The Last, Last Post

Forgot to finish the story... After five extra nights in Melbourne, we finally made it home.

The good things about the enforced extention to our holiday:

• Qantas accomodated us and fed us really well for the whole time We met some lovely people and there was a real cameraderie amongst the others we met. 
• They were mostly Australians trying to get to Tasmania.

The not so good:

• We lost up to half of each day trying to rebook our flight and our accomodation and get Qantas's acceptance of the costs.
• We were across the road from the airport but surrounded by motorways so we couldn't even go for a walk.

These things happen....

The 3rd Last Post

It's 10.15 pm and we have been on hold on the phone for the last 2 and a half hours, waiting to rebook. The hold music is rotating between 2 songs, one of which is 'I still call Australia home!' Is there a subliminal message in there?

Tomorrow's flight was cancelled while we were having dinner. Most cancellations have come in the night or early morning.

On the plus side, it means we don't need an alarm or wake up call, or to be ready to leave the hotel at 7am, so we can sleep in - yay!

On the negative side, I don't know when we are going to get home.

Today we taxied to the nearest civilisation - $17 each way to the Airport West Shopping Mall. We shared the taxi so a bit cheaper, and we went to a movie. It was really nice to get out!

The movie was Super 8 - weird as, and not our normal movie style at all, but moderately entertaining.

The hotel is feeding us well and we are meeting up with our fellow Wellingtonians at each meal. The humour is starting to get a bit warped - we think Qantas should charter a cruise ship to take us home!

The 2nd last post

Hello again from Melbourne! Our bags made it on to the plane on Sunday morning, but the flight was cancelled before we could get on.

We had noticed the fog that shrouded the CBD and were worried that it would hold up our departure so we were surprised when the announcement came that we were cancelled due to 'volcanic activity in Wellington' - didn't think we had any volcanoes at home!

The airline got our bags off and organised food and lodgings after a bit of waiting around. They re-booked us on to Monday's flight, but once we started watching the TV we could see that it might take a bit longer than that.

Sure enough, we got a text at 1 am this morning saying the flight was cancelled again. Luckily, we slept through it, but I saw the message at 5-ish and we were on the phone to Qantas by 5.30 am. It took an hour to get through, but we were able to get re-booked for tomorrow's flight.

As more and more people get disrupted, it will be harder to get onto the next flight. We weren't able to get confirmation that Qantas would cover our accommodation and food costs.

We had to go to the airport to do that (fortunately just a short walk away) - what chaos! The queues were massive so it took most of the morning to get sorted.

Qantas have been pretty good - other airlines are not providing accommodation, but we were lucky enough to be amongst the first disrupted. That meant we could find a bed. Some people off our flight opted to go to Auckland even though Qantas were cutting these people off once they landed there - no accommodation or flights or assistance to get to Wellington. Plus we'd been told that Wellington airport was closed, so all in all, it wasn't an attractive option for us. The people who took it didn't get there anyway, but the hotel beds were all full by the time they pulled the plug on that flight.

The communication has been poor though. They talk to a couple of people at a time, rather than announcing it to everyone, and no one really seems to know what's going on.

We've heard some terribly sad stories including a couple coming from London to his mother's funeral. They wouldn't have made it in the end.

The extra days haven't felt like extra holiday - too much queuing and wondering what our next move will be. We can't easily get anywhere from here so we've just had our wee walks to the airport.

Third time lucky tomorrow - hopefully!

The last post

We've had another lovely day today and it's sad to be leaving.

We took a train out to Williamstown, which is not far away as the crow flies, but is on the other side of the harbour/river mouth. We ate lunch out in the sunshine - one of my favourite things to do.

Then we ambled around the town and out on the pier. It was pleasantly warm and a relaxing time was had by all!

Tonight was our 'special' dinner at a posh restaurant down beside the river. It was nice but not exceptional. Just packing up now and getting ready for an early night before our 5.30 am wake-up - aaaagh!

A funny story to finish our Melbourne blogs...two or three times during our trip, Allan has been asked if he is eligible for the concession (seniors!) rate - mostly when he has been out with his much younger wife! Cracks me up, but a bit close to the bone for him since he is 50-mumble tomorrow!

The most fun ever

We just had the most fun ever eating out. We went back to Hardware Lane to find the restaurant that we saw that had pork belly on the menu. I mentioned in an earlier post how the restaurants have people outside trying to entice people in. We had a ringside seat to the guys around us - it was so funny. Our guy was hilarious, managing to charm most of the people he approached in. The offer was two courses for $29.50, a free entree platter and a free wine. Our guy and the guy opposite were trying to outdo each other and nearly came to blows about the other 'breaking the rules'. It was priceless to watch!

Amazingly, the food was very good too - not fine dining, but good and hearty. The key is throughput, and this was demonstrated when they gave us our bill, and then the next guy whipped it away to process before Allan had even had a chance to get his credit card out! We ate our two courses, plus our entree platter and our free wine and were out in an hour and a quarter, but we laughed so much, it was cheap at the price.

What next?

Today's been a bit quieter. We've done all the big things we wanted to, so we ambled over to Queen Victoria Market this morning. Didn't buy anything but 1/2 a dozen of their freshly cooked donuts - superb!

Then we parted company - Allan to bookshops and me to Target, the last shop I needed to check out. Stocked up on essentials, and then wandered back to the hotel.

The weather has been much more pleasant today - the cold wind has dropped and there were blue skies all day.

We went for a little trip on the train this afternoon and discovered Flagstaff Hill, a lovely park just outside the CBD. We just sat in the sun and chilled - most relaxing.

Back to Hardware Lane tonight for Pork Belly. It's just a quick trip on the tram, and so easy.

I do feel at home in Melbourne - so easy to navigate and get around. So many restaurants and such a nice feel.

On the go!

It's been a busy 24 hours since I last wrote.

We didn't make it to Ginger Boy as it was full, but we found a cute and very authentic little Italian restaurant just down the lane from the hotel. Had a lovely meal and fun watching the Italian staff being...Italian!

Then we were off to Dr Zhivago - what a show! It was amazingly well done, the sets, the acting, the singing, everything. It was a complete contrast to Rock of Ages and although the musical style was a little old-fashoined, I think I preferred it. It was a long show - it didn't finish until 11pm.

We had an early start this morning - out by 9.30 - shock, horror!

We took a train to Ballarat - a 90 minute ride, which was very smooth and somewhat soporophic, if you know what I mean.

What a gorgeous town. There are lots of buildings that date back to around the time of the goldrush in the 1850s. All the people we spoke to were interested in the Christchurch earthquake when they found out that we were Kiwis. We did a tour of a place called the Mechanics' Institute - a bit of Australian history, full of fascinating anecdotes and really interesting.

Just like Wellington - the trains weren't running for our return trip, so we had a bus back to town. A long but interesting day.

Dinner was a bit of a comedown from what we've been having recently - Maccas!

Half way there

Back on the straight and narrow with our eating today! We had a fantastic meal at a restaurant called Butchers Grill which gives you 50% off your food bill on Super Tuesdays. It had a Mediterranean feel but with a steak emphasis. Really nice.

We mapped out our preferred restaurants for our 8 dinners in Melbourne and we are making good progress through them. We still have Lygon St (Italian) to do, and we’ve booked Saturday night at Number 8 down by the river, where we’ve had a couple of memorable meals before. Tonight we’re trying Ginger Boy which was on Masterchef and is just around the corner.

Our hotel has been a real success story – couldn’t have asked for a better location. It’s an easy walk to the theatres, restaurants and shops, but there is a tram just 2 minutes’ walk away for when it’s cold and wet (which it has been the last couple of days).

I’ve had two successful shopping days – one in Myers and one at the Factory Outlet Centre down by Southern Cross Station.

Tonight we’re off to Dr Zhivago – managed to pick up tickets at the half price booth.

Tomorrow, we’re going to take the VicLine train out to Ballarat for a poke around. Our time is going fast!

Guilty Pleasures!

We’ve been bad today – we’ve eaten lots of naughty but delicious food and Allan has been shopping – believe it or not!

We started at St Kilda – after a photo-stop at Ash and Bridget’s bridge, we went looking for a lunch stop. Wow, I’d forgotten about the cake shops there. We had a pastie and then Allan had a marzipan chocolate creation and I had the best vanilla square – so decadent! We tried to walk it off a bit, but there was a nippy wind.

Then Allan found the bookshop of his dreams – he restrained himself to just 5 books.

I came back for my obligatory nap and Allan headed off to his favourite music store (Allans Music!), and bought a couple more books. Luckily, his suitcase only weighed 11 kgs on the way over!

Then it was off to Hardware Lane for dinner. Such a vibrant part of town and lots of eager hosts trying to tempt you to eat with them. Even though it was pretty cool, we could eat outside because we were seated under a heater. We chose Italian, and I had a chocolate pudding with a pure liquid filling that was to die for. Back on the diet as soon as we get home!

Tomorrow will be my shopping day!

Rock of Ages

A moderately busy day yesterday. I'm fighting off a cold so the stamina isn't what it normally is - or maybe it's just been too long since I travelled!

Docklands was a bit of a disappointment - they have created some lovely outdoor spaces and it all looked very pretty - but there was no-one there! All the eateries were closed and it was like a ghost town. I wonder if Melburnians come out at night and not on Sunday mornings? Lots of apartments with gorgeous views so maybe it will grow in popularity.

I came back to the hotel for a bit of a nap while Allan visited the Old Treasury Museum, which he found interesting.

We went for dinner at an authentic British pub - made me pine for the UK. It was a Sunday Roast deal that we chose so we could be out for our 7pm show. It didn't disappoint - lots of it, well cooked and tasty. The pub was packed. We're noticing that all the good restaurants are packed, and the others are empty - there doesn't seem to be a middle ground. Should make choosing where to eat easy.

The show we saw - Rock of Ages - was really well done, high energy and LOUD. It was based around 80's music and had lots of comedic characters and funny one liners. We both enjoyed it, although we weren't as familiar with the music as we thought we would be - I think the 70s was our decade!

Slept for ten hours last night - can't remember when that last happenned!

Off to St Kilda shortly. The weather looks like it might deteriorate over the week so will take advantage of the sunshine today.

On the road again

We’re on the road again – yay! We arrived in Melbourne around 6 pm last night.

We departed from the ‘Rock’ – the new international terminal at Wellington Airport.

It is pretty spectacular and has a nice feel to it. Everything is automated through customs and immigration now, so absolutely no queues.

Still a lack of choice with just one duty free and one food outlet – I suppose the traffic doesn’t warrant more. We had a nice light lunch and coffee before take-off, and it was a nice change to fly mid-afternoon rather than crack of dawn.
We flew Qantas and I have to say that I am a fan of full service airlines – good food, a drink, movies. A few ‘lumps and bumps’ though, as the pilot put it, with bad weather heading to NZ.

Our hotel is good - clean and spacious, and just around the corner from the theatres. Bed squeaks though! We bought tickets for tonight to Rock of Ages. I have Dr Zhivago and Love Never Dies (the Phantom sequel) in my sights too and Allan is keen on the Tutankhamun exhibition so that’ll keep us out of trouble. Off to Docklands today to see how much it’s changed – it was just new when we were here five or six years ago.