Magnificent Melbourne

Hosier Lane street art

Despite a shaky start - in the form of a strained back - Melbourne has impressed us. Maybe it's the clear blue skies, plethora of dining choices or the similarity to our old home, but we like it here.

Sunrise hot air balloons over the city

Portrait Building - (William Barak)

Closer up. You don't notice it until
you've got some distance.

We haven't come across a meal that we didn't love, wine that didn't sit well on the palate or any surly locals wondering why we were wasting their time.

Sashimi!

And a little Maki

Duck soup

Steamed bun with duck and greens

Duck thigh in soy broth

The city seems to have a reliable transit system, they worship at the alter of good food and have a passion for the outdoors that rivals Vancouver. In a nutshell, we feel at home. That's not to say that there aren't issues. Melbourne is expensive. My lunch yesterday was $20 just for the chicken burger. Sure it had beetroot compote on it, but let's be honest...that's a wee bit pricey. We made up for it by ordering $10.80 worth of sushi for dinner, but we'd likely impoverish ourselves eating out here.

Sights along the South Bank

Web Bridge

Tallest building in Melbourne The Eureka Tower
A whopping 91 floors and almost 300 metres (1000 feet) high

The city is filled with green space,  over the top architecture and people. It's a busy young city with waves of pedestrians, cyclists, skate boarders and drivers. The flow of people is truly amazing, even coming from Vancouver. We don't know what they're all doing, where they're going or why they've conglomerated downtown, but there's no doubt that the city is full.

Wild Cockatoo

Weeping Pines

I have no idea who this is

Pond at the Botanic Gardens

Fall flowers

Egret, Ibis, White Crane???

The style here is casual chic, or chic casual. You'll see men in suits, but with runners on or women in jeans and a tee, but sporting heels. There's a noted lack of neck ties and an abundance of baggy shorts, flip flops and floppy "tourist" hats. There is not shortage of brilliantly coloured hair, either. Short of running up to people and snapping their photo, I'm lacking the evidence, but it seems that blue, purple, bright red, yellow, orange or green hair (or a combination thereof) is perfectly acceptable here. 

Fitzroy Garden district

St. Patrick's Catherdral

More iron work

Penguins at St. Kilda

They hide amongst the rocks

Melbourne skyline from St. Kilda

Luna Park

 It's hard to believe that our sojourn here is over and that we're heading off to the wilds of Tasmania next. Until next time, enjoy a selection of photos from Victoria Market.
 

I miss three for a dollar!

But you can't knock the cheese selection!

 

Unexpected Auckland

We all know that traveling is, well...full of surprises. Generally, the fun surprises are what makes traveling worth while, but the not-so-fun surprises test our commitment to the sport. 
 

Teddy, chillaxin' with a porter.

(Yes...traveling is a sport...I bet you didn't know that, but think about it. You need training and endurance, not to mention experience being imminently helpful. Most people start with small jaunts - the equivalent to a day hike (Vegas, Mexico all-inclusives etc.) and work their way up to epic trips like - oh, let's say - three month adventures in Australia. The real elite travelers can go years living out of a suitcase.)
 

Cruise ship in the harbour

Human sized gnome - why not?

Nod to the aboriginal arts

We aren't traveling neophytes. We know that things can go wrong and, in all honesty, weren't looking forward to the 13 hour flight between Santiago, Chile and Auckland, New Zealand. Humans aren't designed to be cramped up in small spaces like that for extended periods of time. We killed 8 hours in the airport at Santiago...no, make that 9, as our departure was delayed and another 13+ hours on the airplane. (SIde note: Wi-Fi is only available at some of the restaurants (plus the executive lounges, of course) in Santiago. There is no free airport Wi-Fi, which is all well and good until the Wi-Fi you're using shuts off because the cafe has closed down for the night. That's a story for another time.)

Our landing was also delayed, due to runway juggling. All that resulted in our missing our connection to Melbourne, Australia. No big, right? Well, it turned out that we weren't booked on another flight until 8:30 that night...a whole 12 hours away. The airline offered us a range of options and we decided to head out into New Zealand and have a peek at Auckland.

While the city has historic British influence, it's modern and young. There were small children everywhere, as well as students of all stripes, plus the usual melange of office workers that tend to inhabit the downtown core.  It's an expensive city, especially after being in Ecuador for so long. The cab ride into town was $76.50 (NZD). Shocking.

We noticed something immediately. It's a foodie town. Now, we've heard that Oz and NZ are gourmand, and it's no lie. Certainly not at the airport, per se, but in the city itself. My back had been "tweaking" after the long flight, but once we got out and walked around, I was feeling pretty good. The weather was a little overcast for most of the day, but we got to see the harbour, a park and the inside of a tapa bar, before heading back to the airport. (Side note: Auckland airport has 30 minutes of free Wi-Fi. Yup, that's it...just half and hour and then you have to pay - pay - pay. A crime in this day and age, as far as I'm concerned, especially when facing a very long layover.)

We finally boarded our flight, after dark and headed off to Australia. We got to experience both sunrise and sunset in Auckland, something that was beautiful, but not anticipated, but such are the vagaries of travel. Little did I realize that the little "tweak" I was feeling in my back would manifest in a full blown "episode" of agony, but that's also for another day. Next up: Melbourne - The Land of Inbetween (or so their slogan says...)