Australia's Southern Cities- Melbourne, Adelaide, Esperance

Tasmania

Melbourne skyline and Yarra River

Melbourne Railway Station

Cathedral in Victoria Square

Funky building in Victoria Square

About mid-morning of our last day at sea, we passed through a strait separating Tasmania from some offshore islands. We spent the rest of our last day at sea with Jane attending some craft classes and getting a pedicure, and Capt. Larry working hard on the blog while he had an internet connection. The next morning we arose to find us at the Melbourne pier and passenger terminal. Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city. Situated on the banks of the Yarra River, the city is touted as rich in multi-ethnic cultures with a rich Aboriginal heritage. Since again none of the cruise line’s shore excursions appealed to us (there’s only so many wildlife parks, botanic gardens, museums, and picturesque urban overlooks one can take), so once again we would catch a bus that would take us to the heart of the city and we would wing it from there. We bought our passes and boarded a bus. At the drop off point we spoke with a volunteer city ambassador and got a map. We thought we would go to the Queen Victoria Market, a popular tourist destination, and do some shopping.

Intricate architecture

At Queen Victoria Market

Schoolkids with their hats

The ambassador told us how to catch a tram to the market, but after looking at the map and deciding it was only about a mile away, we decided to walk. Lord knows we could use the exercise. Walking also allowed us to slip into several shops along the way where Jane was able to pick up a few items she needed. At the market she launched into shopping mode and started souvenir shopping in earnest. Adjacent to the market was a farmer’s market. One of the interesting things we were reminded of is that Australia has much higher levels of UV radiation penetrating the atmosphere. This is due to a thinner ozone layer that exists over the southern hemisphere compared to the northern hemisphere and it is particularly thin during the southern hemisphere’s summer. In fact, Australia has one of the highest rates of melanoma in the world. School children are required to wear hats whenever they are engaged in outdoor activities.

Melbourne circle tram

No hat, no recess at school. We ran into a group of school children at the market all in their hats (we doubt this would ever go over in the U.S.). Finishing at the market, we walked a couple of blocks to catch a tram that circled around the city’s central business district. We hopped aboard and enjoyed the sightseeing. The tram would call out what could be seen at each stop along with a little bit of the city’s history which made the ride especially enjoyable. After we finished with the circle tram, we made our way back to the rendezvous point to catch a ride back to the ship.

Coming into Adelaide Harbor

After leaving Melbourne, we had another day at sea (Australia is so huge). With the weather reasonably nice, we did our morning walk on the ship’s walking track, then another day of crafts for Jane, and lounging around for Capt. Larry. It was an uneventful day. The next morning we were up early (we’ve set our clocks back for 4 time zones over as many days) to watch the pilot take us into Adelaide harbor.

We are welcomed with a serenade

As we arrived at the cruise terminal, we were welcomed by singing ambassadors accompanied by a band playing Australian folk tunes and ballads. Adelaide is the portal to South Australia’s big outdoor country and near the major wine producing region of the Barossa Valley.

Parking lot cover accommodates tree

Adelaide Railway Station

Pigs on the loose in Rundle Street Mall

Reindeer with big balls!

Once again we shunned the shore excursion offerings, but this time on the offer of Keith and Sheila to show us around a city they had previously visited. After a leisurely breakfast, we disembarked and purchased our transportation pass. We boarded a train that would terminate at the Adelaide Railway Station. Outside the station we hopped on a tram that took us to the Rundle Street Mall, a shopping mecca for Adelaide.

Overlooking Rundle Street Mall

Jane and Sheila started leading Keith and Capt. Larry deep into the bowels of an upscale department store dashing the men’s hopes of ever finding their way out by themselves.
Rundle Street Mall is an open air mall lined with numerous, eclectic shops and offshoots to other strip malls along the main thoroughfare. After walking the shops for one-half hour, Keith asked a local where there was a good place to get some drinks.

Beach at Glenelg

The recommendation led us to a second story restaurant/bar with a balcony overlooking the street. We enjoyed a couple rounds of drinks and some lounge foods before heading to a train stop to board as train that would take us to the suburb of Glenelg. Glenelg is a beach community on the ocean and a popular resort area.

Glenelg clock tower

We walked the pier and beach area before finding a sports bar for a drink. The visit to Glenelg was short as most of our time was spent riding the train to the community. We got back Adelaide and rushed to the railway station with about 15 minutes before the last train left for the cruise terminal. We were back onboard about 30 minutes before the ship departed for our next stop, Esperance.

But before we would arrive at Esperance, we had two more sea days to contend with.

Jane slices her layers

Jane had just about exhausted her craft activities when she spotted a Black Forest cake competition in the daily newsletter. At the appointed time we went to the competition and she volunteered to compete against the cruise director while the pastry chef demonstrated how such a cake was assembled.

Spreading the whipped cream

Adding the finishing touches

Feeling she had an edge, having witnessed a similar demonstration when we were in Germany, she started slicing her layers and giving each one a splash of Kirshwasser, whipped cream, black cherries, shaved chocolate and maraschino cherries. Of course, the cruise director far exceeded the necessary quantity of Kirshwasser to inject some levity into the competition, and he didn’t have a chance when Jane picked up her piping bag to finish the cake.
She won the competition, but couldn’t get the chefs to send her cake to our dinner table to share with our fellow dinner mates due to an outbreak of norovirus on the ship that was causing quite a few cases of gastrointestinal illness.

Early morning sunrise at Esperance

But it was a fun activity and helped to pass the time.

We arrived at Esperance on the heels of another time change which always causes us to arise early. But the early start allowed us to view a magnificent sunrise from our balcony.

Esperance clock tower

We had breakfast with Keith and Sheila and procured our tender tickets to go ashore. With a population of around 14,000, Esperance is a laid back beach community with unspoiled fine white sand beaches and emerald green waters- very similar to Florida’s Emerald Coast in the panhandle. The town emerged as the gateway to the goldfields in the 1890’s, and today is a hub for outdoor enthusiasts. Cape Le Grand National Park preserves the scenic beauty of the shoreline and features an abundance of wildlife, including sunbathing kangaroos.

Ray, Jane, Heather and an Aussie asshole!

Offshore is the Rechere Archipelago, a collection of about 100 islands known for their aquatic wildlife. We disembarked at the tender pier and started the short walk to town. Jane and Sheila wanted to peruse some shops, so Capt. Larry and Keith decided to find a pub and have a brew. After the girls finished their shopping and the guys their brews, we headed for a mall that Jane and Sheila wanted to go to.

Esperance beach

We arrived at the mall only to find, being Sunday, it closed. In fact, a good number of the business were closed which we found strange with the arrival of 2,000 passengers on a cruise ship. While we were walking down the street we ran into another Australian couple, Ray and Heather, we had had breakfast with on several occasions.

Another beach shot

Ray and Heather are from Perth and had a lot of recommendations for us when we arrive there, and we shared a lot of similar tastes and ideas. Ray became inspired when Capt. Larry mentioned visiting all the national parks in the U.S. and felt that he might want to add that to his bucket list in his country. Knowing that we may not run into each other again for the remainder of the cruise, we traded information and said our goodbyes. We really enjoyed their company and were such a sweet couple. We had a couple more drinks before boarding the tender to return to the ship.