February 3 - Land Ho! Australia, here I come!

This morning the seas had calmed, the sun was shining, and Australia was in sight.  Because of the rough seas we arrived about 4 hours later than originally scheduled.  By the time the ship was cleared and everyone onboard had a face-to-face meeting with Australian customs it was close to 12:30 PM.  Today I was booked on a private tour arranged by two of my shipmates,  Ilise and David, with Tours By Locals.  The original plan was to go  on a scenic coast road to a place called the Twelve Apostles, some spectacular rock formations, but because of our late arrival our guide/driver Cameron had to come up with plan B.

We’re docked right in downtown Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria.  It’s about the same size in population as Sydney, 5 million, and a very vibrant city with a very modern downtown with cranes in evidence everywhere you look. New high-rises, which are mainly apartments, are under construction everywhere because there’s an acute housing shortage.

Melbourne as we sailed in

The area of Melbourne was inhabited by aboriginal people for at least 40,000 years.  In the early 19th century a short-lived penal colony was established nearby, but it wasn’t until 1835 with the arrival of some free settlers from Tasmania that Melbourne was founded. In 1851 it became the capital of the new colony of Victoria. In the 1850’s gold was discovered and the Victoria Gold Rush began.  The city experienced a boom for the next 30 years and by the late 1880’s, Melbourne had become one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world.  Today it’s a leading financial center in the Asia Pacific region.  It was also the site of the 1956 Olympics.  On our way out of the city we passed through the Olympic Park. By just one week we missed the Australian Open Tennis tournament and in a few weeks there is going to be a Formula One race.  There’s a lot happening here.

After Cameron picked us up we headed through the city on our way to the Yarra River valley, a beautiful part of Victoria which because of the climate grows great pinot noir grapes.  The landscape was dotted with vineyards and we eventually went to one, but first we had an exciting stop to try to see kangaroos in the wild.  We drove through a golf club to the edge of some woods where we parked and took a short walk to the tree line and there they were!  A mob (that’s what a bunch are called) of kangaroos sitting in the shade, watching us closely as we approached.  There was mama with a little joey and nearby a couple of what looked to be adolescents.  They are so neat to see in the wild, not in a zoo enclosure.  We had to be careful where we walked because there was ‘roo poop everywhere. 

After watching them for a little while we headed onward to the Soumah Vineyard, a lovely place in sight of the southern end of the Great Dividing Range, a chain of mountains which roughly parallel the east coast of Australia from the Tasman Sea all the way up to the Great Barrier Reef.  I forgot to mention that the name “Yarra” means misty in the aborigine language so the Yarra River is the “misty river.”  The climate in this part of Australia ranges from hot (today it was 88° F) in the summer to not usually lower than 32° F in the winter.  Even in summer in the Yarra the evenings can be cool(er), which allows for great climate to grow pinot noir grapes.  In the winery I had the opportunity to try several wines and I enjoyed them all, especially a very nice dry rosé and the pinot.

The really nice rose I tasted (and bought a bottle; there's not enough liquor on the ship 😀

The view from the Soumah restaurant and tasting room

The views across the valley were beautiful with vineyards and apple orchards everywhere we looked.  Our next stop was Mount Dandenong, a 2000 foot mountain which is part of the Great Dividing Range.  It lies a little less than 30 miles east of Melbourne and on the mountain are houses forming a village which is a suburb of the city.  To get to the top of the mountain we drove on a winding road through a forest of mainly eucalyptus trees. At the top there is a restaurant and café and a terrace from which we had a marvelous view looking toward Melbourne which was just barely visible in the distance. Between Dandenong and the sea there was almost continuous suburban sprawl.

That's Melbourne way off in the distance

After having a good look and taking a bunch of photos we headed down the mountain on a different road that took us through some kind of national park which is a bird sanctuary.  Cameron pulled into a parking area with picnic tables and grills available for anyone’s use.  There was a little boy with his mother who had a bag of doritos.  He was trying to lure cockatoos which we could see all around us in the trees.  He gave us each a Dorito and showed us what we needed to do to entice the birds to come down to us.  As you can see, once one flew down the whole group came and would sit on our arms and even one’s head.  I can attest to the fact that they have sharp talons because despite my long sleeve shirt I have the scratches to prove it.

This is a rosella, an Australian parrot with a brilliant res chest

A cockatoo waiting for some treats

After enjoying their antics we continued down to Melbourne to a suburb called Brighton Beach, right on the bay.  If Cameron is to be believed, this is about the most expensive neighborhood in the area.  Some of the homes sell for upwards of $35 million AUD.  On the beach itself there are a line of little shacks which are called "Beach Boxes."  People buy them and can paint them any color they like, but they are not permitted to have electricity. Nor can they be slept in overnight or used for commercial purposes.  My photo below isn't very good because I didn't zoom in a lot, but believe me when I say that they are tiny.  Despite that when people sell them they can get AUD$500,000 for them! The beach looked beautiful and my fellow travelers took a little walk along it.  I had enough walking on the beach last week in Nelson so I stayed with Cameron and had an interesting conversation with him.  He's married to a woman of Thai descent and has a two-year-old little boy and a ten-month-old daughter.  His wife’s family owns what he told me is the best Thai restaurant in Adelaide.  We’re going there in a few days so I may have to try to find it.

Squint and beyond the spit of land you might be able to see the Beach Boxes

After having a good look at the beach we headed back to the ship.  It was a long day and I was pooped.  It was about 8:30 so I didn’t even change and went straight to dinner in the Colonnade with my vanmates.  And then I did something I rarely do – I went to bed. No show, no dancing!

Melbourne at night taken with my iPhone from the Colonnade restaurant.  I'm no photographer but Apple sure made a great camera in my opinion. 

So that was my lovely day in Melbourne.  Tomorrow is a sea day.  Hooray! I need to rest. Oh, BTW I’m going to be back in Melbourne in about a week, so I’ll get a second bite at the apple