Melbourne
So, we flew into Melbourne on wednesday 8th November at about 7 AM local time. The airport was surprisingly small but they did come round with a sniffer dog to check everyone's bags for dodgy disease carrying food. They're especially paranoid about such things in Oz, and we were coming from Asia, the home of Avian flu...
We were met and picked up by Natasha and Ivan, the couple whose wedding we had come to see. They took us back to their house and Ivan cooked Leon and I (Me, Katie, Leon and Caz were all visiting for the wedding, and staying in the same flat in Melbourne)a fry-up on the barbie! Woohoo! In Oz for a couple of hours and already we get a barbeque. It was lovely - the usual stuff plus some interesting oysters. Nice. For the rest of the day we basically chatted, sat in the sun, bought some food and when we could we went and checked into our flat.
That night we got the tram (an excellent tram service operates throughout the CBD and into the suburbs - great prices and regular) to a restaurant on a place called Fitzroy street which is adjacent to Albert Park, where the Grand Prix is run each year.
So, over the next few day we enjoyed Melbourne and went to a Serbian wedding. The wedding will be described in its own post I think, but here is some info. about what we did in Melbourne:
The first thing we did was walk up George street and head into and up the observation tower. Some great views of Melbourne from here, as we'd hoped:
We checked out the old Melbourne Gaol, where Ned Kelly, amongst many others, was hung (including a Mr Barnes ;)) and checked out some of the nice architecture around before going out for a meal that evening.
We went to the botanical gardens the next day, which was ok, then a little train ride to an old naval town called Williamstown. Very pretty place, with some nice views of Melbourne city and some cool ships :)
Then there was Captain Cook's childhood home, transported and rebuilt brick-by-brick from Yorkshire to Melbourne :) - very cool! We also saw a very odd statue that to this day we're unsure whether it's designed that way or altered as a prank....
On our last day in Melbourne we did two very cool things. Firstly it should be noted that Melbourne is THE sporting city in Oz. It hosts the Grand Prix, the Australian Open in Tennis and is home to the world famous (and massive) MCG. Without much time in the morning due to our afternoon outing we were unable to check out the Rod Laver Arena (Tennis) so went for the MCG tour which was great fun, despite a) the ground being renovated for this year's Commonwealth Games and b) the tour guide seemingly being more interested in the drainage rather than cricket despite my questioning him!
Anyway, here are some pics of a ground that is majorly impressive compared to all UK cricket grounds - probably due to it holding around 100 thousand people rather than the 20 K or so that is BIG for us here :)
Then, the last 'cultural' (and I use the word loosely) thing we did in Melbourne was an extremely fun (but equally sad) trip to Pin Oak Court, known over here as Ramsey Street :)
The last two things we did in Melbourne were a) eat a proper Ozzie meal and b) drive out with the aim to get to Sydney, via Narooma, on the coastal road (~ 1100 Km). Here are some photos of part a) and as for part b), I'll leave that for the Narooma section of this historical archive. As this one's too long already....
So what do we have on the plate? A Yabbie (crustacean), Emu and Kangaroo sausages, Wallaby, Kangaroo, Crocodile and Oysters. Crocodile is great, though tough, Kangaroo is surprisingly disappointing (but still a great eat) and Emu had to be the tastiest thing. Oysters, well, salty things, they are. On the whole a truly fine meal that was a highlight of the trip; in fact this whole final day in Melbourne (MCG, Ramsey Street and Ozzie tucker) was a particularly fine day.
Godfather.
We were met and picked up by Natasha and Ivan, the couple whose wedding we had come to see. They took us back to their house and Ivan cooked Leon and I (Me, Katie, Leon and Caz were all visiting for the wedding, and staying in the same flat in Melbourne)a fry-up on the barbie! Woohoo! In Oz for a couple of hours and already we get a barbeque. It was lovely - the usual stuff plus some interesting oysters. Nice. For the rest of the day we basically chatted, sat in the sun, bought some food and when we could we went and checked into our flat.
That night we got the tram (an excellent tram service operates throughout the CBD and into the suburbs - great prices and regular) to a restaurant on a place called Fitzroy street which is adjacent to Albert Park, where the Grand Prix is run each year.
So, over the next few day we enjoyed Melbourne and went to a Serbian wedding. The wedding will be described in its own post I think, but here is some info. about what we did in Melbourne:
The first thing we did was walk up George street and head into and up the observation tower. Some great views of Melbourne from here, as we'd hoped:
We checked out the old Melbourne Gaol, where Ned Kelly, amongst many others, was hung (including a Mr Barnes ;)) and checked out some of the nice architecture around before going out for a meal that evening.
We went to the botanical gardens the next day, which was ok, then a little train ride to an old naval town called Williamstown. Very pretty place, with some nice views of Melbourne city and some cool ships :)
Then there was Captain Cook's childhood home, transported and rebuilt brick-by-brick from Yorkshire to Melbourne :) - very cool! We also saw a very odd statue that to this day we're unsure whether it's designed that way or altered as a prank....
On our last day in Melbourne we did two very cool things. Firstly it should be noted that Melbourne is THE sporting city in Oz. It hosts the Grand Prix, the Australian Open in Tennis and is home to the world famous (and massive) MCG. Without much time in the morning due to our afternoon outing we were unable to check out the Rod Laver Arena (Tennis) so went for the MCG tour which was great fun, despite a) the ground being renovated for this year's Commonwealth Games and b) the tour guide seemingly being more interested in the drainage rather than cricket despite my questioning him!
Anyway, here are some pics of a ground that is majorly impressive compared to all UK cricket grounds - probably due to it holding around 100 thousand people rather than the 20 K or so that is BIG for us here :)
Then, the last 'cultural' (and I use the word loosely) thing we did in Melbourne was an extremely fun (but equally sad) trip to Pin Oak Court, known over here as Ramsey Street :)
The last two things we did in Melbourne were a) eat a proper Ozzie meal and b) drive out with the aim to get to Sydney, via Narooma, on the coastal road (~ 1100 Km). Here are some photos of part a) and as for part b), I'll leave that for the Narooma section of this historical archive. As this one's too long already....
So what do we have on the plate? A Yabbie (crustacean), Emu and Kangaroo sausages, Wallaby, Kangaroo, Crocodile and Oysters. Crocodile is great, though tough, Kangaroo is surprisingly disappointing (but still a great eat) and Emu had to be the tastiest thing. Oysters, well, salty things, they are. On the whole a truly fine meal that was a highlight of the trip; in fact this whole final day in Melbourne (MCG, Ramsey Street and Ozzie tucker) was a particularly fine day.
Godfather.
