Our Last Day in Melbourne

Today was our last day in Melbourne... we decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and made our way to the Queen Victoria Market.  One of the oldest markets in Victoria, since 1878... we imagined ourselves walking through 140 years of shopping history!

 
We also discovered a tea house on our walk through the many historic shopping passages through the center of town... we vow to return to take advantage of the fruits we found behind the window filled with mouth watering delectables.

 The display window at "Hopetown Tea Rooms"

An interesting clock in the Royal Arcade, a shopping passage in the center of the city...

Later in the day... we road a tram out to the edge of the Great Southern Ocean...at St. Kilda.   There is a very long pier which extended beyond with a long piling of rocks that we walked down to hunt for little blue penguins... we found several of them hiding in the rocks...it was quite cold and windy...(photos were impossible as the light/flash would scare the little sweet penguins)

The City View of Melbourne at Dusk... from the St, Killda Pier

A Historic Victorian Building at the end of St. Kilda Pier...

 

The Blue Penguin nests were tucked away in the crevasses of rocks along the piling ...

 the children found many of the little penguins hiding in the rocks...

After an hour of hunting, with success, we headed back to our hotel for another quiet evening before we leave for our trip North...

Tomorrow, we head toward Dubbo... on our way toward Brisbane.

Melbourne, Day Two

Today we enjoyed a lovely morning walk to the Melbourne Aquarium along the Yarra River...

The Yarra River, Melbourne

We first encountered the Penguins!  They were a lovely sight and quite entertaining... we could not tell if we were more amused by them or them by us! 

King Penguins

 

As you can see... the shark tank made a shocking impact on the children...

After lunch, we made our way to a highlight of our trip thus far...a cottage in Fitzroy Park.  It is the original home of Captain Cook's family in England...built in 1755.... brought piece by piece to Melbourne in 1934.

The kids enjoyed dressing in 18th Century Costume and we all enjoyed our tour guide who gave us a memorable and well learned experience...  Living history at it's best!

 Fitzroy Park Conservatory...

Another day ending with a view of the city...and afternoon tea.

 Melbourne, the Yarra River... Late Afternoon.

An Australian Adventure, The City of Melbourne

The next two weeks hold a bit of adventure as we have decided to tag along with my husband (and his very busy work schedule) to explore the South Eastern Corner of Australia via the open road!

This past weekend, we made our way south of Sydney to the beautiful city of Melbourne.  

The famous Sheep of Goulbourn... 

most of the trip was country side filled with sheep and cattle...

We drove through the country side south of Sydney and beyond...spending our first night in the small town of Wagga Wagga.  We then drove the rest of our journey through the Snowy Mountains... onto Melbourne!

Our first day, we enjoyed a tour around the city in the famous old City Circle Tram... it is a great way to see the different sites within the city center and completely free to use.  We caught the tram down near the South Wharf and made or way over to this old Victorian Train Station...

Flinders Street Station

We also noticed a beautiful old Anglican Cathedral across the street...St. Pauls.  The children and I enjoyed walking into the lovely church and viewing the beautiful stained glass windows and Gothic architecture...

As we wandered the streets a bit, we also found old shopping passages, similar to those in France...

Degraves Street

We also found the Parliament House of the State of Victoria... 

... and another Cathedral, a Catholic church, St. Patrick's.

Our first day was fantastic...we enjoyed a quiet evening in the room...what a view!

The Yarra River, South Wharf...at night

The North Head of Sydney Harbor

This weekend started out glorious and sunny... we decided the best way to enjoy such a fine fall day was to go exploring around the North Head Sanctuary.

 The View of Sydney and the Harbor...morning fog still lingering.

 

This headland used to be an old Military Fort... but has since been turned into a public reserve with many walking paths and trails for all to enjoy...

 New Holland Honey-eater

The bushland is lovely... many birds to enjoy along our walk... as well as... native heathers and flowers...

 

 Rainbow Lorikeets playing overhead...

One of my favorite views from the point was the magnificent sandstone cliffs towering over the surf below... looking out into the Pacific Ocean... simply breathtaking.