Melbourne

Our day in Melbourne

“Murder on the Orient Express” … Agatha Christie

Right from the beginning, let me explain that this was not what you might call your typical tourist day in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city after Sydney. We signed up for a Colonial TramCar luncheon…like, a streetcar restaurant on wheels. This was the closest thing I’ve seen to the Orient Express that I once got a glimpse of in London. This was indeed fine dining in an understandably not exactly a spacious setting. The “tram” rambles through the extensive streetcar network in downtown Melbourne for two hours mixing in with the commercial tram traffic on wide avenues, narrow inner city streets, and past parklands and waterfront vistas. I have no idea what the actual route was and I’m not so sure we didn’t retrace our steps at some points.

We were met at the cruise terminal by a large comfortable motor coach and given an hour long narrated tour of all the main sights of Melbourne. The architecture is very eclectic, from preserved Colonial, Victorian buildings and residences, to some of the most modern public and private edifices you’d see anywhere. This city is sporting oriented hosting the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, a Formula One Grand Prix, various Australian sports championships, and the renowned Melbourne Cup horse race that was held the day before we arrived (I was able to get a bet down on two horses in the 24 horse field through my on line account…no luck). The winner was a horse named SHOCKING…I agree.

Then we went to meet the tram. Elegant and frilly is how I would describe it…this car is a true antique, not like those fake things we have running up and down the beach. This thing is electrified and really runs on tracks. The reason this update is so short (and pictures so sparse) is that as soon as they started pouring unlimited Champagne, then red and/or white wine, and finally any other libation you might request (do you think three VSOP cognacs might have been too excessive?), things started to get a bit blurry. We started off with two pate’s, then a choice of entrée’ (appetizer course), and finally a choice of main courses, either Filet Mignon or chicken. We each chose duck risotto for a starter and the filet, cooked to order. What a unique experience and lots of fun interacting with those sitting near us, all developing a nice afternoon glow. We were seated with our friend and trivia team member Valerie who sailed with us last year, and Kim who is the manager of the Pinnacle Grille specialty restaurant on the AMSTERDAM.

After they poured us off the tram we returned to the ship for sailaway and then I zonked out for two hours before dinner…Thanks, I needed that.

As a side note, we have been taking advantage of the free Microsoft classes that are being conducted on almost all HAL ships these days. A lot of the course material is centered on a software product called “MICROSOFT LIVE PHOTO GALLERY.” This product is not being furnished with any computers these days. It is an improved and enhanced version of what many computers have installed called MICROSOFT PHOTO GALLERY. I had it installed for free on my laptop by the instructor here and I understand it is available as a free download from Microsoft. I highly recommend it. My panoramic picture of Melbourne Harbour with all the sailboats was stitched together by this software in less than 30 seconds. I’m impressed! - RBM

Nov 4, 2009

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