Day 28 - Melbourne, Australia

We arrived in Melbourne as scheduled. The additional forms for immigration were filled out yesterday and secured with our passport and excursion ticket. Since we had a ship excursion booked, we left with our group about 30 minutes after the appointed time. From there we disembarked and entered a very long queue. After thorough inspection of our passport and immigration card, we were allowed to enter the country, and exit the port. Our cool New Zealand days are gone, Here in Melbourne (Mel-bun) it is going to be pretty warm!

The tour busses are lined up nearby and soon we were off on our city tour. Part of the tour took us through the upcoming Australian Grand Prix area and the preparation taking place for that. We went all around the city with just two stops. The first stop was the Shrine of Remembrance, a War Memorial located in Kings Domain Gardens. It was built to honor the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but it now functions as a memorial to all Australians who have served in any war. We had time to walk around and take a lot of photos. The sun is quite warm but still comfortable at this time. On we drove seeing other sites from our bus. The city is green and beautiful. There are many trees planted along ordinary city streets. It enhances the beauty found in this city. Passing by one of the beautiful gardens, we saw Captain Cook’s Cottage, which is actually his parents home that was transported, brick by brick, from England and finished as it would have been when the cottage was occupied by them. Our driver immigrated back in the 1970's from Italy at the age of 10. He clearly loves his adoptive country. He was a wealth of information. Our second stop was the Sky Deck which is in the Eureka Tower. A mere 88 floors up, which takes just 38 seconds!  Eureka Tower is a 297.3 m skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior was completed on June 1, 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on October 11, 2006. Back to the port and now another wait to board as they are re-adjusting the gangway to get on. The heat of the day has arrived. A quick bite in Horizon Court and then to our cabin. 

I worked on photos and June took a nap while the movie played. Next was before dinner drinks and music, then dinner, the show, and the end of the day. We sailed away while we were at dinner. 







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