Day 204 (January 12): We're Tourists!
We spent this weekend being full-time tourists.
On Friday we took the tram downtown, ate lunch in a burger bar near "the pirate ship" and then walked to the aquarium. For the most part, we were really impressed. The kids enjoyed a lot of interactive exhibits. On the low side, however, the penguin exhibit was probably the saddest things we've seen.
On Saturday we bought a two-day pass for one of those adorable, double-decker, hop-on-hop-off sightseeing buses.
We rode around for about an hour until we reached the "Melbourne Star," one of those adorable, gigantic ferris wheels.
We ditched the bus when it got back to the central business district in order to grab dinner at a Greek restaurant (apparently Melbourne has the largest population of Greek nationals outside of Greece). We survived a tram ride home and lived to see another day (of tourism).
On Sunday we walked through the St Kilda Sunday Market, which stretches for maybe a kilometer along the seaside Esplanade. We had a mediocre lunch at the perfectly-named, The Saint Killed a Burger (say it out loud to hear why).
To save time, we hired a cab to get to the zoo, where we explored about half of the circuits:
To finish the weekend, we rode the sightseeing bus back downtown, switched to a tram and got home in time for a playdate for Henry with a friend he made at camp last week. This was at least as much fun for me because of the opportunity to talk to talk to the dad who shares many common interests.
On Friday we took the tram downtown, ate lunch in a burger bar near "the pirate ship" and then walked to the aquarium. For the most part, we were really impressed. The kids enjoyed a lot of interactive exhibits. On the low side, however, the penguin exhibit was probably the saddest things we've seen.
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| The Polly Woodside |
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| Henry was quick to find the Megaladon jaws |
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| Lily in disguise |
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| Ali or Cate with a friendly ray |
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| Ali struck a pose with a sea turtle (sculpture) |
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| Contemplative Cate |
On Saturday we bought a two-day pass for one of those adorable, double-decker, hop-on-hop-off sightseeing buses.
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| On board the sightseeing bus |
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| Part of the downtown skyline, which seems to be expanding daily |
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| The view as we cross the Yarra River |
We rode around for about an hour until we reached the "Melbourne Star," one of those adorable, gigantic ferris wheels.
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| A view from the Melbourne Star |
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| A lego model of the Melbourne Star |
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| 25 construction cranes are easily identifiable but there are probably twice as many |
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| One of the Star's "pods" |
We ditched the bus when it got back to the central business district in order to grab dinner at a Greek restaurant (apparently Melbourne has the largest population of Greek nationals outside of Greece). We survived a tram ride home and lived to see another day (of tourism).
On Sunday we walked through the St Kilda Sunday Market, which stretches for maybe a kilometer along the seaside Esplanade. We had a mediocre lunch at the perfectly-named, The Saint Killed a Burger (say it out loud to hear why).
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| A burger joint in Saint Kilda |
To save time, we hired a cab to get to the zoo, where we explored about half of the circuits:
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| Lemur! |
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| Tortoise! |
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| Ringtail Lemur (not Zaboo) |
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| Swarms of visitors outnumbered swarms of butterflies |
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| Koala! |
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| Ali riding a (sculpture) Wombat. The real thing didn't photograph well. |
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| Seal! |
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| A sea turtle made of plastic waste. The Melbourne Zoo has a consistent message about reducing waste that I appreciated. |
To finish the weekend, we rode the sightseeing bus back downtown, switched to a tram and got home in time for a playdate for Henry with a friend he made at camp last week. This was at least as much fun for me because of the opportunity to talk to talk to the dad who shares many common interests.
Simply wonderful!! Enjoy the tennis on Wednesday at the fundraiser - we have been seeing stories about it on the Tennis Channel which is covering all the pre-AO tournaments!!
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