Diary for Adventures down under


Melbourne

2017-03-16

Well, it wasn't a rainy day after all. There was rain in the early morning, but it had stopped when we went out, leaving a cloudy day. The city transport system has a number of trams and rides in the central city area are free. We took one of these to the Victoria Market and had a good look around. It seems you can buy most things here and vendors of similar products are grouped together.  There is an area for fruit and veg, with a separate bit for organic produce. Meat and fish are in their own hall, and deli, bakers, take away, etc. are in another. All the produce looks really good and fresh. You could spit all day looking round the market, it's so big. Took the tram back to Federation Square for a look around. There is an Atrium which was set up for a beer tasting; it was just trade only but would be open for the public later (at great expense!). There is a city circle tram (free) that tours the perimeter of the city with a commentary on the sights; we took this but Judi fell asleep for almost the whole journey!  The skies had cleared and the sun was out. We walked through the city to do a spot of shopping, walked through the Chinese quarter, saw some street art (which was not a patch on Christchurch, looking more like graffiti).  We finished with a visit to the Skydeck on the 88th floor of the Eureka building (thanks for the tip Pat!), and watched the sun go down. The view is terrific and although we could see for miles, some haziness prevented a long distance view. The Skydeck has as an optional extra, "the edge", which is a glass cube that slides out from the side of the building - not good for those afraid of heights!  We walked along the Southbank, both before and after dinner, seeing the gas brigades close up this time. The F1 circus is ramping up, tonight we saw the merchandising tents being put up on the promenade; there is even a Michael Schumacher branded products tent. We have decided that we like Melbourne!