(this is an updated blog post from 2007 migrated to the new platform)

We took a cruise ship along the coast and we pulled into Melbourne a day early since we passed the port of Hobart. Melbourne is a much older city, but a very pleasant city to walk around.

The ship pulls right up to the pier down town which is a nice pier and beach area with some shops and restaurants. You can catch a local tram for $2 for 2 hours or $6 for an all day pass. You can get pretty much anywhere in Melbourne on the tram within an hour.

There are lots of sights to see and a HUGE casino/shopping mall/restaurant complex called Crown entertainment center. Las Vegas scale – quite a nice place.

Melbourne also has a GREAT aquarium – no need to take ships tour – just take the tram and it is about $24 to get in. Some sea creatures I have never seen any where else. Very popular place and worth the visit.

The second day we took a tour to a nature wildlife preserve way out in the country (Victoria).  We saw hundreds of Kangaroos roaming everywhere. We could get quite close – sometimes within 15-20 feet before they would run away.

I think these were called the YaoYang mountains about 30-40 miles outside of Melbourne where we able to see Koala and Kangaroos running about in the wild – no penned in a zoo. We saw a few nice Koalas in the trees but you definitely need a zoom lens!

We also saw some wild Emus, wallabies and all kinds of other birds in a close by aviary preserve.