ann will enjoy it!

Here's a cute picture of me with one of my crazy quilting friends, Pam Landes.  Her husband, Jim, wanted to take a picture of us, and David took a picture of the whole vignette.

The Eureka Tower, tallest building in Melbourne, is residential, with an observation deck on the 90th floor. The gold at the top represents the gold rush of the 1850s and the red strip represents the blood spilt in the Eureka Stockade gold miner's revolt.  As a result of the skirmish, laws were passed that became the first step toward workers rights in Australia.

We stopped for a few minutes to explore the St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Built in the Gothic Revival style and dedicated in 1851, it is the largest church building in Australia.

I always love to look at the stained glass windows in the cathedrals.

Lastly, we stopped to visit the Shrine of Remembrance, built to honor the men and women of the state of Victoria who served in WWI.  In the central sanctuary is a stone, engraved with the words, "Greater love hath no man".  On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month every year, a ray of sunlight shines through a hole in the roof on the word "Love".

When the bus tour was over, those of us who wanted to stay in town longer got off the bus to wander on our own.  I knew Pam wanted to buy an opal (95% of the world's opals come from Australia) at the outlet of the Lightening Ridge Mines in Melbourne, so I asked if I could tag along with her and her husband.  We were given a quick demonstration of cutting and polishing the stones as well as teaching us about the different kinds of opals and their relative value.

On the way to the opal shop, another of the quilters told us she had found a yarn and fabric shop just a block away, so after Pam found her opal, we found that store and bought our first fabrics from Australia.  We walked back to the shuttle bus pick-up spot feeling successful.

David wanted me to include this public bathroom photo.  The iron panels of the walls were quite ornate.

And now for our foodie friends, (you know who you are), we finished the day with a wonderful meal at the Chef's Table, one of the two premium restaurants on board.  A set five course menu prepared by a guest chef is served there.  It was Asian night--our menu consisted of an amuse bouche of chilled king crab with coconut foam and curry, first coarse of Lobster and chicken shu mai Shanghai style, a lemongrass and red chili granita with lychee foam, the main coarse was Peking duck with crispy skin, Mandarin pancake, and hoisin sauce, and for dessert, an Asian Trilogy with spring roll, creme brûlée, and green tea cheesecake.  Happy tummies!