Melbourne & Phillip Island

Woke up to glorious sunshine. Walked along the South bank of the Yarra river. Slowly the weather became more gloomy. This was our first introduction to Melbourne's 'four seasons in one day' (and I just thought it was some obscure Crowded House song). At 1pm we boarded a coach at Federation Square, ready for our trip to Warrook Cattle Farm and then onto Phillip Island.

At Warrook Cattle Farm we had the chance to meet and feed a kangaroo and a wombat. The old guy who worked there told us that his dad was a '£10 pom'. The farm served up a cream tea and it just kept raining.

Next stop was the Phillip Island Koala Conservation Centre where it also rained. Steve ignored the rain and was rewarded by the sight of a koala feeding. This is a relatively rare event because they sleep upwards of 20 hours per day (and they do this because their food gives them very little energy; it is not because they are stoned on eucalyptus).

Finally we arrived at the Penguin Parade. The rain was chucking it down, so we dressed in a blue plastic bag and went down to the beach. At 5:50pm the first of the penguins emerged; then more; then even more; all waddling their way up the beach to return to their homes in the hillside. No photography of any kind was allowed but there is an excellent Phillip Island Penguin Parade YouTube video about it. An amazing experience, and a little sad that this location is now the only place in the world where these little blue penguins survive.

Some of the penguins have to cross roads to make their way back home. There is also the chance that some have entered the car park, hence the signs asking you to check under your car before leaving! We grabbed a quick sandwich back at the hotel and headed to bed.

Fri 4 May

Headed up to Federation Square to meet Michelle for another cycling tour. For this we used bikes from Melbourne's bike share scheme.

There is artwork all over Melbourne, some are commissioned (like this modern art piece called 'Angel'), and some are graffiti. Some is modern; other traditional. Melbourne seems to be a melting pot for the old and the new. We cycled a little further to see the outside of the Melbourne Cricket Ground aka the 'MCG' or 'The G'. Nearby was the Rod Laver Arena complex, home to tennis's Australian Open.

On Hosier Lane, in addition to the graffiti there were a lot of posters with sayings on them. Many were amusing (e.g. "When politicians go home they like to pull up a few weeds so they feel they've accomplished something positive for the day"), others more thoughtful "My therapist tells me to keep painting. The hidden cost is an emptiness that makes me feel worthless everytime she says they're lovely", but there were a few that seemed to subtly but viciously mock the viewer (sorry, don't remember any examples).

Michelle took us to Victoria market, a great place for bargain hunting as well as snacks. We returned here the following day and did some serious shopping.

Lunch was at 'Naked for Satan'. It was fashioned along the lines of Northern Spains pintxo bars/restaurants which we loved having travelled across Northern Spain a few years ago. Every item of food was served on a cocktail stick. At the end of the meal, they counted the number of cocktail sticks on your plate to figure out how much to charge. This was how it was done in Spain and it's nice to see that trust is not dead. One could get cold pintxos from the counter at any time, but servers also walked through the restaurant offering hot pintxos.

Later on we were cycling down Swanston Street, where we stopped an an innocuous building called Curtin House. We parked the bikes and caught the lift to the top floor. We then climbed steps onto the roof to find a bar and cinema. Pretty cool! Overall the tour had been extremely informative and Michelle had a passion for Melbourne that coerced you into falling in love with the city.

Stopped for a drink on Degraves Street before walking to Hardware Lane for an evening meal.

Sat 5 May

Spent a leisurely day shopping. In the evening we had an Italian meal on Lygon Street.

Sun 6 May

Had a another look at some of the nearby graffiti before heading for the airport and our flight to Adelaide.