February 3 and 4

Yesterday morning we met our first wildlife in our room in Australia.  But Pam's trusty flip-flop was all that was needed to expire the culprit.  After a good long sleep, we were ready to explore.  Our first stop was Fitzroy Gardens to find a geocache.  Under the banana tree, we successfully found the treasure and dropped in a geocoin. 
Leaving the park, we walked along the main road to the Melbourne tourist information at city centre.  Armed with many brochures, we hopped on the free city circle tram to get our bearings.  It was a delightful trip taking about an hour to complete.  The attendant on the tram advised us of a grocery store, so we stocked up for a few days and headed home. 

After a short rest, we walked to the Richmond Station which happened to pass by another geocache and headed out to meet Curtis and Natasha in Upwey where they work.  It was a pleasant 50 minute train ride from the bustling city into the peaceful countryside.  The small cafe where Curt was working was directly opposite the train station.  Natasha's dad, Gary joined us for a declicious meal at the restaurant.

Then, we headed off to the lookout on Dandenong Mt.  which overlooks the city of Melbourne.  Much like being up Mt. Seymour.  Took some photos and then headed back to their home for a short visit. Where we met Natasha's Mom Di.  We were driven back to our hotel by Gary and Curt via a scenic route.  Needless to say, we were ready for bed upon arriving back about 11:30 which also explains why we didn't post yesterday.

Friday we awoke to the pitter patter of raindrops.  As we had already booked a free walking tour at 9:30, we were obliged to head off regardless of the weather.  The rain held off as we walked, , but sent out a deluge just as we approached the meeting spot.  The security fellow let us in to the waiting area of the tourist info early. 

Our host was a 73 year old retired teacher, named Geoff.  He was most knowledgeable. We were hard pressed to keep up with him as he proceeded to walk us around the CBD and south shore up and down stairs for 3 hours showing us the small back lanes, filled with shops, cafes and pubs and heritage buildings which had been converted to fancy shopping arcades (malls)which we would never have found on our own. 

Upon saying our good byes, we jumped on the free bus and sat contentedly for and hour and a half driving tour of Melbourne.  The rains decided to descend once more as we were returning to the hotel and we arrived back dripping wet.

Spent the latter part of the afternoon, drying out, booking a car for the Great Coast Hwy and resting. We are watching the news right now...the rain that we felt today and is expect tomorrow is a backlash of the cyclone that hit Queensland yesterday.

Still haven't figured out how to add photos.  We will play with it tonight after dinner and a walk.