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Freemantle to Melbourne, Tuesday, February 23 . 2016  Everything eventually has to come to an end, even our cruise. All in all, it was a wonderful cruise. We saw and experienced a lot. Every port had its own beauty, some exotic, some exiting, and some very humbling. It will take us a while to digest all the adventures and what an adventure it was. The last one was this: the captain was able to avoid a cyclone by rerouting the ship's course. We still made it on time to Perth and even had enough fuel so no one had to row the boat into port. ( Did I mention that a filler up last for 11 days and cost 450,000 US Dollars?)Tuesday was one of those "early rise and shine" mornings. Also, the last meal on deck 14 and lots of goodbyes to say. We had to leave our safe little cocoon and face the real world again. The transferring from ship to bus, which brought us to the Perth airport went very smoothly. The majority of the passengers had to fly to their next destination. Needless to say, that meant busloads of elderlies were unloaded at the airport. It was almost comical, because it looked like one of the retirement homes was going on a trip . Our flight to Melbourne took 3 hours. The time flew by fast, because the back of the plane was occupied by passengers from the cruise including us. Even the flight attendants joined in on the fun. Arriving in Melbourne, we said our last goodbyes and took the shuttle into the city center Southern Cross Train Station where our hotel is located. We still had to walk about two blocks in the heat and humidity. That means, that Nelly was dripping again. The hotel, located conveniently smack downtown, used to be an old mansion turned into a hotel with modern comforts… a rather unique setup. The public/dining rooms are paneled throughout with Japanese oak, the ceilings have crown molding and the windows are mostly of stained glass, and the staircase leading to the 6th floor is just gorgeous. Needless to say, we were glad to see our bed, which wasn’t moving for a change. Although all that rocking for the past 47 days was rather soothing and somewhat missed.Melbourne, Wed. Feb. 24. 2016We woke up early, kind of confused, because the bed didn’t move, the sun didn’t shine into our room and who knows what time it was? We had so many time changes on this trip our body clocks were all out of whack . There were 17 time zone changes between Cape Town and our own Mountian Zone in Las Cruces. Some places on the Indian Ocean, the Captain anounced a half hour time zone change. I didn't count those two. Anyway, we might as well get going and make the best of the day in Melbourne, Australia. So we took off by foot and checked out our surroundings. Gee, everyone was on their way to work. The streets and trams were jammed with people and you really got the vibes of a working day in Melbourne. We also were surprised how large the city is and how many super modern buildings/skyscrapers are present. Also some old beautiful buildings are nestled between those giant modern buildings and somehow they look just fine in their surroundings. The fun part is, that all the trams/streetcars within the City Center are free and going in all kinds of directions. No need to pay for the Hop On Hop Off or tour bus. We had to try the free trams right away. That’s how we spent the day seeing the inner city and made notes where all we were going to go in the coming days . Also, a handy city map gave us ideas for more outings. Of course we had to stop at a super market and get some snacks and lots of bottled water. No more ship’s Lido. Every day we ate Breakfast at the hotel, a late hardy lunch was in a Restaurant and dinner was on the light side, fruits, nuts etc., because after 6 hours sightseeing which was mostly on foot, we were forgoing the night life and clubbing. Also, we still had our sea legs to overcome... we didn’t need any alcohol, we were dizzy all by our lonesome selves. Those sea legs are just the weirdest feeling and it comes and goes.Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 25. 2016Today we took one of those trams to the elabored Parliament House on the East side of the city. Since Thursday wasn’t a visiting day, we admired the building from the outside. The weather cooled down from the day before and we walked to the St. Patrick Cathedral, which is located in the same neighborhood. It is a must see. There are so many beautiful parks in this city. We high tailed it to the next destination . North of the Cathedral is Carlton Gardens where the Royal Exhibition building and the Melbourne Museum is located. After we had a good look at those places we accidently walked onto the popular Lygon Street, which is known for all its mostly Italian restaurants. That was perfect, because all that walking and sightseeing made us hungry. We settled in one of the sidewalk cafés and enjoyed a peaceful and yummy lunch. All rested and with full tummies off we marched South to the nearby China Town. What a buzzing and fun place that was. On we went to Bourke Street Mall where we took a tram back to the hotel and called it a day.


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