20. – Melbourne

We were fed up of the constant rain, so we flew south to Melbourne.  We did wander if we’d done the right thing because it was quite cool, windy and cloudy when we arrived. The transfer from the airport to our hotel was really easy.  We caught the Skybus outside the terminal.  The bus took us directly to their bus station in Melbourne then their minibus took us to our hotel. 

We had chosen the Travelodge Southbank which is just at the edge of the city centre. We couldn’t have picked a better location. It was really easy to spot the hotel,

 just lookout for the gold bees next door.

From the hotel we were within walking distance of most of the museums, galleries and other attractions.  We viewed quite a few of them while we were there.  The central hub in Melbourne is Federation Square. 

 It is a large pedestrianized area surrounded by modern museums and street cafes and restaurants.  Many open air events take place in the square.  While we were there they had a Turkish cultural event, a wine tasting evening and the University of Victoria had some hands on events. 

In the square they have deck chairs and cushions for the steps where you can sit and soak up the sun or watch the big screen which shows some of the events which have taken place there and adverts for future events.

There are many pedestrian and cycle only paths throughout the waterfront area. 

We hired a couple of bikes and took off along the paths.  We headed out to the Melbourne cricket ground then across to the Rod Laver Arena where the Australian Open Tennis championship had taken place the week before.

We then passed the Olympic village before heading out along the riverbank.  We cycled under the motorway where someone had erected climbing walls. 

We stopped and watched for a while before continuing along the river.  We eventually crossed the river and made our way back towards the town centre. 

Several boat clubs have boat houses near the centre. 

We watched some rowers practising before we dropped the bikes off at the cycle station.

St Kilda is a beach suburb.  We took the tram there a couple of times.

It is like a small town stuck in the 60’s or 70’s.  Lots of individual shops selling all sorts of clothing, jewellery and gifts. 

Practically every second shop in the main street is a cake shop.  They all have tables and chairs outside where you can sit with your cake and coffee and watch the world go by.  There is an old fashioned type of funfair called Luna Park. 

 The majority of the rides and side stalls are one’s we would have seen a few decades ago. They had a wooden rollercoaster where the brakeman stands in the middle between the two cars and pulls the brake to slow the car at the necessary points.  It was quite nostalgic. The beach at St Kilda is not very deep, but they make good use of what they have.  There was a national Beach Volleyball event on while we were there.

We sat on beanbags on the beach for ages watching the games.

Well I was watching the game. Syd might have been watching the girls in their miniscule bikini’s.

Melbourne is a beautiful city. Their war memorial building is a work of art. 

It is shaped a bit like a pyramid. 

The roof inside the monument follows the pyramid theme with a glass window at the top. In the middle of the floor of the main room there is a stone which represents the graves of all the soldiers who perished in the first world war. There is a hole in the building which lets a beam of sun light into the room. On the eleventh of November the sun is in a position where the light comes through the building at 11am and the beam hits the corner of the stone.  The light then takes 11 minutes to cross the whole length of the stone. Quite an achievement. The crypt in the building houses a visitors centre telling stories of some of the soldiers who didn’t come home and showing the medals earned by some of the men.  The outside of the memorial is just as impressive. 

The gardens are beautiful.  Various monuments have been erected to commemorate the soldiers lost in wars that have taken place since 1918.

There is a tall skyscraper called the Eureka Tower which has a viewing floor 88 stories up. 

It takes 38 seconds to get to the 88^th floor.  On exiting the lift you can see all over Melbourne and the surrounding area. 

The walls throughout the floor are glass, so you get a 360 degree view.  They have an added extra. A glass cube which protrudes out of the side of the building. The floor is glass but is opaque when you enter.  They then press a button and the floor clears leaving you with a view directly to the street beneath you.  In typical Australian humour they then play the sound of glass cracking. I’m afraid to say I didn’t witness it in person.

The city has something for everyone. 

Lots of beautiful buildings both old and new.

The city has lots of small lanes which date back to when the city was first built. 

Many of the lanes have been turned into arcades where you find lots of street cafes,

You sure you haven't been to Melbourne Chris??

some others have been turned into canvases for street art. There are many green areas throughout the city where you can wander through the gardens or sit and watch the world go by.

  The docklands area is undergoing renovations but they have a lovely marina. There was a boat show taking place while we were there.

No we didn’t buy one, not even a small one.

Melbourne was a city we didn’t really think we’d have time to see, but due to the floods in Queensland we took the opportunity to fly south and we’re both glad we did.

Even if we did walk our legs off!

19 – Sunshine Coast & Brisbane

And it poured and it poured.  So much for the Sunshine Coast!

Our apartment in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast was on a street not too far from the beach. 

We had a sea view or would have if the low clouds and rain would disappear. 

We had booked the apartment for five days hoping to spend some time on the beach watching the surfers but it wasn’t to be.  The rain was constant and the forecast was for more to come.  They predicted monsoon rain which would lead to flooding.  They weren’t wrong.  We were stuck.  The roads throughout the Sunshine Coast were not advisable and the roads in the Gold Coast were flooded and impassable.

We went out for groceries and ended up soaked.  The supermarket car park was ankle deep in water and with the cars going through we got thoroughly drenched. 

One morning the rain reduced to a shower, so we decided to go to the Queensland Aviation Museum which was not far away. 

Most of it was undercover so at least we wouldn’t get too wet.  The museum was quite interesting.

Got our flights out of the flood zone sorted Sandy!

They have lots of different types of planes and other types of air craft.

There were so many planes in the hangers that it was difficult to see the details of each one, but it passed some time in an otherwise boring few days.

Thursday 26^th was Australia Day.  It was actually clear and bright when we got up. 

Crikey he ain't got any kegs on!

We decided to go to Australia Zoo.  The zoo was quite busy.  It is home to mainly Australian animals

 but it is gradually adding a new part which houses Asian and African animals. 

We saw some animals that we’d never seen in the flesh before, Tasmanian Devils, Echidna and some other Australian natives. 

They had a show in the Crocoseum.

The late Steve Irwin’s wife Terri, daughter Bindi and son Robert took part in the show because it was "Australia Day"  a special day. 

They explained about the crocodile and how it attacks. There was also a display from some of the native birds.

The zoo is very well laid out with plenty of space in the animal enclosures.

Yuck this Scot's meat's a bit chewy!

The dry weather didn’t last.  We decided that we would move on to Brisbane instead of the Gold Coast once our time at the apartment in Caloundra was up. 

We booked a motel just on the edge of the city centre in Brisbane. 

The journey there was okay, but we could see from the amount of water sitting at the sides of the road that it wouldn’t take much more rain for the road to be submerged.

Our motel was situated near to the museum and art galleries. 

On our first night we decided to drive to the water front and see what it had to offer.  We parked the car and had a walk about.  The rain came on again and we got drenched.  Then we had a shock when we went back to the car park.  The minimum charge for parking is $15 for up to three hours.  This increases to $35 for four – seven hours then $109 for up to twelve hours.  Needless to say that was the last time we took the car out in Brisbane.

We borrowed an umbrella from the motel and walked to the museums and galleries.  They were all located next to each other which meant we didn’t have to get too wet. 

The museum houses all types of artifacts from the age of the dinosaurs to last year’s floods in Queensland.  There was a lot to see. 

The Queensland Art Gallery is quite large with a wide variety of Art.  Something for everyone’s taste.

We then went to the Gallery of Modern Art.

  They have a section which is interactive.  There is a room which was painted white and furnished with white furnishings.  When you go in you are given a sheet of brightly coloured dot stickers.  The idea is to cover the room in the bright stickers to get rid of all the white.  It was good fun.  All the kids were having a great time. Emily and Douglas would have loved it. 

They also have an area where they have created fairytale lands. They are very brightly coloured and made out of sand and sugar. The children were enthralled.

It had stopped raining by the time we’d finished so we went for a walk along the waterfront where they have some street cafes, a lagoon for swimming and a parkland area. 

 There was a Sunday Market while we were there and open air pubs with live music.  We sat and had a beer and soaked up the atmosphere.

The city centre was just across the river from our motel.  We walked across to the shopping area.

 There is a mixture of old and new buildings.  Some of the streets are pedestrianized with street cafes where you can stop for a coffee and people watch.

We had intended to travel south to Sydney by car, but the roads are still unadvisable and more rain is forecast. News bulletins are full of film of the floods.  We have had to change our plans.  We’re returning the car and flying south.