Today I found the South Melbourne Market to browse through. It was in a different part of town, not the CBD, and I was glad to find my way. I loved the South Melbourne Market and wished that I could have bought lots of cool things. I wandered the stalls a couple of times and bought a few things for the girls. So fun.
Chris was finished fairly early today and opted out of lunch with coworkers. I was on my way to the DFO food court to pick up some lunch at Subway when he texted me. Perfect timing as I was able to get a sandwich for him as well. I stopped in the Executive Lounge and grabbed a few drinks only to find as he walked in the door that he had stopped for a few drinks as well.
We took the bus to St. Kilda Breakwater Wildlife Area.
It was rather windy again. The Wilderness Area along the beach was a protected habitat for fairy penguins. Normally at this time of day, they were away from the beach, usually making their way back to the rocks at sunset. Chris luckily found one penguin hiding among the rocks. He wasn't too keen on getting his picture taken.
We had been warned many times about the thin ozone layer in Australia. I had sunscreen for my face but not for my arms. They got a little warm and red in the Melbourne sunshine.
Chris knew that I had wanted pictures of beach boxes. Since we didn't find any at St. Kilda Breakwater Wildlife Area, Chris requested an Uber (we were the driver's second fare ever) down to Brighton Beach. Success. We landed at Middle Brighton Beach.
Chris took off his shoes and waded through the water. Some spots were a little gross with slimy green algae, but that didn't stop numerous people from enjoying the beach. And lots of people were there taking pictures of the beach boxes as well.
As we left the beach, Chris got an ice cream, and then we set off walking about a mile and a half to the train. The Google map app was invaluable for figuring out directions and bus schedules.
From the train we had to transfer to the bus to reach the Royal Botanic Gardens. They were so so. Perhaps we had missed the peak as we were visiting at the end of summer. The gardens spread out over a 94-acre area, but we cut our exploring short in order to get back to the hotel to get ready for dinner in the evening with more of Chris' coworkers.
We missed the first bus by a minute and had to wait for ten or so minutes for the next bus to come along. I was impatient and suggested we just start walking. Chris vetoed the idea. We took that train to the CBD (Central Business District) and then transferred to another taking us to the Southern Cross Train Station. It was a roundabout way to get back to the hotel, but gave us enough time to reach the hotel and to change into nicer clothes for dinner.
We met with Franco and his wife, Franca, along with Guliano and his wife, Janeen, at the Melbourne Crown (a casino) for dinner at Gradi's. The dinner was delicioso beginning with the antipasti plate of cheeses and meats to the gnocchi for my main meal followed by my first chocolate gelato. Yum, though Franco and Franca's chocolate lava cake was even more delectable looking. I enjoyed the evening but found that I had to listen hard to these fast-talking Aussies who liked to intermingle their accented English with Italian.
Hugs and cheek kisses all around after dinner before we parted for the evening. It was nice to have the walk back to the hotel to work off some of that food. I could not eat like this forever!
We had an early flight to New Zealand in the morning and started our packing before bed. We had this spacious room and had spread out a little.