BACK ON THE AIRPLANES
BACK ON THE AIRPLANES
This had been a very good stopover of a very good trip overall. Christchurch was three and a half hours away and we wanted to get back as there was one exhibition we hadn't seen before - Quake City, which dealt with the events of 2010 and 2011. A delicious stop for home made fruit scones in Geraldine, a farming community, and then ploughed on. When we eventually reached Christchurch we had an incredible welcome reception from the hotel staff who remembered us from our earlier stay - what had we done? There was a card welcoming us back and gifts of a beanie hat each to help us ward off the cold weather when we returned to the UK. However, we hurried off as, although Christchurch centre is small enough that you can walk everywhere within a few minutes we didn't want to miss this special and moving exhibition. It has some incredible artefacts from the Earthquakes, many filmed experiences from survivors and explanations of 'liquefaction', which was a particular occurrence with the 2011 earthquake. It did not have any pictures of Christchurch before the event and we regretted not being able to see the city as it was. If you're in Christchurch, don't miss it. The picture above right shows the view from our hotel room looking over Cathedral Square and the Anglican Cathedral that was destroyed and which it is intended will be reinstated in due course. Our hotel departure was as unusual as our arrival since the Manager and Reception staff insisted on photos with Linda in her Beanie!
On to Melbourne and a taxi took us to our hotel, the Rendezvous, opposite Flinders Street Station and just a stones throw from the Yarra River.
We had stayed at three Rendezvous hotels - in Sydney, Christchurch and now Melbourne. We had also stayed at the Adina Hotel in Brisbane, also part of the TFE Hotels Group. Each of the hotels were very different, but the common factor was that they were all centrally located. The Melbourne hotel was built in 1913 and was based on the RAC Club in London. Thankfully, the facilities have been modernised since the early days. It was very comfortable and the view from our window (see picture right), shows Flinders Street Station looking towards the MCG.
The evening we arrived we went to eat in Hardware Lane, where we had a meal nine years ago (see picture below) although the musicians were probably not the same but the food was still excellent. Melbourne has a great tradition with its laneways and their vast number of eateries. The next day we had reserved for shopping in the morning and cricket at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) in the afternoon. The MCG and the SCG are two of the best cricket grounds in the world, rivalling Lords and the Oval in the UK. It has been a privilege to go to these grounds. The match at the MCG was low scoring, but very exciting.
That evening, we went for a meal on the Southbank (of the Yarra) an area of restaurants now being found in many of the worlds Central Business Districts (CBD). On our final day in Melbourne, we took the HoHo buses, through the beach area and through the central city. We alighted at Chinatown, a magnificent area getting ready for the upcoming year of the Rat (see picture below)
Melbourne has changed vastly over the past nine years, with many older buildings, particularly around the docklands being replaced by modern apartments and high rise business blocks. That night, we returned to the Southbank and opted for a Greek restaurant. Whilst we were there, we saw lightning followed by thunder. It rained a little, but not for long and we were able to return to our hotel without getting wet.
That night, though, this thunderstorm brought devastation to parts of Melbourne, with hailstones the size of golf balls. We have been extremely lucky during our trip not to experience really bad weather, such as storms or the impact from bush fires.
Our stay in Melbourne ended when the taxi called for us at 3.15 am for our 6 am flight to Dubai. The 14 hour flight and 7 hour time change effectively meant jet lag of 21 hours. We were flying back on Emirates and the quality of the internal configuration of the airplane as well as the service received was amongst the best we have experienced. We both managed to watched about 5 movies each.
Landing in Dubai around lunchtime we enjoyed a lovely swim in the afternoon before having an early meal and went to bed around 8.30pm. We were not in the centre of Dubai, but we had a good view of the high rise towers and the Burge Khalifa (see picture left). Today (notice that we are now up to date), we took a ride on the metro (which wasn't there 9 years ago) into the Gold and Spice Souk, near the Creek and bought some spices etc etc!
We have had a full and very enjoyable holiday, seen so many sights, done so many wonderful things, eaten so many excellent meals and tasted so many different wines and beers. But now it's time to come home to the luxury of our own bed. We'll be home tomorrow night, so as the sun sets in Dubai (see picture), we hope you have enjoyed our travels. We have.
This had been a very good stopover of a very good trip overall. Christchurch was three and a half hours away and we wanted to get back as there was one exhibition we hadn't seen before - Quake City, which dealt with the events of 2010 and 2011. A delicious stop for home made fruit scones in Geraldine, a farming community, and then ploughed on. When we eventually reached Christchurch we had an incredible welcome reception from the hotel staff who remembered us from our earlier stay - what had we done? There was a card welcoming us back and gifts of a beanie hat each to help us ward off the cold weather when we returned to the UK. However, we hurried off as, although Christchurch centre is small enough that you can walk everywhere within a few minutes we didn't want to miss this special and moving exhibition. It has some incredible artefacts from the Earthquakes, many filmed experiences from survivors and explanations of 'liquefaction', which was a particular occurrence with the 2011 earthquake. It did not have any pictures of Christchurch before the event and we regretted not being able to see the city as it was. If you're in Christchurch, don't miss it. The picture above right shows the view from our hotel room looking over Cathedral Square and the Anglican Cathedral that was destroyed and which it is intended will be reinstated in due course. Our hotel departure was as unusual as our arrival since the Manager and Reception staff insisted on photos with Linda in her Beanie!On to Melbourne and a taxi took us to our hotel, the Rendezvous, opposite Flinders Street Station and just a stones throw from the Yarra River.
We had stayed at three Rendezvous hotels - in Sydney, Christchurch and now Melbourne. We had also stayed at the Adina Hotel in Brisbane, also part of the TFE Hotels Group. Each of the hotels were very different, but the common factor was that they were all centrally located. The Melbourne hotel was built in 1913 and was based on the RAC Club in London. Thankfully, the facilities have been modernised since the early days. It was very comfortable and the view from our window (see picture right), shows Flinders Street Station looking towards the MCG.The evening we arrived we went to eat in Hardware Lane, where we had a meal nine years ago (see picture below) although the musicians were probably not the same but the food was still excellent. Melbourne has a great tradition with its laneways and their vast number of eateries. The next day we had reserved for shopping in the morning and cricket at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) in the afternoon. The MCG and the SCG are two of the best cricket grounds in the world, rivalling Lords and the Oval in the UK. It has been a privilege to go to these grounds. The match at the MCG was low scoring, but very exciting.
Melbourne has changed vastly over the past nine years, with many older buildings, particularly around the docklands being replaced by modern apartments and high rise business blocks. That night, we returned to the Southbank and opted for a Greek restaurant. Whilst we were there, we saw lightning followed by thunder. It rained a little, but not for long and we were able to return to our hotel without getting wet.That night, though, this thunderstorm brought devastation to parts of Melbourne, with hailstones the size of golf balls. We have been extremely lucky during our trip not to experience really bad weather, such as storms or the impact from bush fires.
Our stay in Melbourne ended when the taxi called for us at 3.15 am for our 6 am flight to Dubai. The 14 hour flight and 7 hour time change effectively meant jet lag of 21 hours. We were flying back on Emirates and the quality of the internal configuration of the airplane as well as the service received was amongst the best we have experienced. We both managed to watched about 5 movies each.
We have had a full and very enjoyable holiday, seen so many sights, done so many wonderful things, eaten so many excellent meals and tasted so many different wines and beers. But now it's time to come home to the luxury of our own bed. We'll be home tomorrow night, so as the sun sets in Dubai (see picture), we hope you have enjoyed our travels. We have.
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