Devonport to Melbourne

Day 347

Our ferry back to the mainland is not until 7pm this evening so after a nice lie in we spend the day packing up the van and just as the sun is setting head down the road to the ferry terminal.

Wait in the queue of other vehicles waiting to board and after what seems like an age of creeping forwards finally make it on board and disappear below decks to park Polly up for her crossing.

Straight up to our ocean recliner seats and before long the lines have been cast off and with a loud ‘parp’ from the ships horn we are underway.

Wave our goodbyes to Devonport and Tassie and settle back in our seats to try and get some sleep, Carmen of course is out like a light but I am restless and after getting up for several laps of the ship I too manage to shut my eyes and drift off.

Day 348

Almost as soon as I have finally managed to get to sleep the lights all come on and there is an announcement telling us of our imminent arrival in Melbourne so we get up and head up on to the deck to watch the city slowly slide into view.

By 6am the ship has docked and we head back down to the lower levels of the ship to find Polly. She seems to have enjoyed the crossing and with an apparent spring in her step she starts first time and we snake our way through the bowels of the ship and re-join the road.

Tom is put on and guides us across Melbourne to our good friends from Sydney Tom and Kate’s house in Oakleigh. We feel a bit bad, arriving on their doorstep at 8am on a Saturday morning but we have pre-warned them of our early arrival and when they open the door they seem more than happy to see us and welcome us into their house.

After we have half bored them to death with tales of beautiful Tasmania we all head into Oakleigh and meet Toms dad for coffee in an area we have deemed ‘little Greece’. There is a huge Greek community in Oakleigh and every shop, café and take away seems to be filled with Greeks going about their business and is actually a bit of a culture shock to us after a month in Tasmania!  

Spend the afternoon back at the house dozing off in front of the tele and decide to retire for an early night when we can’t keep our eyes open any longer.

Day 349

Sunday and after a good lie in spend the day relaxing in front of the tele (it’s amazing how quickly we slipped back into it) watching the ‘footy’ (Australian rules) and generally not doing too much.

Tom and Kate cook us a lovely roast dinner in the evening and once again we retire for an early night to the comfort of a real bed in a real house.

Day 350                                       

Tom and Kate are up and off to work this morning and we decide to head into town for the first leg of our city tour. Jump on the bus and then a train right into the city and spend some time just wandering around taking it all in from the famous Federation square to the plethora of small laneways filled with coffee shops and cafes.

The centre of Melbourne is a great place to just walk around and after a few hours of strolling we cross the Yarra River, past the iconic arts centre and head into the National Gallery of Victoria to look at the international collection.

The gallery is well laid out and we happily spend a few hours looking around, ending up in the excellent shop.

Just outside the gallery and we jump on a tram to South Yarra where we have a stroll along Toorak Road and Chapel Street and have a browse through all of the cool shops.

Back at the station and as we will be doing a fair bit of travelling whilst we are here we decide to buy ourselves Miki cards (think Oyster card) which should make travelling around a bit easier (and a bit cheaper). I realise that I now have a wallet full of these travel cards covering all of the major cities in Australia (quite the traveller).

Day 351

Another day in the city today and so after a ride on a train and a bus we find ourselves outside Flinders Street station and decide to make the most of the warm and sunny weather and head off, over the Yarra again and towards the MCG.

Wander around the stadium and try to sneak in through an open door to get a look at the pitch but am caught by a security guard and quickly escorted back outside.

Another stroll around outside and our tour of Australian cricket grounds is complete. We walk back into the city and jump on the free circle line tram to do a lap (and have a sit down for a bit).

Back at Federation Square and we head into the second part of the National Gallery of Victoria to look at the Australian collection and again we find the building is logically laid out and easy to navigate around and spend the afternoon immersing ourselves in all things Australian.

Day 352

The usual bus and train rides this morning and we find ourselves wandering around in the suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood. Lots of cool cafés and some great vintage second hand shops and we happily spend the morning browsing our way through.

Next stop is Richmond and a place Carmen used to frequent years ago when she lived here and so we head back to her favourite restaurant (still open after all these years) and both order her usual, No.15 BBQ pork and wonton noodle soup which Carmen swears is as good as it ever was.

A stroll around Richmond in the afternoon after which we head back to Oakleigh for another delicious home cooked meal and our now daily fix of T.V.

Day 353

Another bright and sunny day and so we head to the coast at St Kilda. A lovely stroll along the pier gives you great views back to the city and a walk along the foreshore brings you out at Melbourne’s Luna Park which unfortunately is closed during the week.

Just behind Luna Park is Ackland Street and what have to be some of the best cake shops in Australia. We stroll along salivating and for once I am completely undecided on what to eat but after walking up and down several times I eventually settle on a vanilla slice (Carmen opts for a lemon tart) and we sit down with a couple of coffees to wash them down.

The cakes are devoured and I seriously consider going back for another but manage to control my temptation and instead we head back to the city on the tram and make our way back to our luxury accommodation.

Day 354

We have made plans to catch up with some old friends this afternoon and so spend the morning at home before heading back to Richmond in the afternoon. Our destination is the Bridge Hotel and so we get off the train at Richmond and start walking up the road. Half an hour later we are still walking and no sign of the pub yet so we decide to jump on a tram and complete the journey, which of course turns out to be 30 seconds down the road.

Finally arrive at the pub and settle down to wait for Tom, Kate, Kat, John and Vilka to arrive.

Everyone arrives and many drinks are drunk amid much laughter and catching up and we continue into the evening when we decide to head back to Vilka’s flat just up the road.

More drinks are drunk and all of a sudden Carmen is flying through the air and landing heavily on a table!

She has obviously done herself a mischief and it is decided that she needs to go to the hospital to be looked at (Ive been saying that for years).  After much waiting and eventually an x-ray it is revealed to be a fractured rib! As there is nothing that can really be done she is given a pain killing injection and sent home with a prescription for more painkillers.

Day 355

The morning after and feeling hungover I wake up wondering if it wasn’t all a bad dream…

Of course it wasn’t and Carmen is in a lot of pain and can hardly move at all today and so I am despatched down to the local shops to get the prescription. Endone is a narcotic analgesic and is pretty serious stuff but is just about the best painkiller you can get and as It’s only a short cycle ride  I am back in no time, the drugs are administered and it’s back to bed for the patient.

The day is spent taking painkillers and lying in bed resting (for Carmen) and sitting in front of the tele (for me) and we retire for an early night hoping that things will be a bit easier tomorrow.