Feb 29. Around Melbourne

The day started cool so we dug out the jackets and long pants and after breakfast at the hotel, took off exploring. Over the course of the day it warmed up but not to the 30+ degree temps we enjoyed in Sydney!

Saturday morning in the central business district gave us a better look at Melbourne. We walked through Chinatown, up and down side streets and discovered lots going on. 

After an interesting and informative visit to an art gallery that specializes in modern Aboriginal art (really beautiful), we walked toward the Ian Potter Art Center. There was lots of street art to see
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The gallery itself is an interesting building filled with modern and historic art.. and free admission on this day at least. 

After looking at many interesting items we walked back up into Chinatown for lunch at a Pho place we had passed. Excellent. There was a lot of choice of course so it was hard to pick one.

On the walk further back toward another muse me we happened on a major Greek street festival. We were told Melbourne has the largest Greek population out side of Greece and they were all there. Rides, music, food, and shopping. It was several blocks long.

We passed a theatre with a familiar play. Apparently it's been very popular. Felt like home.

The last stop of the day was the Melbourne Museum in Carlton Gardens. It's one of two museums in this beautiful park. One was closed for a commencement function. We also passed a couple of weddings so the place is well used.

We really liked the huge mineral collection at the science museum as well as the nature trails that pointed out some of the trees, plants and animals of Australia.

We walked back to the hotel for a brief rest, then it was drinks with Tom and Shirley and a return visit to the Royal Standard Hotel for pizza and beer.

It's a busy place on this Saturday evening.

Our new friend, the owner, was happy to see us again and found us space to sit. We stayed until things pretty much cleared out and the owner came by and comped us a round of limoncello. 

It was a good day.

Feb 28. Melbourne

It's was an early start to the day with a trip to the airport by cab and then a Virgin Australia flight to Melbourne. This is a local flight and was full of football fans heading into town for a big game.

It was about an hour in the air and we flew over coast line and some of the country we would see on the way back. From the air it was hard to see any evidence of the fires that had raged in the previous months.

We got into the airport just before noon, picked up our bags and took a cab nto the Radisson Hotel. The front desk staff suggested we walk up to the Queen Victoria Market as there were lots of good food opportunities there. Great idea. It's less than a 3 minute walk and well worth a visit.

There are several acres of covered vendors with all sorts of items for sale from great looking fruit and veg to prepared meats, clothing, jewellery trinkets etc. But we came for food. 

We followed a big group of school kids past a lot of vendors down to the back of the facility and came across a few food gems in an alley. 

This was a wonderful curry lunch we both enjoyed. 

We set off to explore Melbourne a bit. It certainty looks to be growing rapidly judging by the new high rise buildings going up. Very interesting mix of the old and the new however the city feels "grittier" than Sydney.

A lot more graffiti and buildings needing repair. Certainly more cameras and police presence than we had seen. It may be a reflection of the area we were in but we'll see when we travel further.

The city has a wonderful bike lane system with lots of bikes (and ebikes) around. You have to watch carefully when crossing the street.

We met up with Tom and Shirley for a beer at Little Billy's pub to trade travel stories. After wandering around a bit more, we went back to the hotel and decided to stay in for supper and watch a movie on TV. 

Using Google maps we located a bottle shop about two minutes away (got two bottles of wine) and then ordered a pizza from the Royal Standard Hotel which was about a 5 minute walk away. Jim went to pick it up and chatted with one of the owners. It turns out to be a busy little place with the pub doing a booming dine in and take away business. Excellent pizza at a great price.

The owner observed that I was not local and when she found out I was from Canada she gave me a thumbs up and said "we're the same" meaning Aussies and Canadians. They appreciated our coming to visit. 

Feb 27. On the Water

The day started out a bit gray but it was still warm and calm so we headed out for a day on the water.

Sydney has a wonderful ferry system that is integrated with the buses and trains so it was relatively easy to navigate. A shot walk took us to the ferry terminal and onto the next ferry to the famous Manly Beach.

It's a 30 minute ride across the harbour. Bonus - you get a great view of the city and various sights along the way. 

Manly Beach is of course a place that is built around its wonderful beach. While not as wide as Bondi it's a bit longer and the surf (at least when we were there) appears stronger. There were lots of groups surfing and learning to surf. There was also a lot of beach volleyball and just walking on the beach. There are hotels, restaurants and shopping to be found as you wander around.

Shopping mall on the way to the beach.

Surfing lessons.

There are lots of points and bays along the way.

An older style racing yacht passed by on our way out of the harbour

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The newer America's cup style yacht flew by us. There were a number of them involved in a race. The speed! 

We took a second ferry back into the inner Darling Harbour. It goes under the harbour bridge and stops at several points on the trip around the city. Lots to see.

Parking for your boat. 

The casino under construction.

This little boat (called VIP tours) had three - 350 hp motors. 

We took the new tram back to the ferry terminal, had a beer at a sidewalk pub and then went back to the hotel to get ready for supper. We met Alison and Cam at the Chef's Gallery restaurant for a final supper in Sydney. 

Feb 26. In and around the City

After a long first day and a couple of good night's sleep we were ready for our third day in Sydney. The Four Seasons Hotel is very quiet. We are on the 25th floor and hear very little. The binds are super tight and the room dark so it was late in the morning before we were ready to go.

With lots of options, we decided to spend the day poking around downtown. First on the list was the Queen Victoria Building. It's a 19th century shopping mall with wonderful architecture, lots of stained glass, wood and tile. There are also wonderful stores and places to eat. Lots of stores we don't see, some with very narrow range of goods. One store seemed only to have what we would call rubber boots and rain ware! We enjoyed it all.

Great architecture preserved. 

Great places to eat. 

More stained glass than you see in many churches

Several floors to explore

Wonderful clock

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We wandered around, checking out restaurants as potential eating places, and window shopping. Google maps came in handy but it's still easy to get turned around. I've found you have to have some basic idea of the direction of things you are looking at on the map or you can easily head off in the wrong direction.

After lunch at a small street-side cafe be went up the Sydney Tower Eye observation deck. While not as tall as the CN tower it did offer some great views of the city. Some showers moved in so the sky was not as blue as it had been earlier.

We finished off with a stroll through Hyde Park. It is a beautiful spot with wide paths and big trees. There was a chess game going on that we stopped to watch. They were some pretty serious contenders.

The Australian War memorial was at the end of the park. It's a moving tribute to the the role Australia has played in global conflicts.  In many ways the stories are very similar to a those you see in Canada.

After a visit to the Woolworths grocery story (an interesting comparison experience), a beer on a plaza, dodging the rain on the way to the Long Chim Thai restaurant for supper, it was back to the hotel for a rest. After almost 16000 steps and 8 hours on our feet, we deserved it.