Friday 3^rd February 2012

Somehow I did not master yet the Australian washing-machines and tumble-dryers. Yesterday evening I washed the clothes and then realized that there is still washing powder on the cloth. I tried to wash it out by hand, but not very successfully. Also with the dryer: according to the hostel crew 30 minutes should be enough for drying. But also here the dryers are not faster than at home First we brought the car back as Melbourne is easier to get around with walking. First we visited the nearby Queen Victoria Market. On this huge market you may buy everything from food to souvenirs. We bought some fresh but expensive fruits. As the summer was bad here, the prize for fruits and vegetables is higher. But generally speaking Australia is as expensive as Switzerland. There is a free tram line circling around downtown. To explore the city we rode about half of the tour. I realized how much the area of the dockland developed. When I was here last time, there was very little. Now there are many new buildings and a new stadium. At the Federation Square in the center of Melbourne we dropped off. We visited the Pauls Cathedral. As we like to walk we went to the Royal Botanic Garden. It is huge and makes the impression of a local recreation area. After a nap in the park we wanted to see Melbourne with eagle eyes. The elevator took us to floor 88 of Eureka Tower. At nearly 300 m the city is very impressive to look at. In the evening we met Zoe, a friend of Konrad from his Dublin times. As she had to work longer it was quite late when we met. So we had to look for something to eat. We found a Korean restaurant. We ordered meat for the table grill. Konrad took beef tongue, Zoe and I two different kind of chicken. One was tender and lovely. The other tasted like a chewing gum and was not really edible.