Tuesday 2 January 2018, in Melbourne

By the Yarra River waiting for our river cruise

Today after breakfast in Soul Cafe, which was almost empty, we took a tram to Fed Square and crossed the river to meet Matthew and Sarah at the ticket office for the Yarra Valley river cruises. We got tickets for the cruise upriver at 11.00.


The boat took us up past the MCG, the tennis arenas and the football ground, and under several historic bridges. Then we turned back and saw Herring Island and Eureka Tower. I got some photos of the city skyline.

The Yarra River cruise upriver past the iconic skyline

After we disembarked, we walked along the riverbank to Kings Domain and then into the Botanic Gardens. We walked through the South Chinese section of the gardens, had a drink and snack in the cafe, and then passed through the South African area. We stopped to look in the gift shop before leaving the gardens.

In the Melbourne Botanic Gardens near the river

Then we crossed over to the Shrine of Remembrance which commemorates the many conflicts in which Australian forces were engaged.



We took a tram back up Swanston Street to our hotel, and said goodbye to Matthew and Sarah. At our hotel, the room hadn't been cleaned. We sat in the lobby when the maid came 5 minutes later.



I read this morning on FB that my friend Catherine will be returning to Australia soon to live in Melbourne. Sad to hear that but I can give her some tips about the city.

In the evening we thought we would go to a Thai restaurant. But it was full so we ended up at a Japanese place instead, Saki. We enjoyed the set meal.