Second day in Melbourne

Sunday required us to switch hotels so that we would be much closer to the airport for our flight, tomorrow, to Tasmania.  But before the flight, what did we do in Melbourne today?

Driving around Melbourne

After checking out of our hotel, we were able to drive by a few sights before we got to our lunch location.  Only a few kms from the hotel is Albert Park, that hosts the F1 race.  This year’s race was held 3 or 4 weeks ago, so it was neat to physically drive (99%) of the track, and also stop in front of pit lane.

Next up, was the Botanical gardens.  Amber wanted to go for a walk in the gardens, and they looked lush and full of things to see, however all of Melbourne seemed to agree with our plan and had taken up all the parking around and in the park, so for now we settled for driving around it.  Beside the botanical gardens is the Shrine of Remembrance.  It was obvious that ANZAC day is soon as this site also looked like it was getting ready to host events this coming Wednesday.

South Melbourne Market

We lucked out in finding parking immediately at the market.  Think of any large market with multiple stalls and vendors, and then expand it by two.  Much larger than either Ottawa’s Byward market, or even Toronto’s St. Lawrence market.  The market is also all encompassing.  We headed to the restaurants and shops to find our lunch (it was Thai and yummy!).  Afterwards we walked the whole market and the place had anything we could see for food, and lots of vendors selling other goods.  There was no shortage of things to see in the market.

Relax and recharge

After the market we headed to our hotel for the evening.  As much as there are many more things to do in Melbourne, we both wanted an afternoon to mutually ignore each other, read, write, research, reflect and relax.

Tomorrow we’re on a plane, but this time it’s a short flight to Tasmania.  We’ve got one thing planned, and if its works, it should be one of Amber’s highlights for the trip.  (Hint: It’s zoo related)