We are moving into our first full month of travel

and I must admit that I am feeling a little down. The weather in Melbourne is unusually cool for January—23° and overcast. There is rain predicted for the rest of the week, and I quickly blame the weather for my somewhat depressed state of mind. Nothing major, I put it down to travel fatigue or perhaps that it is just early days, and I haven’t figured this entire process out yet.

We step out the door, and it starts to rain – not a downpour, more like a heavy scotch mist. Regardless of weather or state of mind, we grab the # 72 tram and head downtown. We travel through fashionable St. Kilda Street, pass the Kings Domain (an important park downtown) and get off the tram at Swanston and Collins Streets, right in the heart of Melbourne. We have some stamps to buy and some letters to post, and then we start our walk. Our plan is to head up to the Victoria Market for lunch and then walk back down to Southbank via Elizabeth Street. There are a number of Victorian Arcades that I would like to see and this area also has a number of interesting buildings and sights.

An Australia Day Tribute

The market is not as impressive as Adelaide’s was, but we have also discovered another market close to our hotel called the Prahan Market. We grab a quick lunch with the office types and travel back downtown towards the Yarra River. The city is jammed with business professionals, back-packers, upscale and downscale shoppers, tourists and locals during lunch hour. This is the first day back for many after the long, holiday week-end. We head over to Federation Square and then down to the river before ending up in Southbank for a sit and a bottle of water, watching the day trippers stroll by. The sun has come out at this point and it is an entirely different day now—lovely and warm yet still a little crisp (by Australian standards!). The weather is so changeable here. It is tough to dress for the day.

Dinner tonight is a Gay-guide recommended restaurant called Gluttony- It’s a Sin in a rather seedy, drug dealer part of town called Collingwood. It has cooled right down, and the weather looks quite threatening tonight, but we head uptown for dinner. We have a fabulous feed of buffalo meatballs in an Indian inspired stew with some lovely toasted Indian spiced homemade bread. Well worth the cross-town travel and the perfect meal for a chilly, damp night.