On 3/23 my friend and I took off from Portland to begin our journey to Australia. Why would I fly from Portland when I live in Northern California? Because I had been in Washington visiting family and my friend lives in Portland. I have only traveled in economy, but she insisted that we fly business class. I savored the experience because after this trip it will probably never happen again. We arrived in Melbourne in the morning on 2/25 and we spent the day exploring. I try to keep moving on arrival day. We settled into our rental apartment, walked down the street for dinner and when we returned to the apartment I showered and was in bed by 7:30. An 18 hour time difference is brutal.
We are staying on Flinders St. and there is so much to see within walking distance. Considering we didn’t get into town until about 10:30 or so we walked about 6 miles. We primarily stayed outside, but had lunch at a nice little tea house and went to the Old Melbourne Gaol. There are many Lane Ways that feature murals painted on the sides of the buildings. The back door of our apartment building opens up to one of the most famous ones. Melbourne is a large modern city with some interesting architecture, but there are plenty of old buildings in the mix.