Geelong, Melbourne Australia

February 12, 2024 - We anchored in the harbour near Geelong, a coastal suburb about 90 minutes from Melbourne. We opted for an all day excursion that included a bus ride to Melbourne, with a couple of picture stops in Melbourne and then 2 hours of time for us to explore the city on our own. Our first stop was at the war memorial. When it was planned over 80 submissions for the design were submitted and the one selected was done by to soldiers who served during the First World War. Through collaboration with mathematicians and astronomers along with architects, it was designed with a small crack that on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year, the sun shines directly on the tomb of the unknown solider. It was very moving. We then proceeded to Fitzroy Park to see Captain Cook’s cottage. Sam Cook is credited with discovering (or at least claiming for Britain) much of the lands in French Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia. It was his original cottage from England, which they planned to demolish but instead took it apart, numbering each piece, and reassembled it in Melbourne. The house was cute, but the park and in particular the Fitzroy Gardens Conservatory were small but incredibly beautiful. We then reboarded the bus for a drive around the city. The architecture was quite interesting and the guide told us that as Melbourne was being built, they put a requirement in place for all large buildings to spend at least 20% of the cost of construction on the exterior of the building. They did this to ensure that there was variety in the city scape and not just box-like buildings, and we thought it was quite successful. We were left off at Federal Square for our own time to explore. It was an extremely hot day, so even short stints of walking among the crowded paved streets in the sun resulted in instant sweat. We did walk around Flinders Station (trains) and the clock wall, and then walked along the river (where there was some shade) and enjoyed lunch at an outdoor cafe. We were kicking ourselves for not trying the crocodile burger offered at the restaurant we visiting in Sydney, so Ann Marie did try the pork and kangaroo sausage roll at this cafe. It was Ok, a bit greasy, and not something she would order again, but we can at least say we tried it. (There was not a gluten free option for Cathy to try). We walked around a bit more, enjoying the sculptures on one of the old railway bridges that was converted to a pedestrian walkway. And then we walked along one of the main streets with a feel much like the time square area of New York with fast food and souvenir shops. We got back to the bus and enjoyed a peaceful, air conditioned ride back to Geelong. We didn’t have time to explore Geelong, but did appreciate all the decorated bollards along the piers. These are typically boring concrete cylinders, but they did a wonderful job turning them into art.