Melbourne, Australia

Today is Friday, February 9th.  Yesterday we spent the day in the very appealing city of Melbourne, Australia.  We arrived very early in the morning, and when I pushed back the curtains in our room we had these views of downtown from our port position.  As you can see, it looked like nighttime, but in fact it was first light with the scene illuminated by the lights of the city.  (Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

Here's a more panoramic view.

Then when the sun rose above the horizon, the sky was suddenly ablaze.

I looked down from our deck and saw this lone kayaker enjoying an early morning paddle.

 And then, almost out of nowhere, there appeared this tanker, apparently to refuel our ship.

Melbourne is the capital of the Australian state of Victoria and is the country's second largest city with a population of about 4.5M.  It owes its beginnings and early growth to the discovery of gold.  In 1880 it was the world's wealthiest city.  People who live here exhibit an immense pride in this place, and one senses an intense rivalry with Sydney in all kinds of things, especially sports.  A lecturer aboard ship who we heard at the end of our day in Melbourne stated that Melbourne was Australia's acknowledged leader in fashion and the arts.  I wonder what we'll hear about that once we get to Sydney tomorrow.  (We are at sea today.)

We started our day with a bus excursion into and around the city.  Here are some photos that depict (in random order) different neighborhoods (ending with the beach area just adjacent to the port), people on their way to work and stopping on the way for Melbourne's famous coffee, the city center square called Federation Square which is just across the street from the railroad station, some interesting buildings and Melbourne's skyline.

One of the most appreciated stops on the tour was the city's Fitzroy Gardens, a 64-acre spread that includes beautiful grassy areas, designed topiary and blooms, a lovely conservatory and Captain Cook's original cottage that some benefactor purchased years ago and donated to the city for placement in the Gardens.

Another stop we made was at the Shrine of Remembrance, the state of Victoria's WWI memorial.

  

When the organized excursion ended, Janis and I opted to return to Federation Square to have lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon following a map of arcades, lanes, alleyways and little streets that wind through the major streets of appealing downtown.  We were not disappointed.  What a beautiful and vibrant city full of elegant and fascinating stops and shops.  Again, here are randomly arranged  photos illustrating the point.   (Remember, to view a larger version of any photo, just click on the photo.)  In a few shots you'll see the back of someone wearing khaki capri pants, a pale green shirt and a back pack.  Recognie her?  

   

Janis writing:  David decided to go back to the ship after our walk and I, instead, went to the National Gallery of Victoria, known as the NGV.  It is in a part of the building in a photo above of a facade of seemingly random geometric shapes.  I enjoyed the art, much of it colonial, and some contemporary.  I like to visit art museums in the places we visit for a perspective on the life and culture of the particular place.  Here are a few photos I took in the museum.

          

Back to David: 

I have one more photo to include in this post.  It's of a portion of a grafitti wall in downtown Melbourne.  Look at it carefully.  What a time we're living in.

Tomorrow we enter the harbor in Sydney at the crack of dawn.  My plan is to set the alarm so that I'm sure to be up to photograph whatever is to be seen from our room as we float in, hopefully including the Sydney Opera House.  We are spending two packed-full days in Sydney, so we may not have a chance to blog about our time there until sometime later.