L & L Australian Adventures: Melbourne Day 2 and 3

I thought I covered a lot of ground on Day 1 but Day 2 I was a woman on a mission! J I got up early to map out a tentative plan for the day. There is so much to do here that I just chose a few things and decided I would get to the others tomorrow or the next visit here.

Luke walked around looking for a good café for coffee before he went to the office. He found a couple of arcades that have several great options so he sent me directions to one of the arcades so I could start my day there. I had a good coffee and some sourdough toast and I was on my way. Just so you know, the Melbourne Cerner office sits in a building above Gucci and next to Louis Vuitton.

As I walked to my first destination, I examined all of the buildings around me. Melbourne definitely has a different feel and look to it than Sydney. Many of the buildings are Victorian and are beautiful to gaze at. I couldn’t believe how many I saw that are still in their original location and new skyscrapers are just built up around them. I attempted taking pictures of some but you will have to see them for yourself if you want the full effect! J

I walked over to the Treasury and Fitzroy Gardens first. In the Treasury Garden I found a small John F Kennedy Memorial that has been there since 2 years after his death. Even the Aussies loved this man! As I walked on to the Fitzroy Gardens I noticed several signs that warned not to feed the opossums and that they are trying to control the massive population of them. I didn’t see any but I kept my eye out for them. Next I went to The Conservatory and then Cook’s Cottage that are part of the large garden. Cook’s Cottage was the childhood home of explorer, Captain James Cook. The house was transported brick by brick from England. It was interesting reading all about his life and getting interesting facts of living over there during that time period. We heard a lot about Cook when we were on our honeymoon in Tahiti because he also had a part in discovering that area.

So that this doesn’t feel like a history lesson, I’ll keep it short and interesting for you. I learned that the second leading cause of death for women during Cook’s time was from catching on fire from the large open flames in the kitchen used for heating and cooking. I learned that often women servants had to lie in a bed for a certain amount of time to warm up the sheets for when the master was ready to go to bed. Makes sense!! Mattresses were filled with straw, duck feathers, and horse hair and sat on a frame with criss-crossed rope. Over time the rope would sag and stretch so it had to be tightened a lot. This is where the saying, “Good night, sleep tight!” is from. The initials of the husband and his wife are carved above the front door. I thought that was a neat gesture though I doubt we’ll be seeing LLL above a new doorway anytime soon! ;) I have included pictures of the Fairies’ Tree that has carved out elves, goblins, fairies, and Australian animals etched into the bark. The tree is now fenced off because too many little fingers and feet liked it so much for too many years!

After I saw a few more things around Fitzroy Gardens I walked down to catch the tram to St. Kilda. In everything that I read and from what everyone said, using the tram is quite simple. You either get a ticket ahead of time or you can just buy one from the little machine once you get on. Well, when I got on to go to St. Kilda, so did a massive number of people. (If you’ve noticed, I’m using the word “massive” a lot…this is for practice so Luke and I stop saying words like “huge” for descriptions. Plus massive sounds like much, much more!!!) J So many people got on the tram in fact, that I was smashed between two people trying to hold on to a bar with only my pinky. We kept stopping and more people would get on and very few people would get off. This half hour trip was pretty miserable for my first experience on one. Three different people asked me which stop they should get off at as we approached the area. Wow! Guess I appeared to know what I was doing. Too bad I had to admit each time that this was my first trip even on the tram! By the time we got down there I was relieved to escape. And…I realized that I never paid. Oops!! I actually didn’t see one person with a ticket, purchase a ticket when they got on, or show anyone that they even had a ticket. I was more worried about holding on, watching where we were going, and attempting to not breathe in the man’s disgusting armpit in my face. I decided not to worry too much about the $3.70 ticket.

St. Kilda is a neat little area down by the water at Port Phillip Bay. There are numerous pubs, cafes, shops, and things to do. There’s even a Luna Park which is a small amusement park like we have here in Sydney. I walked down St. Kilda Pier and had some great people watching as many local men were fishing to my left as teenagers were jumping off into the water to my right. The beach at St. Kilda definitely isn’t like the beaches we’ve been going to but it was still packed on a very hot day. After having lunch and then walking around all over down here for several hours, I decided to head back into the city to meet Luke when he got off work. This time when I got on the tram it was a different story. There were only a few people and it was easy to purchase my ticket. I even got to sit down and breathe fresh air for the half hour trip back. This was much needed after walking around all day again in the heat.

One of Luke’s former coworkers was in town for the Australian Open with his uncle. They actually were staying in the same hotel as us so we met for dinner and drinks that evening. It was a much later night than we anticipated but we had a fun night of catching up.

Day 3 was a very low key day. Luke decided to work from the hotel room. He had been complaining of not feeling very well all week long and I think after the late night we had just had, it didn’t help things for him. We walked around a little when we went to grab lunch but I spent most of the day reading up on other things I wanted to try to do in Melbourne while Luke worked.

We also briefly discussed where we would go for the weekend. We decided to rent a car and go to Geelong where Luke studied abroad ten years ago. Then we would be able to keep driving the Great Ocean Road for great views and then see the Twelve Apostles. We wanted to see the penguins at Phillip Island Penguin Reserve but that will have to wait for the next trip down since it was in the complete opposite direction.