8^th November …….Melbourne

 

I awoke around 3am to realise the movement of the ship had changed. During the night we experienced a few gentle rolls, however once the ship sailed into Port Phillip Bay the ship appeared to be almost motionless, which of course wasn't the case, it was virtually 'gliding' across the bay into Melbourne's wharf. I rose about 6.45am to go up to deck 15 to catch the ship's arrival. The wind on deck was 'fresh' but the day's weather looked promising, low 20's with very little breeze. My cousins informed us the city had cleared after thunder storms during the night.

Our day in Melbourne consisted of a get together with my 2 cousins and their partners who live in Melbourne. We decided to catch the tram into the city from Beacon Hill tram stop, just 10 minutes walking distance from the ship. The stop is actually on the other side of the road which leads onto the wharf. When we walked through the terminal, there were quite a few souvenir stalls, a tourist information desk and a counter which sold 'Miki' transport tickets. We approached the counter to purchase a couple of tickets only to be told they had run out of concession tickets and the convenience store at the end of the wharf, just alongside the tram stop, would be able to sell us the tickets we needed. So off we walked to the store where we bought our tickets at a cheaper price than what the terminal counter sold their tickets. We bought our tickets at $6.30 concession and $12.60 for normal compared to $7.00 concession and $14.00! Just shows how tourists are ripped off......even in Australia!

Today is Oaks Day for the Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne, where the ladies who go to the races or luncheons, dress up in their finery. On our tram trip into the city, we saw quite a few ladies were wearing short dresses and fascinators or hats and their partners in the suits with roses in their lapels.

The plan was to meet our at the RACV Club for lunch, firstly my older cousin and her husband  showed us around the attractions members enjoy, then we were taken to Bank Place to see the Mitre, the oldest hotel in Melbourne which also happens to be the oldest building in Victoria as well.  It has a resident ghost called Connie who, as the story goes, hung herself on the upstairs balcony, in the 1800's.  

 

We enjoyed a lively lunch, catching up with my cousins, one whom I hadn't seen for around 50 years! After lunch we were then driven to the Victorian Parliament House for a walk around the gardens before 'High Tea'….not that we needed any more food! Once again we had a lovely experience of sitting in the old historic building surrounded by the antique furnishings. Before we left the building we had a quick look around a few of the rooms which had been kept in their original condition. The library in particular has been beautifully kept. Thank you to both my cousins for making effort to catch up with us, and particular Joy and her husband Ian, for showing us areas of Melbourne we have never seen or experienced.

When we arrived back to the ship, we decided to forego our 5.30pm dinner sitting for a sail away on deck 11. Again a special occasion to see Melbourne's sky line fade as the ship sailed through Port Phillip Bay. I tried to photograph the 'Heads' as we sailed through but the sun had set about an hour before. I did manage a photo from the ship of Nepean National Reserve with the setting sun in the background. 

The seas again have been reasonably calm as we sailed across Bass Straight and into Tasman Sea. Even this morning (which is Saturday 10^th November), we are well and truly half way across the Tasman and the seas are still slight.