We leave our hotel at 7:45 and stop at a small non-descript café for coffee and egg and bacon sandwiches to go. I use the internet for 15 minutes, add a bottle of water to our bill and pay $28.00. The morning sun is low and blinding as I retrace our path back to Melbourne. Near Geelong, we take the turn off to Bells Beach, a famous surfing spot and watch the surfers for a few minutes.
I am determined to find the Serendip nature reserve that I have read about, but that none of the day tours include in their itineraries. I know that it is located near Lara, in the Little River area and I follow signs to Lara and ask directions at a gas station. The mechanic draws me a careful map and we are soon pulling into the reserve. It is indeed a reserve and not a zoo and there is no entrance fee. We follow the paths into a wetland area with multitudes of ducks and water birds. A “hide” is constructed over the lake so that visitors can observe without detection. We take a two kilometer trail across a dry river following a herd of emus. The kangaroos and wallabies are “caged,” but in a very large enclosure that we are allowed to enter to observe them more closely. The reserve is not exciting; but it is free and we are especially delighted with our emu encounter.
Melbourne is less than an hour away and after filling our rental car with gas, John navigates me back to the rental car return. We get seriously lost in a distant suburb of Melbourne, but eventually find our way back to the center of town; drop our luggage off at the Citigate Hotel and return the car undamaged. We have lost an hour in our unintended detour and grab hamburgers at the nearby McDonalds and catch a taxi to the Melbourne aquarium. The aquarium is built along the promenade of the river in the heart of down town. The cityscape along the waterfront is beautiful in the afternoon light, glass and steel sky scrapers reflected in the water and suspension bridges spanning the river. John and I are aquarium connoisseurs and although this one is decent, it is not great. The exhibits are a little dark and tired; although there are some wonderfully endearing fish on display. Naturally, the angler fish is one of my favorite and I take photos of this grumpy guy wedged down in a corner of his tank. We admire the impossibly ugly stone fish and the remarkable weedy and leafy sea horses. There is an excellent penguin exhibit and we end our visit watching both king penguins and a smaller breed of very playful and curious penguins cavort on the snow of their enclosure. The smaller penguins swim, miniature torpedoes in their pool that has a viewing section so that we may watch their underwater maneuvers.
John needs a new backpack and we pick one up on the walk back to our hotel. We freshen up a bit and walk out again in search of dinner. Directly across from our hotel is the main train station and we cross through it and over a bridge to a lovely waterfront shopping and eating mall. There are many upscale restaurants and John chooses an elegant Japanese one offering a theatre menu pris fix. We are under dressed, but are graciously seated by the window overlooking the sparkling river. Our two meals are excellent and our bill is just under $60.00 It is the best meal we have eaten.
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