Thursday and Friday

We had a quiet morning and took Tot to Rotary Park and then went out for coffee and to buy a few things from the supermarket that I had forgotten. We packed our cases and left for the airport at 12.10 and were there by 12.20!! After checking in we went and sat in the Koru lounge to wait for our flight. The plane was one of the bigger ones with about 30 seats. After a lovely clear flight we arrived in Auckland 20 minutes later. After our ten minute trot across to international we bought the duty free for Bronwyn and then went up to the lounge. Lunch was a bit of a disappointment as it was just changing over but we did manage to get some good bread and cheese with some nice dips later on but as a meal was due to be served on the plane it was fine. The flight was good and smooth but the landing was horrible as it was very windy and it came in so fast I thought he was not going to stop!!! We went o collect the hire car and Melbourne was soooo cold. Jon had bought a new sat nav for the trip but it didn't pick up a signal and by the time we had left the car park we still had no signal but found ourselves very quickly on the freeway into the city with no idea were we were going! What happened next was amazing for us. We carried on down the freeway and we could see the city to our left and so I said to Jon we had better take the next exit and then see where we are. We came off the freeway, took a left turn and then pulled over and incredibly we were on Spencer Street near number 600 and our hotel was number 300!!!! Who needs a sat nav with a nose like mine!! After checking in and unpacking we left the hotel to go and meet Rodney and his Russian partner, Irena, Rodney is the son of the owner of Genera and works on the Australian branch of the company. We met in an Italian bar and decided to say there for dinner which was very good. I got on very well with Irena (Jon thinks that is her name) and we had a lovely night. The have only just moved up from Adelaid to live in Melbourne so are very new to the area. When they have bought a house and settled in she would like us to go over and stay with them which would be nice. However, she can hold her drink very well and was all set for a night on the town. Fortunately, we couldn't find anywhere and I was so tired and with the two hour difference in time it was by now 2.00 in the morning and we were ready for our bed. They got a taxi back to their flat and we walked the short distance back to the hotel. FRIDAY We had a reasonable sleep and got up and went down for breakfast in the hotel which was OK but nothing special. Jon and I went out and walked around the city dodging the showers. Melbourne is a lovely place and the public transport is really good with trams, buses and trains. One tram is a circular rote and goes around the city and is FREE!! We got into the shopping area and there are some lovely little streets with really nice shops and streets full of restaurants which are so like Spanish streets. We were very tired with all the walking and soon it was time to go back to the hotel to meet up with Kirsty and James. They eventually arrived and after a chat we went out to find some lunch. After lunch we picked up the FREE tourist, hop on hop off bus which took us up to Albert Park where we had to collect the tickets. On our walk back we went across to the Botanical Gardens and visited the huge war memorial which is lovely. We climbed to the top once up there we had amazing views across the city in all directions. We then walked back into the centre before picking up the free tram to take us back to our hotel. After a rest and a snooze we went out to dinner catching another tram down to docklands where we had a lovely meal in a pub and Jon and James had a sample paddle of six beers, Kirsty and I stuck to the fizzy wine. Docklands is lovely and although not fully developed it will be amazing when it is finished. We had a nice walk back to the hotel and picked up a tram. You have to purchase tickets from a machine on the tram but it wasn't working so we got another free ride. We were more than ready for bed!! WEATHER Cold and windy both days with a bit of sun