March 17 - Nambucca to Melbourne

NAMBUCCA TO MELBOURNE

So we're leaving paradise in search of new locales and adventures.  Keith & Di's oldest son Scott picked us up in Nambucca and drove us to the local airport at Coffs Harbour for our flight to Melbourne. 
After a flight on Tiger Air (more later*) of just <2 hours to Melbourne, we caught an Uber to our serviced apartment, which is conveniently located right smack in the middle of the CBD. We bought Myki (tram, train, and bus) cards and caught the tram out to Beacon Cove. It was overcast, but no rain. Had a nice dinner at a little place on the harbour. 
 Walked back by the huge ferry that makes the overnight trip to Tasmania, caught the tram back to the apartment, and called it a night. We are definitely in the big city! And it’s unusually warm in Melbourne, which I understand can be like San Francisco in regard to its weather.

*Tiger Air, which we flew today and will fly from Melbourne to Sydney next week, is a low cost carrier that was purchased by Virgin Australia.  Among their hallmarks are 1) they are deadly serious about the weight limits on bags and carryons and 2) they are equally serious about passengers checking in on time.  If someone hasn't checked in 45 minutes prior to the scheduled departure, he/she is officially SOL and can't get a boarding pass.  We cut it uncomfortably close today; we were all sweating making it, but we did ... just ... thankfully.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 18 - First Full Day in Melbourne

Image
FIRST FULL DAY IN MELBOURNE Started my day with an instant coffee (that had been awhile!) — in Australia and NZ they’re big on hot tea, so an electric kettle to boil water for tea is standard equipment, rather than a Keurig or drip coffee maker. Found a Starbucks a couple of blocks away, and got us a muffin. It had gotten cooler and was threatening to rain ... but only sprinkled a little. The girls headed to art galleries, and Keith and I went our own ways. Taking a chance on the rain, I decided to walk the ~1 mile to the Melbourne Museum. It wwas excellent!  Saw outstanding exhibits on Aboriginal life, the history of Melbourne, and Aussie animals.  Also found lots of cool stuff for some of the grands at their gift shop. I was whupped, so headed for a place to sit, have a beer and a sandwich, and chill. I’ll be damned if I didn’t wander into a brew pub that had the Florida vs. Texas Tech NCAA tournament basketball game, which was very close at the half. I got mys...
Read more

March 14 - Happy Pi Day

Image
HAPPY PI DAY Not sure about where you are, but here in Nambucca Heads we elected to celebrate Pi Day by spending time enjoying the beach and the great outdoors.  Susan, the woman who should live to be 180 because she's been asleep about half the time she's been alive, actually woke up to see the sun come up over the trees in the national forest to our SE, as the photo reveals.  "It's another Nambucca sunrise ...." (There's a good reason for this:  The neighbors on the side next to our bedroom window get up and going at 5:30 each morning, have a squeaky garage door, and a loud truck ... and take turns shouting at each other.  As if the kookaburras need the help!) While Keith swam, I walked through town to the riverwalk, along it, to the estuary and V Wall, then across the hill to Shelly Beach, and along it back home.  It was a good 1 1/2 hr. walk, and I was ready for breakfast.  The girls went off the Shelly, and Keith and I returned to Ma...
Read more

March 25 - Planes and Boats and Trains ... and Rental Cars

Image
PLANES AND BOATS AND TRAINS ... AND RENTAL CARS Arose with mixed feelings: sadness at leaving the natural beauty and numerous attractions of the Otway/Apollo Bay area, but looking forward to our stay at Manly Beach. The clouds were dense and the rain intermittent as we broke camp and loaded the car. There was a bright rainbow to the north, however, as we turned in that direction to follow a winding mountainous road toward Melbourne. [cue Paul McCartney]. Once through the mountains we could have been in rural Mississippi ... broad fields of recently harvested hay; heaps of cattle (Angus, Hereford, Holstein, Brahman), as well as sheep and horses; small towns with churches, a general store, and a ball field ... only the eucalyptus/gum trees are different.  In less than 3 hours we were turning our rental car in near Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne.  Flying Tiger Air, and having learned our lesson about sweating a close call on making the cutoff for the flight last...
Read more