Tour Day 1

 We went for a morning walking tour around the city centre. Lots of info to learn about. Graffiti is legal here. They register your info when you purchase the can of paint!

The first lift or escalator in Melbourne and a copper doored lift! Don’t see that every day! 

We also saw a shrine to their service members. I will have to do a post about that  

In the afternoon we left on our coach (bus) to go to Phillip Island for the Penguin parade. The driver Paul took us to Pyramid Rock and to see the koalas! We saw some wallabies alongside the road too. 

The main event was waiting by the beach for the penguins to come out of the water after sunset to return to their burrows and feed the chicks. 

We got back to the hotel at midnight and had to depart at 6:30 am so a very short night!

Pre day 1

 We had a breakfast and then got an Uber to Chadstone shopping center. I had to feed my little addiction and found the Build a bear store. I bought a koala but didn’t stuff it! 🤪. We ate at Betty’s Burgers. Then took a taxi back to the hotel for our meeting. 

For supper we walked over to the general assembly. 

We are finding a buddy to help check in go faster. At our table we had people from Cleveland, Saskatchewan, New York, and Pennsylvania. I believe our group has about 46 people.

Travel Time

 Monday 12/25/2023 found me headed to the airpot for my dream trip of a lifetime Down Under. Brittaney is my co-traveler for this adventure! We left MSP at 3 pm going to Dallas. After a short layover there, we endured 17 hours to Sydney🇦🇺! Although we missed our connecting flight right away, we got the next flight to Melbourne. We touched down at 11:27 AM.  Once we secured our transport to the hotel, we were able to check in right away. Having our room ready was a relief. We got some REAL quick food and showered and then headed out.