11 May 2026 - the day we went to Bangor (and all for under a Pound!)

 We got away on the 9.10am tram which was a good effort. We did get chucked off moments after we sat down because the train 'wasn't boarding yet'. Just got to the exit doors, when the train 'was boarding now' so we were back on our seats in 15 seconds flat.

The weather was glorious, not a cloud in the sky and the train comfortable and a smooth ride.

It was just over an hour until we were at Geelong's main station - when Allan and I went in 2018. I think we must have got off the train at the wrong station (G North or G South) - this was a much shorter and pleasant wander down to the waterfront.  

What a magnificent sight. There was barely a ripple on the sea and the waterfront area had been developed a lot from last time. Along with the famed Bollards, the grounds were beautiful and the ambience just lovely.  There was a little train (with wheels) which we rode to the far end where there was a Ferris Wheel, a swimming pool and seawater lagoon.  

Along the way, we spotted a lovely looking, but very busy restaurant and decided to make lunch our main meal of the day.  I ordered barrimundi with fries and salad. Unaccustomed as I am to complaining, I pointed out that my fries were stone cold, so I was delivered a large bowl of very fresh and very tasty fries, all before Nicola's steak had been delivered.  I tried a Muscato wine with my meal - a lovely drop, especially if you like a sweeter wine as I do.

A little napping may have happened on the train ride home.

All in all a fabulous day out.

10 May 2026 - and now for some sightseeing

 Another free tram ride - to St Kilda this time.  Allan and I always head out there when we are in Melbourne.

The weather was still a bit gloomy and leaning towards showery so we skipped the Market and went straight for a wander along Ackroyd St.

Interestingly, the weather forecast has several times predicted '0% chance of NO rain' - seems a bit back to front to me!

I took Nicola to Allan's favourite bookstore out there.  A lovely store for browsing but not many of us still buy paper books these days.

The St Kilda cake shops persist but many have changed from Greek and Continental ownership to Asian ownership.  Not much change to the offering except real cream has been replaced by mock cream which is a bit disappointing.

We departed with 5 cakes between us - 1 and a half in our tummies and 3 and a half for 'later'.  The leftovers were spread over 3 nights so we didn't feel too guilty.

Then we had an oops moment when we accidentally bought tickets to another show! We saw that 'The Book of Mormon' was on so we grabbed tickets. Again, an entertaining show and an excellent performance and great staging. The storyline was interesting with a bit of language and a bit of questionable content, but overall a good night out.

Might have a night in tomorrow night!

 

9 May 2026 - just a little bit more shopping

Shopping is only an incidental part of our holiday (yeah right!) but we hit the outlet shops at Southern Cross station.  Just a short walk out the back door of the apartment and across the road.

Neither of us bought heaps but some decisions take longer than others.  Discovered a Sketchers shop and there were literally thousands of pairs - I got a pair that I was happy with after trying on a fair number. Just a little hesitant to wear them here while I am walking lots in case I get blisters.  They have an interesting firm back heel which allows you to slip them on with no hands.  Will christen them back at the Village.

We were tempted by a movie - the Devil Wears Prada - Two. Don't remember loving No One, but this one was a riotous romp. A very comfortable cinema and a nice Red Wine and Cider between us. The movie was good fun.

Dinner was at an 'English' pub, the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. It was warm enough to eat outside and we both got a Seniors' Roast of the Day - nice that we older Kiwis are appreciated.

A couple of loopy people at the tram stop but no direct threat to any of the 50 odd people waiting.

The tram network is phenomenal - we seldom have to wait more than 3 or 4 minutes for any journey. I would say that nearly every tram is running at 150% of capacity, but entry and exit are totally manageable and its not often that we don't get a seat. The free ride certainly boosts patronage - would be good if our government made it available during the fuel crisis (not withstanding the fact that most transport is free for me in NZ already!  

8 May 2026 - The holiday starts here

 After a pretty good sleep, our body clocks were reasonably aligned with the rest of Melbourne so we were off to the Queen Victoria Market.  Did a quick scoot around, succumbing only to new phone covers for both of us, but if we are being honest, we were there for the hot donuts, and they didn't disappoint.  We queued with fireys and policemen who obviously enjoy the treat too.  For the whole time we were there, there would have been around 30 people in the queue.

We had awoken to what we thought was a pea soup of fog. Nothing at all was visible - no buildings or lights, just a white wall of nothingness.  Some hours later, we realised that it wasn't fog - we were just living in the low clouds because we were so high up (floor 54 of 65).

We wandered down Bourke St looking for lunch - the area has lost some of its large format stores, but still had a nice vibe.

We found a pizza/pasta place which we enjoyed.  Figured we could have a light dinner before the show that Nicola had booked from NZ.

The show was 'Waitress', which had apparently been a huge hit on Broadway and the Westend, but I had never heard of it.

Both of us loved it - a heart warming story, lots of humour and a great cast. We came out buzzing and I would definitely see it again in a heartbeat.

Our accommodation is at the bottom end of Collins St so it is a straight hoon down the hill from the top end.  My goodness, the crowds that squashed in to that tram - talk about mashed potatoes! In fact, nearly every tram we have taken so far (and there have been plenty) has been like a sardine can, mostly  (we think) due to the free rides, No complaints about that!

7 May 2026 - Christchurch to Melbourne

Cross Tasman flights from Christchurch leave at the much more civilised hour of  8.20 am compared with the 6 am departures at Wellington.

Got safely through security - easy peasy with no longer any need to pass liquids and laptops through separately, or to remove watches and other items.  I needed a patdown as the Xray highlighted around my left shoulder area - never mind my titanium hips and knee.  Don't know what set it off - an underwire maybe?

That was so much fun that we took a wrong turning while looking for our gate and ended up back in the  domestic terminal and had to do security all over again.  No Xray issues this time. Allan achieved a similar feat at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, but his wrong turning was into the departures security area.  I believe it was a bit harder for home to extricate himself from that spot!

We were on Jetstar with a meal ordered.  The flight was extremely smooth even though there was a lot of cloud below us. A packed flight.

We landed in 6 degrees - coldest day of the year to date here - a bit of a surprise! 

Ubered to our accommodation hoping for an early check-in,  We were able to do so with a bit of a juggle - we are on floor 54 of 65 so good views - we are in a 2 bedroom corner apartment with a tram stop at the door, so couldn't ask for more.

It was well past lunch time on our body clock so we found a food court across the road and the nattering began in earnest!

We found a Woolworths Metro so we could stock up on supplies - a bit horrified at the prices there,  Seemed higher than NZ even without the AUD conversion, 

The trade off is that the trams and trains state wide are free until the end of the month to offset the high fuel prices. So we will get our trip out to Geelong will be a free ride.

A good sleep was had by all.

Haven't taken many photos but I don't know how to insert them so they may have to be retrospectively loaded when my tech expert gets home!

6 May 2026 - Wellington to Christchurch

Travelling solo this time!

Allan is in Spain walking the Camino, so I am off for a wee break in Melbourne with my dear friend Nicola. First time departing from the Apartment in Lower Hutt, so I took the opportunity to drive back to Churton Park, and do a school pickup and then land on Michelle for the night.

She drove me into town and then I got on the Airport bus - pretty easy really and lots of time so had a pleasant coffee break before boarding my delayed flight to ChCh.

Had a long chat about the virtues of retirement village living with my older, widowed seat mate who was contemplating a move herself. I told her I was going to Melbourne for a girls' week. She saw Nicola waving enthusiastically at the arrivals gate and said to me ' You ARE going to have fun, aren't you?!'. That's the plan!

A lovely dinner and catch up before we hit the sack in preparation for an early wake up. 

Last walks

[A] Our flight home didn’t leave until 6:00pm, so we got a chance to see a bit more of Melbourne.

I got up early for an ‘Arcades and Lanes’ walk, following a route described in a brochure we’d picked from the Visitor Centre.  Similar sort of idea to the walking tour we’d done in Sydney a couple of years ago.  Transpires that early Sunday morning probably wasn’t an ideal time to do this walk – several of the arcades were locked, so I had to detour around them.

And the bustling, vibrant laneways were all-but empty.

Anyway, all good, it was still an enjoyable walk.

After checking out of the hotel, we headed for Fitzroy Gardens, somewhere we’d never managed to get to in all our previous visits to Melbourne.  Reminiscent of an old-style London park, with plenty of trees, lawns and pathways.  All covered with autumn leaves!

We spent a bit of time at James Cook’s Cottage, the oldest building in Australia, although to be fair it was shipped from England in 1934 and then reconstructed here!

It was very pleasant wandering through the gardens, coming across plenty of leaves blowing in the wind, a Conservatory…

… a model Tudor village, sculptures, fountains, and a fairy tree.

We enjoyed our brief sojourn back in Melbourne, although we both felt as though we could have done with a few more days there – it felt as though we were packing quite a bit into every day.  Always more things to do and places to go!

[S] We often forget to write the final post of our holidays – we get back in to the hurly-burly after a long flight and the holiday memories fade quite quickly, sadly.

The last day was very pleasant out in the fresh air – we had a lovely Devonshire tea looking out at the beautiful grounds of the Fitzroy Gardens.  A bit of a change to land at Wellington Airport with a temp of 4 degrees and 100 km winds – welcome home to Wellington!

It was a lovely break though, and Melbourne is still one of my favourite cities in the world after Wellington.  We really know it well so it sort-of feels like home, but we always find new things to do – the perfect mix really.