Today is a shore day and we woke to find the ship in Port Philip Bay approaching its berth in Melbourne. At breakfast the Captain announced that we had experienced very strong headwinds during the night, gusting to 90 knots. It was Bass Strait versus Queen Mary 2 and we slept peacefully through it. We have yet to feel more than a slight roll on board; it seems much more stable than any container ship we have been on.
Cunard provided coaches to take us into Federation Square but many streets in the city were closed because Malcolm Fraser's funeral was on, so it was a slow trip, taking a long detour. We find that Federation Square is an interesting place to explore and we used the free wi-fi to update the blog and check emails while enjoying a banana milkshake for Malcolm and a genuine cappucino for Lyn. Kirra Gallery is a shop that sells works of art in glass and we saw some pieces by Maureen Williams who had done the inaugural Larapinta Trek with us.
We enjoyed walking around the Art Gallery upstairs and seeing the originals of many famous Australian works by McCubbin, Tom Roberts, Hans Heysen, etc.
Malcolm paid $15 to view 23 cars that demonstrated the genuine "Designed and Made in Australia" character. There was a Holden concept car that looked very sleek.
One very early steam car:
Malcolm paid $15 to view 23 cars that demonstrated the genuine "Designed and Made in Australia" character. There was a Holden concept car that looked very sleek.
One very early steam car:
Then there was a Torana GTR concept car that David our son would appreciate.
Malcolm was chuffed to see a 1934 Ford V8 in the form of a ute.
We found "information" people standing on corners in Swanston St and they helped us locate a jeweller to replace a battery in Malcolm's Suunto watch and a Post Office to buy stamps and post a letter. We hate crowded big cities where minor activities like these are so difficult.
We took the Cunard free bus back to the ship, but it took us half an hour to get back on board and had to show our ship ID cards four times. Later the captain apologised for the delays; the security seems over the top. We were all supposed to be back by 4pm but two passengers were not back at 5pm and the crew were anxious to move the ship off. We have seen that happen nearly ever time people get off the bus on a tour, but on a cruise it is a shocking sin. We were moored next to the Spirit of Tasmania, which we were able to look down on.
We had a quiet dinner in the Brittania restaurant as Carolyn and Judith ate in the buffet and Joan and Geoff were absent again. We had duck and venison to eat - so yummy. We ran into Carolyn after dinner and shared a few laughs with her.
There was a string quartet playing divine music in the bar and we got them on video.
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