Shadow Puppets!

Our first full day here in Melbourne and we couldn't have asked for better weather! BEAUTIFUL doesn't even begin to describe it. Lower 80's, almost no clouds and just a slight cool breeze. Perfect!

So, without any real plan in hand we decided to hop on the train to downtown (a $6.50 ticket here gets you a full day of riding any transportation you want...as many times as you want). First sight? St Pauls Cathedral.

We hadn't actually planned on seeing it, but it happened to be just outside the visitor information super-center in federation square. This place had it all, videos, pamphlets, about 30 super friendly staff and giant maps everywhere. It was actually impressive (for a tourist info center).

We grabbed all the info we needed and walked across town to the Queen Victoria Market.

Home of amazingly exquisite products. Watches that feel like they came out of a cereal box, poorly crafted but beautifully painted didgeridoos, t-shirts, fresh produce, sunglasses, meat, etc. Fun to walk through, but unless you're buying some fairly safe stuff (t-shirts, little trinkets), buyer beware! We did, however, pick up some extremely tasty pastries!



After a spot of lunch, we hopped on one of Melbourne's free tourism buses designed to get tourists to all of the local hot spots for sight seeing. Well, as much as we appreciated the thought behind it, we were VERY happy to get off the bus. It was actually cooler outside then it was on the small, cramped, tourist-filled vehicle. One exciting thing we did see from the bus? The largest Costco in the southern hemisphere. It was huge!

We disembarked the bus at the Royal Botanic Gardens, home of the Shrine of Remembrance. The SoR is Victoria's memorial to the men and women who served Australia in armed conflicts throughout their history.
Interesting, but we got kicked out pretty quickly due to their closing for the evening.

Ah, the Botanic Gardens themselves. Well, after experiencing the gardens in Sydney there are only three things I will remember Melbourne's Royal Botanic gardens for. Flies, hunting bunny rabbits,
and...SHADOW PUPPETS!
Unfortunately the gardens just didn't compare to the ones in Sydney, so we just ended up making our own fun. Either that, or batting away flies for far too long made us loopy. Go with whatever story you like best!

Time to rest up for tomorrow! Should be another great...but HOT day here in Melbourne!