The lobby was decorated for Ramadhan.
Cookies came with the room!
There were several reminders running in a loop on the TV:
In this shot the tide is out.
Aaaahhhhh...
Thursday, June 29, 2017
Belitung Island Pt 4
Our hotel for this weekend included an ocean view and a strange elevator. The button to call the elevator worked by slowly swiping your finger over the flat button. This system did not work very well for us. When we left, we still were not 100% successful at calling the elevator. Honest, we do have fingers! Or, as I write this, perhaps we needed to use our entire hand?
The lobby was decorated for Ramadhan.
One evening when we were waiting for our ride we noticed a black Toyota Fortuner parked in front of the lobby with a red license plate BN1. There was a military guy and another black car also with red plates. Then a man and woman and a second older women came out and got into the two cars. The red license plate indicates "government." We suspect BN1 was the Belitung Governor's car based on the license plate protocol in Indonesia..
There were several reminders running in a loop on the TV:
The view cost extra, but what a view!
In this shot the tide is out.
This shot is looking to the far left from the balcony.
We just can't get enough of pretty sunsets! The clouds and water created stunning images. All we had to do was press the camera button. Tide in!
Aaaahhhhh...
The lobby was decorated for Ramadhan.
There were several reminders running in a loop on the TV:
In this shot the tide is out.
Aaaahhhhh...
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Melbourne, Australia- Part 1
Our trip to Melbourne is the second trip before the middle of June.
Last year we spent some time in Sydney. This year we traveled to Melbourne.
Both cities are located on the southeastern coast of Australia.
The first step in our travels was to fly out of here and head to Melbourne. It is a direct flight so it should have been easy. I may have mentioned that the airport has expanded and has constructed a new terminal. The idea behind the new T3 is for it to become a through hub for international flights, to compete with Singapore's airport. A while ago they opened T3 to domestic flights by the national carrier, Garuda. Things haven't gone smoothly for T3. However, on May 1, they opened T3 to Garuda international flights as well. We were among the first guinea pigs to try this out.
How did it go? Not as well as we'd hoped. There are quite a few things that still need to be sorted out.
We ended up having a long wait. Our flight was due to take off at 11:55 pm (yes, that 5 minutes before midnight!) Due to computer issues at check-in, we didn't actually depart until after 1 am. We were pretty tired by then.
We arrived at the Melbourne airport late, around 10 am. Melbourne's airport has scanners for immigration so that step in the process went quickly. After catching a bus to carry us into downtown and then a different bus to carry us to our hotel located in South Wharf, it was around 11:15-11:30 when we finally arrived. Our room wasn't ready, but when we returned after grabbing a bite to eat we were able to check in. Nice room with a great view of the Yarra River.
Temps were wonderful for the entire trip. In the mornings very cool, generally 6-9C (43-48F). One morning the low was only 4C (39F). High temps averaged 15-17C (59-63F)with one day reaching 19C (66F). At the wharf we spotted our first trees with fall color. In the southern hemisphere, it is now fall, well on the way towards winter.
On our first afternoon we had some rain. Naturally we'd opted not to carry our rain gear ( we should have known better) but we managed to walk under a lot of awnings, etc., so it wasn't too bad. First stop? The Sealife Melbourne Aquarium. It was a fairly short walk from the hotel and we were tired. It is described as an interactive discovery into the Southern Ocean. I will say this spot was expensive. The bargain is in becoming a member and coming here often.
We saw Port Jackson sharks having a meeting?
Weedy sea dragons
Giant cuttlefish ( They can reach 20 inches!)
Something we missed! They apparently have the world's only display of elephant sharks which aren't sharks at all.
For dinner we ate early nearby the hotel and I had a wonderful autumnal grilled chicken with sweet potato puree and fennel. Yummy! We almost went back so I could have it again. Absolutely delicious.
Last year we spent some time in Sydney. This year we traveled to Melbourne.
The first step in our travels was to fly out of here and head to Melbourne. It is a direct flight so it should have been easy. I may have mentioned that the airport has expanded and has constructed a new terminal. The idea behind the new T3 is for it to become a through hub for international flights, to compete with Singapore's airport. A while ago they opened T3 to domestic flights by the national carrier, Garuda. Things haven't gone smoothly for T3. However, on May 1, they opened T3 to Garuda international flights as well. We were among the first guinea pigs to try this out.
How did it go? Not as well as we'd hoped. There are quite a few things that still need to be sorted out.
We ended up having a long wait. Our flight was due to take off at 11:55 pm (yes, that 5 minutes before midnight!) Due to computer issues at check-in, we didn't actually depart until after 1 am. We were pretty tired by then.
We arrived at the Melbourne airport late, around 10 am. Melbourne's airport has scanners for immigration so that step in the process went quickly. After catching a bus to carry us into downtown and then a different bus to carry us to our hotel located in South Wharf, it was around 11:15-11:30 when we finally arrived. Our room wasn't ready, but when we returned after grabbing a bite to eat we were able to check in. Nice room with a great view of the Yarra River.
Temps were wonderful for the entire trip. In the mornings very cool, generally 6-9C (43-48F). One morning the low was only 4C (39F). High temps averaged 15-17C (59-63F)with one day reaching 19C (66F). At the wharf we spotted our first trees with fall color. In the southern hemisphere, it is now fall, well on the way towards winter.
On our first afternoon we had some rain. Naturally we'd opted not to carry our rain gear ( we should have known better) but we managed to walk under a lot of awnings, etc., so it wasn't too bad. First stop? The Sealife Melbourne Aquarium. It was a fairly short walk from the hotel and we were tired. It is described as an interactive discovery into the Southern Ocean. I will say this spot was expensive. The bargain is in becoming a member and coming here often.
We saw Port Jackson sharks having a meeting?
Fiddler Ray or Banjo Ray. In the genus of guitarfish.
Mermaids. They have an entire mermaid garden. Here's just one. The water was pretty turbid.
Sandbar whaler sharks
Red-tooth triggerfish
Penguins- Gentoo and King
We happened to be present during the exhibit clean up. As staff entered the area all of the penguins moved away from the entrance. Oh, and I also want to point out that there were several chicks in a separate area at the far left. Each time staff left the area, the penguins moved back towards the door.
For those of you reading this on a desktop or laptop (compatible viewer) here is some video of what happened once the staff had finished cleaning the exhibit, and had replaced the "snow" and closed the door!
More Aquarium art
We saw this someplace else and it really looks fun. Visitors can add their own sea creatures to a virtual underwater world. Still photography definitely works better with slow moving creatures like seahorses and jellies. The digital fish swim too quickly to capture anything but blurs.
Something we missed! They apparently have the world's only display of elephant sharks which aren't sharks at all.
For dinner we ate early nearby the hotel and I had a wonderful autumnal grilled chicken with sweet potato puree and fennel. Yummy! We almost went back so I could have it again. Absolutely delicious.
Melbourne, Australia- Part 2
We walked a lot in Melbourne. We averaged 6 hours per day. Pre-trip research revealed there was a market on Sunday mornings at Federation Square. While considerably smaller than it probably is in the summer months, we loved it. I bought a pair of earrings from this guy!
Along the way we visited the National Gallery of Victoria- Ian Potter building, the Immigration Museum, spent some time on Bourke Street, and hit a couple of crafty shops for some bits and bobs.
Another day started out with on and off again mist. It would rain, stop, rain, stop. Clouds were evident in between.
We switched our day's plan and headed for indoor venues. We did take a tram today since it was raining. The public transportation is slightly complicated by the fact that there is a free loop covering the outer edge of the heart of the city. Outside of that loop you must pay. Today's visits were at the Melbourne Museum (natural history), the Melbourne Gaol and the National Gallery of Victoria.
On the way to the Melbourne Museum we walked through a really nice park. In the middle of it we discovered the Royal Exhibition Hall. We also enjoyed more fall leaves.
The Melbourne Museum. It must have been free stroller occupant day! I've never seen so many strollers in a museum. This museum housed dinosaurs, an area on evolution, human body information and also a really cool insect wing.
Among the insects was the longest living insect--the golden jewel beetle from North America. The sign says this beetle lived 51 years.
The view into the kitchen! You can dine in the kitchen if you can get a seat.
The Melbourne Gaol is an old jail. For some reason we didn't take any photos here. But it was a really interesting place. This is Victoria's oldest surviving prison.You get to read all about the stories of the notorious gangsters and bushrangers who spent time there and or were executed there. Two famous guys: Squizzy Taylor and Ned Kelly. If you choose to do it, you can also add on a chance to get locked up in a cell. Very interesting place indeed. Some really odd stories. The building was constructed beginning in 1841. By 1851 discovery of gold triggered a huge population growth, making law and order difficult to enforce. A second cell block was started in 1852 and completed in 1858. This is the cell block that still stands today. The Goal closed in 1924 but reopened briefly during WWII to house military detainees--mainly AWOL soldiers. The system put in place at the Gaol was 2 fold: punishment and reform. Prisoners spent 23 hrs a day in their small cells then 1 hour a day in solitary confinement. No communication between prisoners was allowed. Better behaved prisoners were moved to the 2nd floor and were allowed to work in the yards each day. Large communal cells on the 3rd floor housed debtors, trusted prisoners and those nearing release. It was the site of 133 hangings. And they really made deathmasks of those executed. You can also do evening ghost tours of the Gaol or if you like, a hangman's night tour.
Still on the same day, after lunch we headed to the National Gallery of Victoria to see a much hyped Van Gogh exhibit. The Gallery itself is free but the special exhibit was $28.00 AU per person. Yikes! As it turns out we've seen many of the items displayed here. Much of the collection was on loan from the Krueller-Mueller Museum in The Netherlands (we loved this place!!!). The rest on loan from a museum in Osterloo. Surprisingly there was only one self-portrait. We also stopped in some of the other galleries which were much less crowded and more pleasant.
Melbourne at night.
Along the way we visited the National Gallery of Victoria- Ian Potter building, the Immigration Museum, spent some time on Bourke Street, and hit a couple of crafty shops for some bits and bobs.
Another day started out with on and off again mist. It would rain, stop, rain, stop. Clouds were evident in between.
Anchored on the opposite side of the river we saw a double heli-pad. This is the spot for heli-tours of Melbourne. Tours seems to run quite frequently throughout the day.
We switched our day's plan and headed for indoor venues. We did take a tram today since it was raining. The public transportation is slightly complicated by the fact that there is a free loop covering the outer edge of the heart of the city. Outside of that loop you must pay. Today's visits were at the Melbourne Museum (natural history), the Melbourne Gaol and the National Gallery of Victoria.
On the way to the Melbourne Museum we walked through a really nice park. In the middle of it we discovered the Royal Exhibition Hall. We also enjoyed more fall leaves.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
The Melbourne Museum. It must have been free stroller occupant day! I've never seen so many strollers in a museum. This museum housed dinosaurs, an area on evolution, human body information and also a really cool insect wing.
The evolution wing highlighted, amongst other things, the work of Alfred Wallace!!!!!!! If you've never heard of him, please look him up
We learned how the sewing machine figured into the history of Melbourne. Soon after the invention of the commercial sewing machine, they began to be imported to Melbourne. By the 1870s, large numbers were being imported. Sold as easing stress and reducing labour, in the workplace the machines did the opposite and ended up creating sweatshops. Of note is that men did the design work and women did the assembly and sewing.
Another area of this museum had walkways to the outside allowing you to stroll in a woodland setting. You could walk around among the canopy or walk down in the understory. It reminded me of something we saw at the Natural History Museum in Cleveland.
Mid-day we found ourselves on Bourke Street at Pellegrini's. It's an espresso bar. When I asked a friend who had lived in Melbourne for a few years where we should go, the first thing she said was to go to Pellegrini's for a capppuccino. We did! I said it's an espresso bar, but it is also called an Italian coffeehouse. There is a very brief italian menu as well. I had spaghetti bolognaise and B had pasticcio lasagna along with my cappuccino and his diet coke. This place has been here since 1954 and it doesn't look like it's changed much over the years. It's cozy (small) and if you're lucky you can grab a spot at the table in the kitchen itself. We were lucky to get our seats at the counter! It was a busy place.
Just like an old fashioned lunch counter.
My cappucino! Yum!
The Melbourne Gaol is an old jail. For some reason we didn't take any photos here. But it was a really interesting place. This is Victoria's oldest surviving prison.You get to read all about the stories of the notorious gangsters and bushrangers who spent time there and or were executed there. Two famous guys: Squizzy Taylor and Ned Kelly. If you choose to do it, you can also add on a chance to get locked up in a cell. Very interesting place indeed. Some really odd stories. The building was constructed beginning in 1841. By 1851 discovery of gold triggered a huge population growth, making law and order difficult to enforce. A second cell block was started in 1852 and completed in 1858. This is the cell block that still stands today. The Goal closed in 1924 but reopened briefly during WWII to house military detainees--mainly AWOL soldiers. The system put in place at the Gaol was 2 fold: punishment and reform. Prisoners spent 23 hrs a day in their small cells then 1 hour a day in solitary confinement. No communication between prisoners was allowed. Better behaved prisoners were moved to the 2nd floor and were allowed to work in the yards each day. Large communal cells on the 3rd floor housed debtors, trusted prisoners and those nearing release. It was the site of 133 hangings. And they really made deathmasks of those executed. You can also do evening ghost tours of the Gaol or if you like, a hangman's night tour.
Still on the same day, after lunch we headed to the National Gallery of Victoria to see a much hyped Van Gogh exhibit. The Gallery itself is free but the special exhibit was $28.00 AU per person. Yikes! As it turns out we've seen many of the items displayed here. Much of the collection was on loan from the Krueller-Mueller Museum in The Netherlands (we loved this place!!!). The rest on loan from a museum in Osterloo. Surprisingly there was only one self-portrait. We also stopped in some of the other galleries which were much less crowded and more pleasant.
Melbourne at night.
Melbourne, Australia- Part 4 Royal Botanic Gardens, Shrine of Remembrance, the Zoo
We were so happy we waited to do the Botanic Gardens on a day with terrific weather. It was pretty chilly first thing in the morning but later in the day even I took my jacket off. When leaving our hotel, we spotted a Tesla parked outside the coffee shop. The license plate read ELON. We thought, hmmm... This is the Tesla guy's car! B said, "Yep, that's him inside!" Once again our skills as photographers failed us. We didn't even think to photograph this event. Later that night I did a little research and Elon Musk is developing a green community in Melbourne. Makes sense he might have a car there.
After our star car sighting, our first task on this day was to find a 7/11 and buy Myki transportation cards to take the tram and we were off early! Today we went outside of the free tram loop. Our first stop was near the Shrine of Remembrance-- one of Melbourne's iconic landmarks. It honors the service and sacrifice of Australian men and women who served in armed combat and peacekeeping operations. Inside are objects, photographs and artworks depicting the experiences and stories of Victorians and Australians during these times. Medals of all sorts line the walls of the main hallway.
This Gallery of Medals is about the service and sacrifice of Victorians in war and peacekeeping operations from the Boer War (1899-1902) to the present. The service of 400,000 Victorian men and women is symbolized by the service medals that have been awarded to military personnel of all ranks, and civilians who have contributed strong support to military activities.
A set of 22 replica medals, service medals awarded to Australians by the British, Australian and South Vietnamese governments are repeated to make over 4, 000 medals in the 40 meter long wall. Each medal represents 100 Victorians who have served in military and peacekeeping operations and six who lost their lives.
Of the 24,000 Victorians who have lost their lives in service some 19,000 died in the First World War (1914-18). Really an interesting place.
Next stop was the Royal Botanic Gardens (note: we walked from the Shrine of Remembrance to the gardens). Fabulous place especially on such a lovely day. After picking up an Autumn guide, we were off! I believe we only did about 50% of the garden. I'd plotted out a course to cut across one side of it. Some garden info: Founded in 1846, 38 hectares of garden beds.50,000 individual plants, including 8,500 different species.
A little touch of fall color.
This is an enormous old Monterey Cypress. Magnificent.
Cockatoo sighting!
Yes, we were there!
I would love to be able to walk here on a regular basis.
Our next stop, still on the same day, was a short visit to the Melbourne Zoo. It's an older zoo with some exhibits under renovation. At the kangaroo walkabout (a common exhibit at zoos in North America as well), there were no staff members around. We witnessed a young man who had climbed over a barrier and then leaned his full body over a fence in order to "pet" a kangaroo lying nearby. Argh!
We got to see a few koalas.
And a platypus!
For folks with compatible viewers, here is a very short video of the platypus.
An interesting caterpillar.
A pretty bird.
Ducks on a log.
Pied heron.
It was a really long day but the weather was great. We loved just being outdoors!
After our star car sighting, our first task on this day was to find a 7/11 and buy Myki transportation cards to take the tram and we were off early! Today we went outside of the free tram loop. Our first stop was near the Shrine of Remembrance-- one of Melbourne's iconic landmarks. It honors the service and sacrifice of Australian men and women who served in armed combat and peacekeeping operations. Inside are objects, photographs and artworks depicting the experiences and stories of Victorians and Australians during these times. Medals of all sorts line the walls of the main hallway.
This Gallery of Medals is about the service and sacrifice of Victorians in war and peacekeeping operations from the Boer War (1899-1902) to the present. The service of 400,000 Victorian men and women is symbolized by the service medals that have been awarded to military personnel of all ranks, and civilians who have contributed strong support to military activities.
A set of 22 replica medals, service medals awarded to Australians by the British, Australian and South Vietnamese governments are repeated to make over 4, 000 medals in the 40 meter long wall. Each medal represents 100 Victorians who have served in military and peacekeeping operations and six who lost their lives.
Of the 24,000 Victorians who have lost their lives in service some 19,000 died in the First World War (1914-18). Really an interesting place.
Next stop was the Royal Botanic Gardens (note: we walked from the Shrine of Remembrance to the gardens). Fabulous place especially on such a lovely day. After picking up an Autumn guide, we were off! I believe we only did about 50% of the garden. I'd plotted out a course to cut across one side of it. Some garden info: Founded in 1846, 38 hectares of garden beds.50,000 individual plants, including 8,500 different species.
The sky was so gorgeous on this day.
This garden was FILLED with late fall blooming flowers for all of the bees to enjoy!
Our next stop, still on the same day, was a short visit to the Melbourne Zoo. It's an older zoo with some exhibits under renovation. At the kangaroo walkabout (a common exhibit at zoos in North America as well), there were no staff members around. We witnessed a young man who had climbed over a barrier and then leaned his full body over a fence in order to "pet" a kangaroo lying nearby. Argh!
We got to see a few koalas.
Wading birds
Such a cool fish: Aracana ornata. Ornate cowfish. So cool.
Lastly, RED PANDAS! This one was running around so quickly it was really difficult to capture!
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