Melbourne

Well – our stay in Melbourne was brief, but sociable, with just one full day to explore the city.

Our first night was spent catching up with Anna and Andy in Bar-Humbug

Of course, predictably it was a late and rather “over-indulged” night, so our tour of Melbourne’s Golden Mile the next morning got off to a bit of a slow start! Had an interesting couple of hours checking out the Immigration Museum – Surprised to find out how “picky” and prejudiced  Australia was when selecting immigrants – only really got more “PC” relatively recently (1960’s & 70’s). Before then, if you were black, yellow or with no English,- forget it!

Our next stop was at the Old Treasury building, where we were adopted by a wonderfully quirky volunteer guide, Anita,  who was a dead-ringer for Dame Edna.  She took us under her (substantial) wing for a couple of hours of fascinating tales of Melbourne’s development, scandals, prosperity c/o the goldrush and political wranglings with Sydney over who best deserved to be the Capital – both  settling on Canberra in the end, as a half-way compromise. Only the Ozzies would dream that one up! Once Anita  “let us go” we scampered back to the hotel, packed up ready for an early flight next day, then out to spend the evening with James, who we’ve known since he was a wee lad in Cambridgeshire, and now lives in Melbourne with his lovely Malasian lady.

Enjoyed a wonderful meal at Pure South in the smart heart of Melbourne. Thoroughly recommend it, food just too gorgeous to brag about!

Thanks to James and his lovely lady for getting us home . Now it’s goodbye Melbourne and hello Cairns