Sunday, 30 November 2008

Update from Melbourne!

Dear Readers, we're getting really behind with the blog here! Dodging the showers in Melbourne seems to have taken up a lot of time! The Great Ocean Road seems a long time ago now. Couldn't get over the sheer scale of metro Melbourne - the drive from Adelaide was 1300km, but racked up a further 500km in 4 days of motoring around Melbourne before handing the trusty Toyota back. Commuting must be a way of life for most folks here but the population is growing faster than the infrastructure, so train problems, traffic delays and water shortages are common.
Downtown Melbourne could be mistaken for Hong Kong or Taipei at times.... the extent of immigration from Asia is another local theme.
My 2 weeks in Melbourne has been a mix of scenic trips around the Dandenong Mountains and Yarra Ranges NP (including a free ride on the footplate of "Puffing Billy", the local steam railway) and endurance walks around city attractions such as the Botanic Gardens, the fabulous State War Memorial, various Art Galleries & Melbourne Museum. Despite some shocking weather, its been great, and there'll be plenty of pics to follow.
Current location, Cockatoo...its 1.5 hrs on public transport to the city from here
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=-37.933638,145.489197&spn=0.133498,0.263672&z=12

1 December - off to Tasmania for the next major installment. In the meantime, I'll try and get you up to date with some photos!

P.

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