(I know I said that I was going to write this before the Ballarat blog, but we visited Melbourne more after returning from Ballarat than before. So here it is now.)
Melbourne is laid out in a grid pattern with the blocks a
longer distance east to west than north to south. We stayed in a Rydges Hotel
which they advertised as a bed-and-breakfast even though we had a room on the
19th floor. The buffet breakfast was delicious, though: eggs, Aussie
bacon, fresh baked bread and muffins, smoked turkey slices, and fresh fruit and
of course, coffee. The central business district holds a wide variety of
businesses, from local coffee shops (Australia has more of these than any other
place I’ve ever seen.) clothing outlets, shoe stores, book shops, and 7-11
stores, to giant skyscrapers like the ANZ bank building. (ANZ = Australia New Zealand)
Arriving after dark on Wednesday evening made it difficult
for us to locate the tram service that ran closest to our hotel and paying with
one dollar coins (at $4.00 per ticket) on the vehicle was more stressful than
it would have been during the day. Unfortunately, the information booth didn’t
guide us to the free tram service which circles the central district in both
directions. It stopped as close to our hotel as the regular tram. We left the following morning for Ballarat so the remainder of this blog took place three days later.)
The Melbourne Museum is located at the northeast corner of the central
business district (CBD everywhere in Australia) and houses a virtual herd of
dinosaur skeletons in the middle section of the ground floor. T-Rex,
Apatasaurous, raptors, duck bill dinosaurs and others from eggs to juvenile to
adults were assembled here. We also viewed exhibits containing insects, a
living forest environment, the largest stuffed animal exhibit, with specimens
from all over the world, I’ve ever seen, an exhibit about the human mind and
one about the history of the Melbourne area.
We were on our way from the museum to visit a model Tudor
village when the wind began gusting cold drafts and it started raining, so we
caught the tram to get out of the weather. I don’t know if the village was life
size or one created on a tabletop for display and now, we may never find out. (We actually met a woman on our trip to Lady Elliot Island (four days later) from Melbourne who told us it was a tabletop model and we made the right choice to get out of the rain.)
We rode the tram around to the other side of the CBD before
we got off and spent a few minutes shopping at the Queen Victoria Marked on, of
all places, Queen Street! It was rather like an enormous flea market all under
one roof where we found all kinds of bargains on souvenirs to take back to the
states. We finished our shopping back in the Southern Cross Train Station mall
with a supper of pizza. We caught the evening XPT Train to Sydney and spent a nearly sleepless night, arriving in Sydney about 8:00 the next morning. (Our train to Bundaberg, Queensland didn't leave until 4:30 PM)
Next: From Sydney to Bundaberg.
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27
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