MY MELBOURNE ITINERARY - Jean H. (USA) Accommodation Fri 27 Dec at 2:00pm THE WINDSOR 103 SPRING STREET 3000 MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA MELBOURNE Status : Confirmed Payment method : Prepaid (CCCF's Accepted) Number of rooms : 1 Number of nights: 4 Room type : DELUXE ROOM Room rate : AUD 288.40 Nightly per room Cancellation : NON-REFUNDABLE Changes before dep. : CHANGES PERMITTED WITH FEE Changes after dep. : CHANGES PERMITTED WITH FEE Check in : Fri 27 Dec at 2:00pm Check out : Tue 31 Dec at 10:00am Remarks Impeccably restored, the Windsor evokes the glory of a golden past, while offering modern comforts and sleek efficiency. The Windsor is a treasured historic landmark, offering luxurious accommodation with award winning dining facilities. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World. My Comments We loved staying at the Windsor. This is a very old and elegant hotel, like the Willard in Washington. Kings and queens of England stayed there, and you feel quite pampered and royal! The location is excellent, across the street from the old Parliament building. The things that we enjoyed doing in Melbourne include: evening walk and morning exploration of Fitzroy Gardens, Captain Cook cottage, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Federation Square (The art museum there is architecturally unique and beautiful, and the exhibits are exciting), walk along the river, Victoria market is a must (check the 3-4 days of the week that it is open), Melbourne Zoo is outstanding as well. This is the oldest zoo in Australia, and it is very different from the one in Sydney. There was a butterfly house that was unusual there. They had a naturalist speaking by the elephants who had been trained to paint with a paintbrush! We had a good hike one day from the Victoria Market to the zoo — a challenge in the heat! In Melbourne, there is a free trolley that goes around the city. This is a good way to get oriented. I would recommend that you walk across the bridge that spans the river (near Federation Square), rent a bike, and ride a bike through the Botanical Gardens. We did not see as much of the Botanical Gardens as we would have liked, because rain, (that never materialized) was threatening to arrive. There was also a Dali exhibit — we didn’t go since we went to the Dali museum in St. Petersburg, FLORIDA, but I am sure that would have been great. We visited other gardens as well, and the gardens in Australia with their manicured flowerbeds, tropical foliage, and large old trees are quite impressive. EATING RECOMMENDATIONS: Chinatown is very close to the hotel, and you need to eat there for at least one meal. We chose lunch, and for @$12.00 we had a meal of duck, spare ribs, soup, vegetables, rice, fruit, tea! We also really enjoyed a meal at a Greek restaurant near our hotel called KriKri! It became quite busy, and we were glad that we were glad that the concierge had made a reservation for us! Loved the food. Tour Sat 28 Dec Operator : AUSTRALIAN PACIFIC TOURS Name : THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD TOUR Start location : Finish location : Status : Confirmed No of passengers: 2 Rate : AUD 109.90 per person Remarks Travel with APT along this scenic highway enjoying views of sweeping beaches, sleepy coastal resorts and spectacular cliffsides. Lunch at Apollo Bay (own expense), a long wide surf beach. Otway National Park reveals a wealth of greenery. Continue towards Port Campbell National Park and the Twelve Apostles. Learn the history of The Loch Ard, proceed to Port Campbell and the remnants of London Bridge before returning to Melbourne. My Comments Save the Great Ocean Tour for your second or third day, and be sure to request the early tour that arrives back in the city in time for dinner. Although the Great Ocean Tour was several hours longer than we would have liked, the view of the coastline (reminiscent of Big Sur), and the Great Apostles (limestone formations), were beautiful and unique. Tour Mon 30 Dec Operator : COLONIAL TRAMCAR DINNER Name : WEEKDAY DINNER Start location : Finish location : Status : On Request No of passengers: 2 Rate : AUD 93.50 per person Remarks Drive with Great Sights by some of Melbourne’s beautiful parks and gardens, see the Shrine of Remembrance and the fashionable suburbs of South Yarra and Toorak. Visit the Blue Dandenongs, noted for its tall mountain ash, tree ferns and small villages. In the evening tour Melbourne’s streets aboard the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, an original 1927 fully restored tram, while enjoying a three course meal, a truly unique Melbourne experience. My Comments We really enjoyed this tram car dinner. Apparently, many Australians travel to Melbourne to celebrate a special occasion aboard this dinner tram. You are served in an elegant environment, unlimited champagne, wine, drinks, silver utensils and serving pieces, and your waiter and waitress actually entertain you as you eat! The food was excellent. For us, the start time of 8:30 pm. was late, but we found that the three- hour dinner passed very quickly. We felt that we were lucky to have had our big Chinese lunch that day, so we weren’t too hungry by 8:30 pm. We found this to be a romantic, as well as a fun meal, and it was a great way to celebrate our last evening in Melbourne. We ate at our own table, but the atmosphere was very festive, and there was a lot of socializing (perhaps, because of the unlimited drinks!) Although we were told that it was far from our hotel, we found that we enjoyed the 2 mile walk along the river to the location where we joined the group. There are a lot of restaurants and activity along the river, which made the walk entertaining. We spent a bit of time at the Crown Casino, which was near the tram stop. This new casino is amazing (rivals Las Vegas casinos!), and it was fun to visit for a short time. The tram makes one stop, and we enjoyed being outside for ten minutes or so. It really does do a big tour of Melbourne and the surrounding suburbs that we enjoyed. We took the airbus to the airport the next day, since our flight was not scheduled to leave until around noon. The Melbourne airport was an unbelievable pleasure. We arrived, and there was no one on line by United! The lounges were great. We appreciated our business class status, since an additional short stop at Sydney was included, before we boarded for the flight to LA. A truly memorable trip! Jean H. USA - 22 January 2003

testimonials & travel tips - Overview - Sydney - Cairns - Melbourne