NZ-Australia, Feb. 23, 2024

Viking Description: Melbourne has been called the world’s most livable city. It enjoys a scenic setting on the large bay of Port Phillip. Soon after Queen Victoria declared it a city of the Crown in 1847, the rush to find gold in its rivers made it one of the world’s largest and wealthiest cities. Today, it is celebrated as the country’s cultural capital of the arts and exudes a rich and lively British flair, from its narrow shopping lanes to the fanciful Victorian buildings along Collins Street. A literal slice of England can be found within 64 acres of beautiful blooms at Fitzroy Gardens.

We sailed most of the Bass Strait overnight and woke to a fairly rocky sea and overcast sky. We spotted the shore of mainland Australia by 9am and were approaching the outer straits of the very large Port Phillip Bay by 10am. It took nearly four hours to traverse Port Phillip Bay (at a crawl) with the towers of downtown Melbourne very slowly emerging Oz-like from the misty distance.

I watched from the upper decks as we inched our way into port. I made sure we made it safely. We docked at the Melbourne Cruise Terminal alongside the Queen Mary 2. The Cunard ship dwarfed our ship in size and carried three times as many passengers. It was on a 55-day cruise from New York to Sydney via London and Cape Town. 

After many, many, many announcements about the procedure for processing all passengers through Australian immigration, our turn finally came a little after 3pm. The actual process was easy and we were led on a long walk off the pier to a location where we could catch shuttle buses into town. We think because we were in Melbourne a day early Viking could not arrange to get shuttle buses on the pier. It wasn’t bad for Barb or me but our mobility-restricted friends were not happy.

Once in town we bumped right into our mobility-restricted friends, Barb and Karen and Ann. Photo op! They also took some pictures of us…but we never got them.

Barb and I split off to see more of Melbourne. We crossed the Yarra River and caught the free City Circle Tram number 35. The tram was crowded much of the way and it was often difficult to hear the recorded commentary about each stop, but it offered a good orientation spin around the city. And did we mention it was free? All trams within the Central Business District zone were free which was a very civilized approach to urban transport. The ride all the way around the loop took nearly an hour.

Next we plunged into the streets of Melbourne, walking up Elizabeth Street teeming with people on a Friday afternoon.We did some window shopping and then some real shopping once Barb found an opal store. She bought some earrings for herself and we took pictures of others to see what Allie liked. We also spotted an Uggs Store across the street.

We searched several chemists and finally tracked down some eucalyptus-scented Kleenex that Barb had heard about. We also searched in vain (so far) for the Vantage Australian liquor that our neighbor and cat-sitter Mark requested. We found a few touristy items including things for Emmy, Caroline’s baby and a fine Australia cap for me. 

After a couple of hours we were shopped out and a bit overwhelmed by the continued hustle and bustle of downtown Melbourne. We headed back to the river, went to the Southbank area and ducked into the first restaurant we could find, Pure South Kitchen. We were pleased when they gave us a window-side seat perfect for watching the parade of people on the Southbank Promenade. The food was serviceable, at best. I had an octopus appetizer; Barb and I shared a plate of fish and chips; my apple cider was crisp and cool. Barb would later deem these to be the worst fish and chips we had on the trip but I thought they weren’t too bad.

Our first impressions of Melbourne were quite positive. It was a vibrant, walkable downtown with a ton of foot traffic from a mostly young, fit, multicultural population. There was a density of shops and arcades, both at street level and in multilevel arcades and retail spaces within and between buildings that rivaled Hong Kong. The architecture was interesting and the river made for some expansive views; the town had a lot of green space and athletic facilities.  

After dinner I escorted Barb back to the shuttle bus stop and tucked her onto a shuttle back to our ship. I stayed in order to see a bit more of Melbourne after dark. I decided to stay on the busy Southbank Promenade; I turned left to travel west, or downriver. There were a ton of restaurants and most seemed busy. I snapped photos from several of the pedestrian bridges over the river, another nice touch to make the city and downtown more liveable. I walked by what seemed like several city blocks of upscale waterfront restaurants and entrances to the very large Crown Casino complex. I stayed on the promenade as far as the convention center before returning. I tried to capture more of the city lights as twilight fell.

I would have liked to stay longer but I was getting worn out and my knee was starting to hurt again. I found my way back to the shuttle bus stop and got back to the ship a bit after 9pm. I crashed in the room and took it easy for the rest of the evening.

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