Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia and the capital of Victoria. It has been dubbed one of the planets most livable cities. The mid-19th century Victoria gold rush provided wealth to the area that built many distinctive structures and established beautiful public green spaces. Many of the original buildings and homes still exist and draw thousands of tourists annually.
The ship docked at 7 a.m. We disembarked at about 9. We were docked several miles from central Melbourne so had to ride a tram into the city. We then boarded a free on and off tram, which did a circle around downtown, stopping at major tourist attractions. We rode around to the other side of town and got off by Queen Victoria Market. We never hopped back on! What a market! It was HUGE and had everything from eggs to auto parts. All of the Australian souvenir type items that we had seen in Sydney were there...for less money. We started up the first isle, then went down the next. At about the 3rd isle we started running into others from the ship. We purchased many items, so much so that we had to buy 2 tote bags to carry it all! We got a quick lunch at a small cafe there, then headed for the tram to take us to the zoo.
By the time we reached the zoo, it had gotten quite hot. We had jackets with us because it had been cool when we left the ship. Along with those, we now had our tote bags, so were relieved when they told us they had lockers. Once our arms were free, we headed straight for the koalas. On the way we passed a tiger which was pacing back and forth in the heat, poor thing. Then we went into the Butterfly House which was amazing. There were butterflies everywhere! All different sizes and colors, they were quite beautiful. Two landed on Mel's camera as he was taking a picture. Next we entered thru a gate to where the kangaroos were. There was a low bar as a barrier, but they could certainly get out of that and roam around...so we went in! Well, I did so Mel could take a picture. No one else was around and another man had done it first. I had to pet one before I left, very soft. We finally came to the koala enclosure. The keeper had just given his talk, so we'd missed that. One little guy was awake and looking around. The other was sound asleep. A docent we met told us they've had koalas in the wild, falling dead from trees because of dehydration. There has been a long drought in southern Australia and with the fires, they just can't get enough liquid out of the eucalyptus leaves that is their diet. There is a video on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSPx7S4jr4 Thanks Kathie!) going around of a fireman giving water to a koala out of a bottle of water. Poor things. We saw the Lizard Room, then headed back to collect our things and get on the tram. We had one transfer, then were back at the ship by about 4:30. I took a quick dip in my pool, then got ready for dinner. We didn't actually see much of Melbourne, but from what we did see, it is a lovely city. There were many beautiful old buildings on the few streets that we passed through. Nice port....
Melbourne is actually a river port. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get to open sea after leaving the dock area. The captain told us that there could be some extra rolls or pitches when we left the shallower water into deep sea water. Mel went to the show, I went out on our verandah. There were beautiful homes along the river, not large, probably summer homes. There were many sand dunes and grassy areas. At the point as we finally left the river, there were at least 3 different light houses. I got one or 2 good pictures, which will be in my next PhotoShow. The water was swirling and churning right at the break between the river and ocean, quite interesting. The ship movement didn't really feel any different, but you could see it in the water. Glad I was outside to see it. On to Adelaide.
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