Melbourne-

We are finally on land--Melbourne.

Look closely and you will see balloons

 Thank the Good Lord! After clearing Aussie customs we are ready to go ashore.  Paddy has invited Julie and I to do a small tour with him in Melbourne. He hired a taxi with the Lebanese driver, John, so off we go.  Paddy is quite a man of all trades and very up on his history and stories, so he tells us about the Eureka building, which is the tallest in the southern hemisphere . Named after the Eureka Gold Mines where the unions started and was one bloody mess!!.  Then off to the War memorial in honor of the battle of Gallipoli in Turkey which took all the Australian troops in the Great War. Great Memorial with parade grounds and lights for ceremonies. Aussie rumor is the Brits would have also perished except they stopped for their morning tea!

They do the Grand Prix here in Melbourne and it will be coming in March.  How we got on the track in a taxi is beyond me, but off we went,  Not exactly speeding but fun to ride the track and see all the turns. There is a beautiful manmade lake in the middle.

Yes! That is a Goose crossing
It is back in the Taxi and heading to the center of town. Time for a coffee and shopping.  We have pent up non-buying syndrome because of those 4 days at sea. The main shopping street is Collins and it is pretty good if you like Prada, LV, Ralph Lauren,  and local designers.  The streets in Melbourne are lined with sycamore trees which are lovely and they give the city a clean smell and shade.  Plus it is very pretty.
The Alleys here are called Lane Ways and they have shops and restaurants on both sides.  We found one, Brooks which all the flooring is mosaic.  Absolutely stunning.  They brought in Italians to lay the floors and paint the ceilings.

I am going to send this one as the internet is messing up again and I haven't even gotten to lunch yet nor dinner, then dancing, then yesterday in Geelong and now we are back on the damn Tasman Sea going to Sydney