We woke up in Melbourne to the sound of rain so it was not an early start for our sightseeing trip. Once on our way the rain stopped and fortunately the skies cleared by midday and the rest of the day was warm and sunny. The joy of Melbourne is it's tram system which is very comprehensive so it was a day for the car to stay in the garage at the hotel and for us to sample the Metlink, the tram and bus system.
It was an easy tram ride into the city centre was followed by a city tour on the Visitor Shuttle bus which was a great way for us to see all of the main attractions whilst the skies cleared. It stopped at 13 key places; we joined it at Federation Square and saw the cricket ground, which has a 100,000 capacity, the Rod Laver Arena, home of the Australian Open, then out to China Town, the Greek Precinct and Little Italy. We passed the University of Melbourne, Queen Victoria market and the newly developed docks area, Victoria Harbour. Over the Yarra River we passed the Shrine of Remembrance and the Botanical Gardens, all accompanied by a most informative and amusing commentary from the driver. Although one could hop on and off, we really enjoyed the driver's descriptions so we stayed for almost the whole route, leaving at the last stop in the arts area on the south bank of the River.
After a delicious lunch overlooking the river, we ventured up to the 88th floor to the Eureka Skydeck ( highest public vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere). The lift took only 44 secs to get there and it shook for all of that time. The views of the city were amazing on such a clear afternoon and we wished we were here on March 14th as the view of the F1 course was superb. It was fun identifying all the places we had seen earlier and the view across to Mornington Peninsula and to the northern mountains was awesome. Although we ventured onto the open terrace where the winds were very strong, we declined going onto the glass platform which projects 3m out of the building, 300m high with nothing beneath it.
Finally, we took the free city circle tram, a genuine classic, to see some elaborate Victorian and Edwardian architecture, the lanes and of course high end shops. We really like Melbourne and they certainly have many ways to make visitors feel welcome.
All in all a very enjoyable day.