Day at Sea and Melbourne

We spent our day at sea relaxing on our balcony, reading and exploring the ship.  During one of my morning walks, I had located the lawn (yes! lawn with real grass not astro turf) on the ship so, after lunch, we sat on the veranda there and chatted with some very nice people who had also discovered this 'quiet' place with probably the best view on the entire ship.  Shshhhhhhhhhh, don't tell anyone.  We don't want it getting too popular...lol.

And then it was on to Melbourne where my friend, Helen, met us at the wharf to show us the sights.  She had not only driven 3 hours to be our tour guide but it was also her birthday.  It was such a delight to finally meet Helen in real life after all these years.  She and I met on the old Creating Keepsakes message board at least ten if not more years ago and were on our very first design teams together.  And show us the sights she did...

Downtown Melbourne is a lovely mix of old and new.  See the tall tower on the left?  We rode an elevator to the very top where there was a 360 view of the city...amazing.  (hope I have the right building).

 This scene reminded me of the boats that go up and down the Seine in Paris.

 This building is center stage in Melbourne and, not to talk badly about another city in another country but...even Helen thought this was a bit of a mess.  It is oddly placed but does have a lovely plaza where people were gathering for early lunch.

 We loved the old and new contrast in the city.

 Funny statures...pupperazzi!

 Helen told us that this is called The Clocks, where people often meet each other in Melbourne...lovely building.

 Views of Melbourne from the top...

 Our next stop was St. Kilda's for lunch on the beach.  This is the fun entrance to an amusement park near where we ate.

 The entrance to the beach...

It had been a really hot day in Melbourne but there was a delightful breeze on the beach.  Helen found us the most delightful place, Republica with excellent food and tons of opportunities for great people watching.

 Helen sent us back to the ship with a sampler of goodies...I am now officially addicted to Tim Tams, which are near impossible to get state side.  We snacked on these through out our entire trip...thanks muchly for the tour and the new addiction, dear Helen. 

We pulled out of Melbourne and headed across to New Zealand.  The next two days were at sea with our first formal night the first of the two days.