We arrived in Melbourne (Wominjeka) at sunrise, docking at the Cruise Terminal at Port Melbourne, southwest of the city centre and visible after opening the curtains.
We went ‘walkabout’ in the area around the massive Flinders Street Railway Station.
We discovered the most amazing Art Nouveau and Deco buildings, preserved and still used amongst the modern redevelopments. It was at this time (late 19th, early 20th century) that, the English journalist George Sala coined the phrase ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ to describe the then booming city that was being constructed with the enormous wealth of the Gold Rush.
The Yarra River cuts through the city and was the location in the 1990s of a television show entitled ‘Rex Hunt’s Fishing Adventure’, whose catchphrase was ‘lift and wind’. He became a local hero, but we did not find a statue to him, let alone anyone old enough to remember him! The main streets are wide and have a New York feel without the traffic or the vibe. It is altogether a clean, relaxed and interesting city.
When returned to the ship which was berthed at the former Ocean Terminal where trains arrived next to the ships and carried passengers to and from all parts of Australia. It is an older version of what was, until the 1970s, the Ocean Terminal at Southampton.
We departed at 4:00p.m.
and as we left the wide bay, some two hours later, sea erosion was now evident and the narrow entrance was formed of sand spits. Looking back, we could see how, in the past, the Yarra River meandered over a low-lying area and may have entered the sea where the current entrance is, but the sands are evidence of deposition during the Ice Age. As the ice over the land melted, the water was blocked by the ice over the sea so the meltwater eventually overspilled the glacial sands, rather like an overflowing bath and because of the vast quantities of water cut the narrow entrance known as an overflow channel.
