Day Eighteen - Melbourne

In the grand plan, today was going to be leaving day but we hadn't yet managed to take the kids on a tram and the girls had only seen Melbourne through the car window. With a bit of a shuffle, the caravan park made our site available for us for one more day, so today we hit the city. 

It was very windy, and a little chilly so we rugged up and drove in to Docklands to catch the free City Circle tram. These trams are the older style ones and have a commentary running and basically do a continuous loop around the city. Unfortunately, they are also very popular! We got on at the second stop and had to stand up although I was lucky got a seat a few stops later when someone left. 

Our first stop was Melbourne Central where we showed the kids the shot tower in the middle of the shopping centre. 

From there we walked across to the State Library. Tim and Emily were keen to have a game of giant chess but the boards were all in use. We walked through to the silent reading room and Sarah was a bit disturbed that there were no bookshelves. She wondered what sort of library had no books! 

We spent some time looking at the displays throughout the library including some books carved into map shapes, some very old botanical books and the history of the state of Victoria. 

We had planned to take the tram around to the Fitzroy Gardens and were lucky one came just as we reached the team stop. We jumped on and trundled down the road to the next stop where the driver got out and swapped ends. There was then an announcement that this tram's next stop was the one we had just got on at! There was no explanation as to why the tram was suddenly turning around. Throughout the tram, everyone looked at each other with quizzical faces and then everyone got off. We didn't want to take our chances and wait for another tram so we walked instead. 

Our route took us through Chinatown which seemed smaller than I remember and had a surprising number of Japanese eateries along its length. After Chinatown, we walked past Parliament House where the pretty street lamps were much commented on. Down to Fitzroy Gardens and and into the conservatory first. 

It was lovely and warm in there and I could have stayed longer but I could hear fairies calling. 

From the conservatory we walked over to Captain Cook's Cottage for some photos and then to the Fairies Tree. We were surprised to find books tied all around the railing at the tree. They had been put there by a bookcrossing participant so we looked through them all and chose two to read on the trip. 

Sarah's imagination came alive at the Fairies Tree. It brought a whole new perspective to the carving. The Model Tudor Village next to the Fairies Tree is my favourite here. I love the detail in the buildings and the gardens and it appeals to the genealogist in me. When I'm old and rich I'm sure I'll spend some time creating my own model buildings. 

We headed (on foot) towards Flinders St Station after having a quick play on a large dragon shaped slide in the gardens. On the way, we stopped in at ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) where they had a Dreamworks exhibit and a large history of video exhibit. 

Tim was particularly interested in the marquettes of the dragons from How to Train a Dragon. 

Flinders St Station was next with an obligatory photo at the clocks and then it was time to head home. We had just about given up on waiting for the tram in the cold and wind when it appeared down the street. This time it had even more people on it and we only just squeezed in. At least there was no chance of falling over each time it stopped and started as there was nowhere to fall to! The kids thought it was great to start with but decided Melbourne was just too noisy and busy for them. 

Arriving back at the car, Peter decided that he hadn't had enough of Melbourne so we drove the short distance back in to the city centre to have dinner. We wandered up Swanston St looking for a different dinner than our usual and decided on a Japanese cafe. The girls embraced it but Tim wasn't too sure so stuck with fried chicken (tori karaage). I was excited to see okinomiyaki on the menu but decided not to have it as there was no choice of filling and it was a small starter. I haven't seen that since I left Japan. 

The yakisoba I did have was yummy. 

On our return to the caravan park we decided the wind was just too strong. Our annexe was being blown in and out and the strain on the van was concerning. It was 8.30pm so we sent the kids for a shower and pulled the annexe down - a fun job in a gale!

The wind continued strongly through the night, buffeting the caravan so not much sleep was had.