Melbourne March 31, 2007

Even though I had to wake up at 5am and leave the wonderful city of Perth, Australia which I’ve been visiting, I was excited to start a new journey to the East Coast.  Upon arrival I decided to take a taxi to the hotel.  I’d have to say I was very pleased with the hotel location.  I’m next to a Nine West shoe store and across the street from the beautiful jewelry of Tiffany’s.  The hotel is a Novotel which is also connected to a mall named Australia on Collins.  After checking in and dropping off my luggage I decided to walk to the Yarra River and visit the Melbourne Aquarium.  These were 2 of the many sights I wanted to see while I was here.  I’d have to say I was pleased with both.  The aquarium had a few creatures I’ve never seen before and the Yarra was calm and relaxing, but a not so clear brown.  I will have to visit the Yarra in the evening and take photos of the city at night. 

For a daytime city view I was told to visit the Rialto Towers on Collins.  It is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere at 824 feet and it has an observation deck.  Before looking outside we watched a 20 minute video on the city and it suggested other areas of the city that are a must see. The observation deck was similar to the Space Needle or Stratosphere, but seeing a city such as Melbourne with a river, skyscrapers, football fields, cricket fields, harbors and the ocean is amazing.

This evening for dinner I joined friends of friends of friends for dinner at a place called the Burmese House.   The food is a mix of Asian/Indian/and Caribbean.  IT WAS SO YUMMY!  We need some variety like this in Florida.   We had some wine with dinner and then proceeded to a club across the street.   It was a very late night, but well worth it.  I met some wonderful people and we had a wonderful evening out on the town.