We continued our visit to Australia, the Great Southern Land, famous for its natural wonders, wide open spaces, deserts, fascinating animals and the “outback”, but it is also known for its megacities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We were fortunate to visit a few of them on this journey.
After only a day and a half at sea traveling 530 nautical miles from Sydney, we navigated through Port Phillip Bay to reach Melbourne Harbour in the early morning under overcast skies.
This was my third visit to Melbourne and I was delighted to have the chance to enjoy its treasures once again. Actually, it’s high on our list for a lengthy vacation!
Melbourne was recently named the most liveable city in Australia and the third most liveable in the world. The city achieved a perfect score for education (100/100) and infrastructure (100/100). It also scored highly for culture, environment and stability. It’s a culturally diverse city made up of people from over 100 countries.
We gathered a group of 8 to join our friend Fred Garcarczyk of Oceania Tours. Robin and I were looking forward to meeting with Fred again as he goes above and beyond to give visitors a wonderful experience.
We met Fred at 10am and assembled comfortably in the 10 seat van. At the outset, Fred promised that the three hour Melbourne City Tour would last 5 hours and include the Brighton Bathing Boxes, that we missed on our last visit.
Fred regaled us with background of the city and all of the spots we visited, starting with the Queen Victoria Market the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and the only remaining 19th century market in Melbourne’s central business district (CBD).
Today the market is one of Melbourne’s major tourist destinations and offers a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry and seafood, as well as a wide range of non-food goods such as clothing, shoes, jewelry, and handicrafts.
Melbourne boasts the largest Tramway system in the world, which in the city center is completely free. . . no ticket needed!
We made several stops in the Central Business District including the Block Arcade, the ACMI museum for an interactive experience.
Walking through the streets of the CBD, you will find vibrant murals and graffiti in every direction. The laneways and alleys are filled with hidden bars, restaurants, stores, and murals that give the city a unique atmosphere.
We then visited St Patrick’s Cathedral on Eastern Hill, which is the Cathedral Church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. The Gothic Style cathedral displays an impressive interior including vaulted arches, towering stained glass windows and a magnificent pipe organ. Construction was started in 1858 and it was then consecrated in 1897.
Then, on to nearby Fitzroy Gardens , 64 acres on the southeastern edge of the Central Business District . The gardens are one of the major landscaped gardens in Australia and, along with its more than the 2,000 parks and reserves, add to Melbourne’s claim of the “Garden City of Australia.
Within the gardens is an ornamental lake, fountains, sculptures, conservatory, a visitor information centre with cafe and Cook’s Cottage. This is the house where Captain James Cook’s parents lived, brought stone by stone from Yorkshire, England in the 1930s.
Melbourne is the sporting capital of Australia and hosts the Australian Open, Melbourne Cup, the Australian Grand Prix and the AFL grand final. On our tour we passed the Marvel Stadium, Rod Laver Arena, Docklands Stadium, John Cain Arena, AAMI Park and of course, the Melbourne Cricket Grounds or MCG, just known as, the “G”.
We noticed that “Swifties” were everywhere as the Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert was to be held at the “G” tonight. . . No wonder the CBD was crowded and abuzz!!
After leaving East Melbourne we drove by Albert Park, another one of the over 2,000 parks or reserves in Melbourne, then through the seaside town of St Kilda on our way to Brighton Beach.
The Brighton Bathing Boxes are 93 beach huts in Brighton, Australia, in the City of Bayside. The Brighton Bathing Boxes are built in a uniform way with painted weatherboards and corrugated roofs, first built in the 1860s to protect the modesty of bathers. The owners are allowed to paint their huts, causing a mass of different bright colors. Even though they do not have water or electricity connections these homes are valued over $350,000 USD. Where do we sign?
The Brighton Bathing Boxes are sure to bring a smile to your face!
On the ride back, we thanked Fred for the well-paced, incredible tour and vowed to return soon. He made our visit very special, as he always does.
Back on the Island Princess, we settled into our Sea Day routine with relaxed meals, exercise, enrichment and entertainment. After 4.5 wonderful days on a calm to moderate sea we travelled the 1650 nautical miles to reach Perth .
With over eight hours of sunshine each day, Perth is officially the sunniest capital city in Australia. Located 1,300 miles away from the next closest capital city, Perth is known for being isolated, but is also located in Australia’s largest state – Western Australia. It is 4x the size of Texas and larger than all of Europe!
Perth is the capital city of Western Australia and with over 2 million people is the fourth most populous city in the country. Perth covers an area of 3,300 square miles, 50% larger than my home state of Delaware. The climate is Mediterranean, with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.
We arrived at the busy port of Freemantle, Perth’s harbor, the day after a heat wave of 100º moved away from the area, and enjoyed the 75º overcast conditions.
Taking advantage of a full-day guided adventure through historic Fremantle en route to the city of Perth, we stopped at Fremantle Prison and the Round House, both built in the 1800s to house convicts and military prisoners.
Then traveling along the Esplanade and Beach Road, we passed Victoria Quay and stopped at Cottesloe Beach.
Cottesloe is one of the city’s most popular spots for swimming, snorkeling, surfing and drinking in ocean sunsets over a glass of wine, a refreshing beer or a relaxed dinner.
It was then on to King’s Park at 900 acres is bigger than New York City’s Central Park.
There was lovely Botanical Garden and an incredible gift shop with beautiful glass pieces.
Then we continued with a brief, narrated orientation drive in Perth before two hours of independent sightseeing and shopping.
We met cruise friends Jennifer and Dewey in our travels downtown and chose one of the city’s charming pubs. We descended two flights of stairs to the 43 Below Pub for a lunch of fish and chips accompanied by upbeat rock music and a local brew.
I promised Lori Ruth, Associate Publisher of the East County Observer in Lakewood Ranch, Florida a photo; so we stopped by a local park for a meet-up with a friendly kangaroo. The Observer travelled halfway around the world, congratulations Lori!!
On the move again, we boarded a James Cook Tours riverboat for a cruise down the Swan River back to Fremantle. The Captain pointed out the passing sights including Perth’s Bell tower, the Swan Brewery, King’s Park, the homes of the rich and famous on Millionaire’s Row including Gina Rinehart’s home.
Gina Rinehart is Australia’s richest person, daughter of iron ore magnate Lang Hancock. She lives here in Claremont on the Swan River. Her net worth is over $25 billion USD and is noted for her views that anyone who is jealous of richer people should “not sit around and complain” but “spend less time drinking, smoking and meeting people and work more.” I like Gina!
We finally reached Fremantle’s bustling harbor and walked the 1/2 mile back to the ship.
After all were aboard, we prepared not for the sea days, but for a Sea Week to reach the next port of Mauritius, Africa 3,220 nautical miles to the west.
See you in Africa!
I can tell you that sailing into Sydney Harbour and passing by the Sydney Opera House and under the Sydney Harbour Bridge was breathtaking. When sailing under the bridge we looked up and saw what looked like ants climbing on the top arch of the Bridge. The next day we would be two of those ants!
After arriving at the dock we took the Sky Safari, a tram ride to the Zoo entrance, from there it is an easy stroll back down to the waiting ferry after you experience the wonders of the resident animals.
Some of the highlights were the indigenous, Koalas, Kangaroos, Wallabees and, of course, the Platypus. The Zoo is undergoing considerable renovation with new exhibits suggesting that a return visit may be appropriate.
To top it off, we visited the Featherdale Wildlife Park with its collection of indigenous species and the ability to get up close and personal with Koalas and Kanagaroos. Robin spent most of her time feeding her new kangaroo friends.
We had booked the opera performance of “Werther” months ago and after the tour we had dinner at the Opera Restaurant overlooking the Sydney Harbour and the Harbour Bridge where I nearly fell to my death only three days ago!
Attending an Opera in one the world’s great venues was very special, but you know the story. . . I love her, she married someone else, so I’ll kill myself! Isn’t opera fun!!
Cruise Whitsundays maintains a Pontoon (barge like structure) moored to the reef about 50 miles to the east on Hardy Reef which is part of the GBR. We took the 300-passenger power Trimaran along with its 26 member crew to the Pontoon for the 1.5 hour trip with orientation along the way. I was scheduled for a two- tank dive. Robin planned on snorkeling.
Fred from Oceania Tours arrived at 7:45am and loaded the van with a total of 9 guests. This is one fantastic guide. He also had plenty of bird feed on hand to attract the cockatoos and parrots.
Fred’s narration was non stop and very informative. He arrived in Melbourne as a boy and his Aussie humor was on display along with his bush hat and quick wit.
