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| City of Melbourne |
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| Homes near downtown Melbourne. |
Unfortunately, the excursions start very early in the mornings and in order to eat and get to the bus, we have been needing to set the alarm clocks lately. We didn’t realize how spoiled we were until recently when we’ve had to get up early as well as set our clocks back or forward during this long cruise.
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| Hotels have very nice architectural design |
On the top end of Australia during our first 16 days, we set our clocks back 3 times, gaining almost an hour each time. One timezone is only 30 minutes difference but the ship chooses to stay on the hour.
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| Fire warning signs |
Now we are on the next 18 day bottom end of the Australian cruise moving back towards Sydney and we are now having to give that time back. We are finally back on Sydney time but 2 more changes expected until we move back again.
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| Beautiful tree trunks |
Our body clocks are trying to figure out what the heck is going on! The trip to our next destination, Melbourne, was through very rough seas through the night and we didn’t get much sleep. We are in an inside cabin and it is extremely dark in the room.
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| Beautiful forest of trees |
The cruise line has started putting motion lights on the bathroom doors. This works great but with the rocking of the ship, the door closes. So, we take the trash can, which is pretty heavy, and prop the door open.
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| Ive always wondered how photographers got a picture like this. I laid flat on a picnic table and took the picture looking straight up. Wasn’t as hard as I envisioned. |
During the rough seas, the door knocked the trash can over so the creaking and swinging of the door woke us up. Our tour today was in Melbourne, South Australia. Its pretty cool now so sweaters and jackets are a necessity.
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| These palm trees were very unique and gave such a beautiful appearance to the forest. |
Chuck finally found a use for a warm vest his dad gave him, and I have 2 layers of clothes on with a light jacket. Our tour was to see the forests and the birds up in the mountainous part of Melbourne after a short tour of the city.
The city of Melbourne is very close to the water but only 30 minutes away from the beautiful Sherbrooke forest. We drove through the Dandenong Ranges National Park.
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| Mushrooms |
The trees are Mountain Ashe a.ka. Eucalyptus Gum, not to be confused with the Rivergum tree we saw in Geraldton. Apparently, there are many variations of the Eucalyptus tree. I thought it was just a plant, but I learned something new!
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| Yarra Valley water reservoir through the middle of Melbourne. |
The oil from the eucalyptus fuels the fires so this is why the trees can burn and the fires spread so quickly. This last round of fires were started by dry lightning. At the beginning of the park we saw an elementary school and some construction.
They were removing some of the trees creating a fire break near the school so if a fire does break out in this area the school is a little more protected. When there is a fire, all residents are mandated to leave the area. It is not optional. There are residents that live in the park.
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| Mural of the “puffer steam train” that is still in use today. |
These people were here before they made it a park. Now, no new construction is allowed. The trees are huge and tall and really beautiful. They can grow up to 600 feet tall. We saw some palm looking trees and ferns as well.
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| Local market or as Chuck calls them now, the Medina! |
These were migrated from Europe. Other than the trees, we came out to see the birds. Should be over 120 different species in this area. There are Cockatoos, Corella’s, Rosella Parrots, Kookaburra and Lyre birds. We saw a total of 1 bird. A white cockatoo.
We heard many different birds up in the trees. Their singing was pretty. It was unique to hearing so many different ones. The guide talked to the store owner (we stopped for a break) and she said due to the construction of the fire breaks, the birds have retreated deeper into the forest.
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| These cute little camper conversions were used to sell local fruit and vegetables by some. |
Oh well, maybe next time. It was nice and peaceful during the walk, listening to the birds and looking at the beautiful trees. She told us a story about one bird called the Lyre. It is a ground bird and when it spreads its tail it looks like a lyre harp, hence how it got its name.
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| Chuck liked these wooden pallets hanging in the air. |
She said this particular bird can mimic sounds it hears when it’s around for long periods of time, such as other birds, camera shutter sounds, chain saws and even cellphone ringtones. Sounds like an intelligent species but we didn’t see any of these either.
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| Somehow we missed all the “Melbourne” or “Welcome to Melbourne signs and we saw this one outside the cruise terminal so we took our selfie next to it. |
We made a short stop at a little local village to wander around and shop. It was cute stuff that we wouldn’t buy but interesting to look at. One other interesting fact she told us about animals; the camels are feral and they sell them to the Saudi’s making it one of the major incomes for Melbourne. The camels are disease free which make them desirable to other countries.
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| Melbourne beach was beautiful as well! |
Australia has strict quarantine laws. Specific foods and animals cannot be brought into or taken out of the country. We noticed these signs in the airport when we arrived. This helps them control the diseases that enter the country. It was a nice cool day and we enjoyed the break away from the ship.
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| The “only” bird we saw in the forest, a white cockatiel. They are all wild. |
Our next stop in a few days is Tazmania. Here, we didn’t book an excursion. We’ll instead take a walk into town. Maybe we’ll see some Tasmanian devils. We saw them the last time we were in Sydney a few years ago. Not very cute.
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| Our Ship! |
May God bless you always!
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