Last day in Melbourne

May 23

Our last day in Melbourne was sunny, cool and lovely. We finally road the City Circle Tram, a free tram with a route around the city center every 15 minutes. Great way to get around and a recorded voice tells you about sights, shops and things to do around each stop.
We rode it to the Fitzroy Gardens for a look at Captain Cook's cottage, brought over to Melbourne in pieces and reconstructed.

This park is over 150 years old and the huge lanes of trees make that evident. The small conservatory was delightful with hanging plants and lush bromeliads, impatiens and begonias.

We were intrigued by the signpost  directing us to the "Fairy Tree and Model Tudor Village". Once we found them, we were not so impressed.

We did enjoy tea time at the garden cafe before getting back on the tram to the Docklands in search of the Polly Woodside.  Polly was a coal hauling tall ship built in 1885, we decided not to go aboard. Instead we enjoyed our picnic lunch on the steps of the Melbourne Convention Center there by the docks.

The Melbourne Convention Center is the building to the right.

Back on the tram for the ride back to the hotel. Bob went upstairs to rest while I finished my souvenir shopping.

We wanted a new dining experience and were lead to Hardware Lane, a small cobblestone lane not far from our hotel.

This lane had no cars, outdoor dinning and hawkers trying to lure you into their restaurants. We chose one, and with some disappointment on the part of our waiter ordered the kangaroo. Luckily we started with a Moroccan beef salad that was excellent; baby salad greens dressed lightly with cucumbers, tomatoes, roasted red peppers , slivered red onions and thin slices of savory beef.  The whole main course was less than satisfactory, the roo meat was undercooked, the vegetables and mashed sweet potatoes not hot enough, oh well. We did end the meal with a delightful "hot chocolate pudding with ice cream" what we know as a molten lava cake. I plan to experiment with this dessert soon :-)

Melbourne Bird List
Pacific Black Duck
Pied Cormorant
Australian Wood Duck
Scaly Breasted Lorikeet
Spotted Turtle-Dove
Willy Wagtail
Crescent Honeyeater
Eastern Spinebill
Magpie Lark
Grey Butcherbird

May 24
Our wake-up call came at 5 AM, we dressed and headed to the Queen Victoria Market to get sandwiches for the long trip home. Our shuttle arrived early and we were waiting for our plane with two hours to spare. I was once again amazed that a large airport like Melbourne did not have free wifi, in fact it was the most expensive I had seen at $4.00 for 10 minutes. The time went by quickly though and soon we were boarding our two story "airbus", more like a cruise ship, HUGE !!  We spent our 13 plus hours watching countless movies and TV and listening to the jovial Aussies behind us get louder the more they drank. The Qantas staff kept us fed and hydrated.
Getting all the way home involved LAX,  a bus ride over highway 17 and two taxis.
Our yard had burgeoned forth while we were gone, I picked a handful of blueberries and raspberries !! Max and Maggie were very glad to see us. Home sweet home !!