I just reread my blog post from 2011 when we were last in Melbourne, and it was déjà vu all over again. I received an escort assignment to go do the all day Puffin Billy steam railroad and wildlife sanctuary tour, which I have done twice. What I wanted to do was go to the Queen Victoria market so I asked Michael, who has also done this tour twice, to take it so I could go to the market (he did not want to go to the market). Thank you, Michael.
I had made arrangements to go to the market (by shuttle to city center and then transfer to the trolley) with Eli and Marge, but since my knees were not feeling that great this morning I decided to cab over to the market with Lillian and Adrian. We arrived at the market around 10:30 AM and the goal was to go up and down every aisle and see what treasures we could find. But mostly, I helped Lillian shop. It is amazing when someone doesn't know that they need something. Lillian's iPhone case was a wreck so I took her over to the iPhone case display to pick out a new one. It was really fun watching her eyes bug out at the incredible selection of cases with pretty colors and jewels and such. I told her she could accessorize the cases depending on what color outfit she was wearing that day. She was like a kid in a candy store, clapping her hands, excited just like a kid would be on Christmas morning. She couldn't make up her mind which one to get; so I helped her choose -- two of them.
I bought a couple of items for gifts plus a decorative red hair comb for myself (now that I have long hair and can actually twisted up). At this point, all three of us were walking up and down the aisles together. Adrian excused himself to go to the bathroom and he said he would come right back to the aisle that we were in. Well, that never happened. I waited and waited at the head of the aisle while Lillian went up and down a few aisles. Oh well, our plan was to meet at the taxi stop at 12:30 pm, so we continued shopping. We finished walking the entire market and made it back to the taxi stop at 12:20 pm, and no Adrian. We gave up waiting and Lillian decided he was already back at the ship, so we hailed a taxi and we went back to the ship. Of course, Adrian was there waiting for us.
After a bit of lunch and a rest, I got ready for a ship-wide excursion to a theater to see an aboriginal show. Michael had not yet returned from his tour and Adrian did not want to go, so Lillian was my date. Lillian has taken to mothering me, making sure I sit down and rest, and getting people out of the way so that I can come through and get on an elevator. It is really very endearing, and I appreciate her concern for me. I am very fond of both Lillian and Adrian and I feel like they are part of my family.
So back to the show. We entered a very old and historic theater with ornate chandeliers and fancy red velvet curtains. The chairs were set up around a stage that jutted out in to the center of the room. We snagged first row seats. Waiters walked around serving hors d'oeuvres and drinks. Most of the hors d'oeuvres were not very good, but the bruschetta was outstanding. I could make a meal out of those. A wildlife expert came onstage, booming voice, telling us about animals that are native to Australia. He brought out a small alligator, some snakes, a koala, and a baby kangaroo. Awwww, they were all so cute except the snakes. People were able to touch them, hold them, and take pictures with them. I did touch the alligator's back and was surprised to feel how hard the scales were. I even petted the koala. It was very interesting to smell a koala; it smelled like eucalyptus tree leaves because that's all they eat. I was not impressed with this display of wildlife because this presentation was geared to grade school kids.
After the wildlife show, the aboriginals took the stage. The elder of the trio was the moderator/narrator and things would've been very very good if he'd just kept his mouth shut. He tried to be funny but when you're dressed in a loincloth and covered with paint, funny just doesn't work. The two young men with him who danced were quite good. All in all, it was a really lame evening and most people were not impressed.
The last few days have been very port intensive and very busy with social activities. Oh, I know you feel so sorry for me, but sometimes it is really work. One day seems to be very much like the other days, and is so easy to get things mixed up. I try really hard to keep up to date with the blog, but sometimes there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.
MICHAEL
I was tasked today to escort a three-part excursion: (1) the Puffing Billing train in the Dandenong Range; (2) wine tasting in the Yarra Valley; and (3) the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary. It sounds good, and it was good (mostly) but unfortunately, I had done it all before. Too much driving around in the bus actually!
We left the ship and drove along the waterfront for awhile. This is really pretty and reminds one of New Orleans. This is because when the freighters came here in the 1800’s to take the newly discovered gold back to Europe, they brought over wrought iron and slate as ballast. Consequently, most of the older homes have gorgeous wrought iron work, and of course slate roofs. Melbourne, by the way, is home to 4.5 million people today. And much like Manhattan was purchased from the Indians, the Victoria Region, with 600,000 acres, was purchased from the Aboriginals for $200. Almost immediately thereafter, gold was discovered, and to put that find in perspective, there were eleven gold fields discovered, each one bigger than all of the California fields combined.
We drove first up to the Dandenong Mountains where it was quite hazy as a result of all the recent bush fires. Our first stop was Grant’s Reserve where the rather tame parrots and other birds, including Rosellas, kookaburras, bellbirds and lyrebirds, would fly out of the trees and land on your arm (not my arm).
We then went to the Puffing Billy steam locomotive for a 30 minute ride through the mountains. Fortunately, the weather conditions allowed for Puffing Billy to work, rather than having to substitute a diesel engine. We got off at the Menzies Creek station and were reunited with our tour bus. After another 30 minutes, and passing by the Chandon Winery (too bad as that would have been very cool), we arrived at the Rochford Winery, in the Yerra Valley. Wine is now a $5.5 billion industry in Australia.
We had a brief but pleasant tasting (but very ordinary chardonnays and Pinot Noirs) and then a very nice lunch. I thought I would be brave and try the beef cheeks, which were ok for beef cheeks! They were setting up in the winery for an upcoming concert and I took a picture of the biggest lineup of porta-potties I have ever seen.
We next traveled another hour and a half to the wildlife sanctuary to see kangaroos, koalas, platypus, dingoes, and so forth. This was very nice, but again not anything new. Since I knew I was coming here, I was prepared with insect repellant which I absolutely needed. Now comes the worst part – a nearly two hour return trip to the ship. We got back around 5PM, which meant I was too late to join most of my shipmates at a concert in the city. I learned the next day that I did not miss much!
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