Australia 2011

Bakerlite.co.uk

We all know that Australia is almost as far as one can go on this planet of ours, and I have to say that Jean and I were not relishing the journey. As it was our first trip we decided to break our journey in Singapore for three nights on the way out and Hong Kong on the way back.

Qantas was the only carrier that cover both destinations as well as our final one of Melbourne. We had the pleasure of flying from Heathrow to Singapore on the new A380 Airbus which was just as good as it gets. A super, spacious, quiet and comfortable plane. I couldn't say the same for the 747-400 that took us on to Melbourne and eventually back home.

We arrived in Melbourne after a seven hour flight from the warmth of Singapore on a wet, grey day which made us wonder where all the sunshine was that we were expecting. However, it was day one of almost 40 so we bit our proverbial British lip and hoped it would get better. It did, the following day we were enjoying a barbecue with our extended family.

We had a couple of hours sleep before venturing into Melbourne city on the train with our hosts: Caroline and Drew.

	This is Melbourne's iconic railway station: Flinders. This 19th century edifice is 'old' in Australia's language. Old that is, unless you add in the thousands of years that the indigenous inhabitants lived and died here.		Just across the road is another 19th century building, St Pauls. First impressions are subsequently validated; there is a lot here for tourist and locals alike.
We take a look at the Tourist Information office across the road and return with lots of helpful info. Let exploration begin!		There are various outdoor art exhibitions in place around the city. Very interesting... A giant baby with a tail. We take the first walking tour around the inner city.
	The arcades are numerous and well decorated; reminds me of the Cardiff arcades here in Wales. That's Gog and Magog either side of the clock. Rings a bell somewhere...		And that's the bell I guess.
It wasn't the best day for seeing a new city, the clouds were coming in thick and fast from the Southern Ocean. Then the rain started, and didn't stop.
	We took ourselves into the warm and dry and had a nice Bistro type lunch.		Another day, another season, check out that blue, blue sky. Melbourne was showing what it can be like in late Spring.
Almost a touch of Manhattan in the skyline.		We decided to take a walk in the Botanical Gardens (free) with a personal guide (free also!)
	I found the trees quite spectacular: and that was the case throughout our entire stay in Australia.


		On the left, the paper bark tree. On the right, a Possum seen in an out building. Now a protected animal.