We flew in from Sydney airport and went to our luxury hotels melbourne straight away, because I was anxious to “meet” the city. From the air, you can see it doesn’t have any skyscrapers, but row upon row of little Victorian houses, enough I imagine to hold the 3.5 million population. You can see the Yarra River, too, among all the gardens and parks. Melbourne is certainly a very different place than Sydney.
There are absolutely places I loved here: Brunswick Street for its shops and cafes; the Royal Botanical Gardens, just as a place to enjoy the day.
I loved walking beside the Yarra river, just walking down the city streets to take in this environment was fun. Other places… The Great Ocean Road, The Phillip Island, The Twelve Apostles, this stack of rocks seventy meters tall. Our guide showed us a great way to make billy tea, and then introduced us to another Australian favorite — some spread called vegemite. I can’t say I liked it. I had an Australian friend tell me that he didn’t know any Americans who liked the flavor. I guess it’s an acquired taste!
It was extremely windy the day I went out to the Great Ocean Road and that actually made it hard to stand, but I managed to snap a picture of the Twelve Apostles, and on Phillip Island, I had a chance to see penguins returning. They were really funny. The next time I go to the island, I’ll have to check out the Koala Conservation Centre.
All in all, I really liked my time in Melbourne, which was only a few days. Just enough to get in some of the major sights, like St. Patrick and St. Paul’s Cathedrals and Queen Victoria’s Garden.
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