Australia
Melbourne Ferry Port

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    • Day 11

      Full on ship experience!

      February 20 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

      Oh my, things are moving at a lightning pace now that we're on this marvelous ship! It is so large, and we're still today figuring things out! First off, we received amazing advice from a seasoned traveler before we left. I, of course, bought everything she recommended--and we are so organized!

      Our room is great and it's in a convenient location. We have a group whatsapp setup, and that's been fun too! We had a ship day then a day in Melbourne (yesterday). I feel like we're following the Taylor Swift tour. Melbourne holds the distinct award of the largest tour attendance--and after our private city tour I can see why.

      Melbourne was a large metropolitan city with a lot to see. For my Phoenix family, we got to drive on the track for the upcoming grand prix--which apparently kicks off the season. I will definitely be watching ESPN next month! The homes here were the most expensive thus far. I thought California was pricey, but now that I've seen the 10x10 bathing hut, and I've changed my mind! Would you pay $1.5M for this??? These huts are now heritage sites, and there's no overnight sleeping, electricity or running water. I think we'd invest our money in Capitola!

      This city loves everything exercise and they have many sports teams. I thought I knew about them all, but this is a hole other continent! We went to another amazing shopping site where I bought some great cheese and crackers for our room. When we were boarding, I FINALLY found the champagne bar--yay! It was my first glass since Thanksgiving! I put it on our group chat, and before I knew it, we were a mighty Trilogy group! Speaking of that, we absolutely need to put the brakes on food and day drinking--so I'm drinking the best wine and cheese from here on out! Needless to say we weren't thrilled to have another eight course meal--so we had a sushi dinner with others! More cocktails and shows with friends plowed us under.

      This morning has me more back to reality. Exercise was top of mind and our priority! I took pilates and spin classes while James played pickleball! Before we knew it we had missed the buffet breakfast and we could eat a much healthier lunch--winning!!!

      Tonight is a specialty group Italian dinner...tomorrow I'll give you an update!
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    • Day 54

      Kein Christmas on the beach :-(

      December 25, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      Nach der durchnässten Nacht war am Morgen noch immer so ziemlich alles nass, die Luftfeuchtigkeit tat da sein übriges. Der typische Weihnachtsmorgen in Australien beginnt mit der Bescherung, die wir für dieses Jahr auch morgens machten und die natürlich klein ausfiel. Der Weihnachtsmann brachte zusammenpassende Pyjamas aus der Super Mario Welt! Außerdem einen Nougatbaumstamm aus Deutschland für mich und einen Selfiestick für Jana. Edda freute sich über ihr Spielzeugauto. Nach einem entspannten Weihnachtsmorgen fuhren wir zum Lunch ins Merrywell Rooftop Restaurant in Southbanks, wo wir ein dreigängiges Weihnachtsessen gebucht hatten. Es regnete noch immer in Strömen, so goennten wir uns ein Uber. Das Restaurant war sehr schön und das Ambiente sehr weihnachtlich, es gab sogar dezente Livemusik und Edda hatte den selben Hochstuhl, den wir auch zu Hause haben. Sogar der Weihnachtsmann kam vorbei und wir machten alle ein Foto gemeinsam mit ihm. Edda sah ihn direkt an ihrem ersten Weihnachten! ;-) Edda aß genüsslich die von uns mitgebrachten Nudeln, Brot sowie Gemüse und wir bekamen unseren ersten Gang geliefert, eine Platte mit Meeresfrüchten. Als Hauptgang gab es Kürbis, Rote Beete, Roastbeef, Ente und glasierten Schinken, ein typisches Festessen. Der Nachtisch war ein warmer Brownie mit Eis sowie andere Leckeren mit Waffeln und Teig. Wir waren randvoll und überrascht, wie gut die Meeresfrüchte geschmeckt hatten(außer die Austern), alles lecker mariniert mit Kräuterbutter.
      Nach dem Essen schüttete es leider immer noch. Wir waren schon sehr enttäuscht, wir hatten uns Weihnachten am Strand gewünscht... Wir entschieden uns dennoch immerhin zum Hafen und zu einem nahegelegenen Strand zu fahren..
      Port Melbourne erstreckt sich über ein großes Gebiet, das die verschiedenen Orte Fishermans Bend , Garden City und Beacon Cove umfasst .
      Historisch gesehen war es als Sandridge bekannt und entwickelte sich zum zweiten Hafen der Stadt, der mit dem nahegelegenen Geschäftsviertel von Melbourne verbunden war. Es wirkte sehr verlassen auf uns und da es noch stärker zu regnen begonnen hatte, traten wir den Rückweg an.
      Der Rest des Tages war ein gemütlicher Weihnachtsnachmittag, mit Edda spielen, Weihnachtsfilm gucken(die Neuverfilmung von der geheime Garten die deutlich schlechter ist als die von 1993) und Labyrinth ein Klassiker mit David Bowie. Meine Lieblingsweihnachtssüßigkeit ist hier Christmas Rocklea Road, Milchschokolade mit weißer Marshmallowfüllung und Gummitierchen drin.
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    • Day 52

      Day 52: Sunrise Melbourne Australia

      February 12 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 66 °F

      Happy to have not slept in this morning. It’s Monday morning in Melbourne, Australia the city is waking up. An ambulance drives through the streets with its lights flashing, early morning walkers are getting their laps in as the sun rises. Trucks, taxis, cars all rushing to wherever their day may take them. Off in the distance ten hot air balloons appear behind the city skyscrapers slowly making their way towards the rising sun. It’s a peaceful sight to watch them float eastward into the sun.

      The Neptune is docked next to the Norwegian Spirit - looking across the pier life on the Spirit is emerging just as it is on the Neptune. Okay, I admit it I do have pride to be on the Viking Neptune.

      This morning all Neptune guests have to report to Australian immigration for a face-to-face immigration check-in. Then we are free to do whatever we wish.

      It is Super Bowl today - weird to watch it on a Monday morning. Most likely we will stay on the ship to watch the game - then go explore Melbourne once the game is over. We have a couple of days & nights in Melbourne so we have time to do whatever we want to do.
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    • Day 37–38

      02.12.2024 Melbourne Australia Day 1/2

      February 12 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 66 °F

      Melbourne Australia per Google :
      Australia's cultural melting pot: a place where stunning architecture and a vibrant arts scene combine to put on a constant performance to rival that of New York or Paris.
      Sunrise from our balcony.
      Today we are spending outside the city on a private tour with 7 other folks. Warren (Alison is still quarantined) Paul(who put the tour together and his wife Joyce, Mark and Trisha, Don and Kully. We are doing the Great Ocean Road Tour. Here is a brief recap: Discover Australia’s Great Ocean Road on this day trip from Melbourne. Admire the natural beauty of Victoria’s coastline, from surfing beaches to the Twelve Apostles rock formations. You’ll make stops at seaside villages, watch for wildlife like parrots and koalas, and travel through the Otway Ranges .
      While waiting for our driver we saw lots of parrots in the trees above us. Rainbow lorikeets.

      Our first stop was Lorne Beach. Diana put her feet in the water. Saw lots of cockatiels.
      We saw Koalas in the wild sleeping.

      We stopped at Apollo Bay for lunch.
      Our driver/guide Dominic knows a lady who runs a wildlife preserve. We stopped and fed wombats, parrots, island kangaroos and the star of the show, koalas. They are so soft. We hated to leave but we had to get to our final stop The Twelve Apostles.

      The Twelve Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of Port Campbell National Park, by the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia.
      Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction. Eight of the original nine stacks remain standing at the Twelve Apostles' viewpoint, after one collapsed in July 2005. Though the view from the promontory by the Twelve Apostles never included twelve stacks, additional stacks—not considered part of the Apostles group—are located to the west within the national park. They were formed 15 to 5 million years ago - Wikipedia.
      Long drive back to the ship but it was all so worth it.
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    • Day 51

      Day 51: Sunset Melbourne Australia

      February 11 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 73 °F

      The evening lights of Melbourne, Australia were like a post card. Each night flocks of birds flew around the ship.

      For the next couple of days we had some unwanted visitors - Crickets in our room - they were huge. Depending on the circumstance either Donna or I would catch the cricket - then the other one of us would quickly open the door for its release.Read more

    • Day 28

      Clare Hotel for dinner

      March 20 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      Dinner at the Clare Hotel tonight, we were going to have take away, but decide to go out instead. You can’t go wrong with the food at the Clare and we all had great meals, with Mum and Laura having the Lamb Shanks, Paul had the Prawns with Rice and Lee and Dad had the Rissoles.

      Laura took a bit of a fancy to one of the waiters, Shaun, who was very happy to have a photo taken with Laura at the end of the meal.

      A group of ladies on the table next to us said Laura has great taste!
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    • Day 23

      Last Day in Melbourne

      December 31, 2022 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

      Melbourne is often described as Australia's "most European city". Broad tree-lined boulevards,beautiful parkland and botanic gardens, and Georgian municipal buildings. This is a very sports minded city, lots of areas 111, sport arenas, grand prix, Australia Open. Lots of walking, biking. So impressiveRead more

    • Day 37–39

      Melbourne, Australia

      February 12 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

      Melbourne! Our first steps in Australia. G'day mate!

      We took the free excursion around Melbourne. Impressions? Nice city, very interesting architecture, city people, windy.

      The people connected to our tour all seemed especially respectful of the originals, the aborigines who occupied the continent some 60,000 years before Captain Cook showed up, opening the door to the Europeans.

      We visited the Shrine of Rememberance, which housed all sorts of history and especially honored the men and women who sacrificed greatly and sometimes gave their lives for Australia.

      The facility was truly interesting and deserved a solid day, but we had to be back to the bus after a couple or so hours.

      Nearby we walked the gardens where we observed especially the majestic trees.
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    • Day 8

      Dinner at the Clare Castle Hotel

      February 29 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      A quick dinner at the Clare Castle Hotel, the local pub which is a 5 minute drive from Lee and Paul's apartment.
      Mum, Laura and Lee has a steak, whist Paul had the Veal Schnitzel and Dad had the Bangers and Mash. All meals were massive.
      We also manage to convince the pub to take some take away desserts away with us which we could eat later!
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    • Day 52

      Day 52: Super Bowl Monday?

      February 12 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

      Clearly it was weird watching the Sunday Super Bowl game on Monday. Since we were in tomorrow we should have already known the outcome of a very close game.

      Since we were going to be in Melbourne for a couple of days we opt’d to watching the Super Bowl on the Pool Deck, then went into town on the next two days.

      Martin, Jeric, Igor and others kept us well fed with food and adult beverages. Mini Pizza’s, Hot Dogs, Nacho Chips, Corn Dogs, Beer, shots (of something???), pretzel mix, a cool margarita were served — Donna mentioned it won’t be the same when we get home watching a game.

      So, the one thing I did miss was Donna’s nachos - she makes the best nachos! But, we gave way to that this season.

      Kudos to the Viking Staff for making Super Bowl Monday a really fun event.

      After a short nap we headed to the World Cafe where Rannel made me a special sushi roll and we watched the sunset over Melbourne Port.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Melbourne Port, Melbourne Ferry Port

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