Around the World for a 3rd Time (Melbourne and Port Douglas Australia)

You know the country your in when you see this road sign

Or this road sign

This sign may be less familiar as to what it is or where you are

And this could be anywhere, note the complimentary bottle against the itch

Australians being the descendants of the penal colony prisoners sent here since 1788, have their own internal way of dissing each other. Every state (6) and the 2 territories have monikers given to them by their neighboring state citizens. We landed in Melbourne, Victoria where the “Cabbage Patchers” live and when we landed in Port Douglas, Queensland we were surrounded by “Banana Benders”.

And this was the live boy we saw. Don’t ask me why not a girl? An Aussie told me: boy

This is an emu; we never saw a cassowary. Those two are very very Aussie.

Our first and only sighting of a wallaby

Our last visit to Sydney had been not impressed us enough to at first impulse bring us back to Australia, but since our flight to New Zealand landed us in Melbourne, we decided to give Australia another fairer chance.

Walking the beach along the ocean near Port Fairy

with the cute bay name of Daisies by the Sea I think

Sandee and Rose clearly not talking about horses at the race course.

Also we met during our boat trip in the Inner Hebrides a couple from Melbourne and stayed in contact with them and also bought a water color painting from Rose, that now brightens one of our living room walls in Norfolk. So at their invitation we drove to their vacation home at Port Fairie, where Rick and Rose we graciously had us stay overnight and showed us their wonderful seaside environment. It also gave us an opportunity to drive the in every guidebook recommended Great Ocean Road, where many scenic stops entice photographers to record nature’s beauty during the drive.

The Great Ocean Road had many surprising sights along the scenic drive

And a true scenic drive it is

Melbourne, Australia’s coffee capital, unlike or maybe because of Sydney, turned out to be a charming state capital filled with historical sites. As we had travelled from Taiwan for more than 22 real hours through several time zones, arriving early morning in Melbourne we had reserved our Marriott downtown room the night before so we could recover that day in bed. We programmed the gps to the street address and drove and drove and drove getting the feeling that we had left the city behind us ending up in a residential compound at the other side of town. This time omitting the street name we searched for hotels and had the car redirect us back to town, where we got stranded in an ongoing marathon that the gps was not prepared for. When we arrived at long last at the hotel we could have gotten an early check in for the next day.

We never cease to be in awe of nature

Even when it is as simple as these little ones

Or this work of art compliments of the ocean

Melbourne turned out to be a city where a tourist could easily spend a week and not leave with the feeling they had seen and done it all. Highlights the little old city tram tour for every novice coming to town and the Immigration Museum with many amusing stories, but for us the greatest experience was the invite by Rick and Rose to join them in the owners circle at the Caulfield Racecourse at the edge of town, as they are proud owners of several horses.

Owner Rick and horse Strategic Demand having a power talk

He lost but was still smiling afterwards

The Races: The Brits left a few fashion habits behind

We were duly impressed and honored to be among the elite, although we never were allowed to the owners club room as this guy did not wear a jacket and a tie at arrival for the event. However being able to witness the ladies in their finest with heads that could rival any horse race scene back in Britain, meet the jockey and Strategic Demand, who was not supposed to win and because of the rules had to wear the most impost as the thin lead weights in the saddle are called. Well he almost placed, meaning to say he finished number 4.

It was a privilege to be in the owners ring

Had to show you guys this beauty one more time

It was fun to bet money on just funny names, I even tried to bet on a race that had already run, but the kind and patient lady at the betting window was most helpful to this money wasting idiot. After the race the jockey came by to report to Rick and Rose. The weather was perfect and the total ambiance made for a wonderful unexpected time well spent in Melbourne, so Sandee and I want hereby again say Thank You Rick and Rose, you made our stay in Victoria State unforgettable.

Melbourne’s Anglican St Paul’s Cathedral

Inside St Paul’s Cathedral

Especially liked the colored lights behind the 1890 huge British organ

By the way Melbourne strategically situated at the top of an almost circular bay was started in 1835 by a group of Tasmanian businessmen, who swindled local aboriginal chiefs, who had no knowledge of landownership, in “buying” the land for settlement purposes. This factotum amused me, because the then british governor declared the treaty invalid, but because more and more huts and tents were erected in the new town of Bearbass, he sent in 1837 a surveyor to properly lay out the town in the for those days traditional grid plan, renaming it after the sitting British Prime Minister, William Lamb, Lord Melbourne, into Melbourne.

Melbourne’s downtown is a pedestrian friendly city

With a modern skyline just outside the century plus old downtown

Like don’t drop your cigarette butts on the street

And it is showing its maritime origins too

Did I say pedestrian?

Up to the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest in the State of Queensland and the definitely tourist town of Port Douglas.

Our ocean views from the balcony across the park

Early morning walk by restaurant after restaurant ready for the lunch onslaught

Port Douglas is basically a one main street town with shops and restaurants catering almost year around to visitors. We had a beautiful AirB&B at the beginning of this more than a mile long Macrossan Street, in an apartment complex one level up with a balcony overlooking the bay leading out to sea and the reef.

What is not to like about pasta

Or fish

Evening sunset sail view

This part of the trip was basically relaxing about good food, nice sailing and a visit to the only remaining tropical rainforest in Australia, just a few miles away.

Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef

Those beautiful colors

But then we are told that dull lifeless colors indicate dead reefs. This blue one is fully alive

We enjoyed a sunset sailing with drinking grownups only, a day trip out to the Great Barrier Reef, snorkeling and having specialists talking about the Reef and it present bleaching issues. All of that slow relaxing days. The four wheel drive into the rainforest took a full day visiting a fruit tree family run farm inside the forest. We did not see many of the rainforest creatures, which we encountered when visiting the Ecuadorian rainforest.

But it was good to realize that eons ago Australia did not have the desert like climate it had today and understand from the stories told how many creatures from that era have survived.