Day 5: On the road, again

Saturday, 24 June, 2017

At Federation Square in Melbourne (it is an inflatable)

This morning we were able to have a complimentary hotel breakfast.  It was pretty good--hot English breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.), a pancake machine (good pancakes), mini-muffins and breads, fresh fruit, coffees, cereals, etc.  Then a man came around asking if you wanted coffee or tea, and offered Joshua hot chocolate.  The hot chocolate was VERY fancy, with drizzled chocolate over the whipped cream.  My pot of tea was very good.  Joshua even made a fancy drink using the electric juicer.  They had celery, carrots, oranges, and apples to make juices with.  Joshua juiced an orange (peel and all) with melon.  He found the seeds as he drank it!

Then we left Canberra and headed to Melbourne.  Our morning breakfast conversation included a discussion of the city of Canberra.  Canberra, liked most planned cities had density.  However, most planned cities are very focused on pedestrian and bicycle traffic, but Canberra is not.  It is very auto-centric, but we figured that perhaps that was because it was designed in 1918 (I had the date wrong in yesterday's post), the city planner felt that cars would become a popular mode of transportation.  But, unfortunately, they did, and the cars have taken over the city, we felt to the city's detriment.   It was difficult to reach the parliament buildings on foot because there were too many busy streets leading to it and we had to take a circuitous path to get there which shouldn't be the case.

The ride to Melbourne (Mel' bn) included seeing many sheep and cows.  The grasslands provide grazing.  There were several potential fire danger meters along the way (We have a similar Smoky the Bear meter near our cabin).  The top range was "catastrophic"--evidently it gets so dry, that wild fires burn through the area quickly.   We also saw many watch for koala bear signs and saw 2 kangaroo road kills (not so fun).

Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne

We arrived in Melbourne mid-afternoon and went to Federation Square.  It is an area with shops, restaurants,  and a public square.  The atrium area was filled with used book vendors, then the outdoor square was filled with a band, craft vendors, performers, etc.  There were flags advertising "Summer's over/Winter Fun" but people were also handing out leaflets about immigration and a man got up to talk about his experience as an immigrant.  It was a fun crowd, enjoying being outside.

Federation Square

Trees decorated with lace on the trunks and pom-pom balls hung in the branches

A giant chess board is always available

One of several fire pits

Performers

games and bean bag chairs

We then walked around and decided to eat at a KFC.  One person of our group really likes it and one person really does not, so it may be the only time we go there.  Then we drove to our place.  We are staying in hotel apartments.  Lots of space.  Joshua is happy to have his own room for the two nights we are here.  Each apartment has two bedrooms, a nice bathroom, a kitchenette (including dishwasher an full refrigerator/range), a washer/dryer, and a living room/dining room space.  Nice to be able to spread out a bit.  The building has 33 floors.  Our apartment is on 6th floor and our companions are on the 5th floor.  We even have balconies.  Tomorrow we take a day trip to travel the Ocean Road and will stay here one more night.

One reader asked about how Joshua feels, being the only "child" for the first time.  So I asked him.  He said that in a way he feels more free, not needing to think about a sister.  But he also misses having a sister to experience things with.  He also feels that we treat him more as a grown-up, being the only non-adult in the group.  He is 14:  in that awkward age of not really being a child anymore, but also not quite being a grown-up either.  So he said that it is "fine."