Melbourne 2 - PM

On then to the Sofitel Hotel, where Toby had told us the 35th floor restaurant loos afforded the most amazing, free, views of Melbourne.  We blagged our way past the concierge saying we were meeting friends for lunch and then wizzed up in the lift for a quick look.

  

The inside was quite impressive too.

We then decided a river boat trip would be a good idea and the Garden Tour sounded quite nice and also we'd already seen the docklands area by tram.  Unfortunately by the time we sailed at 1600 the weather had clouded over (we spoke to Toby later who said it was smoke from the fires again) and all there was to see was buildings and rowers really, no gardens whatsoever.

Making use of one of the many public riverside BBQ areas.

The supports of this bridge have been turned into a climbing wall.

Turning old commercial buildings like this plastic factory into housing is the current "in" idea.

Sadly it must rate as the most boring boat trip ever and when I mentioned this at the end to the boat driver/commentator he totally agreed (of course I made it clear it was no reflection on his entertaining commentary).

I know neither of us are the nattiest dressers, but I so wish I hadn't lost my nerve for street photography as we've seen more fashion disasters in Melbourne than anywhere on earth and at times have been doubled up with laughter.  But I think this young lady on the river cruise took the biscuit.

And one from the tow path.

For years I've been asking Ian to take me to a cricket or rugby match in a big stadium, so as it was our last evening and we'd walked the streets of Melbourne enough, we decided to go back to The 'G' and watch the T20 match.  I think the ticket price of just £12.50 swayed him somewhat.

The match was due to start at 1940 and we got there way too early at about 1800 in case tickets were scarce - they weren't, in fact only about 10% of seats were taken and numerous sections were closed off to ensure that what few spectators there were, were bundled together.  An awful lot of razzamatazz goes on and we had all sorts of promotional goodies pressed on us; glasses, flags, buckets (apparently to wear on our heads - so we did).

Warming up.

These lads came in with armfuls of buckets and we soon realised why.

I'd decided not to bother taking a camera but so wish I had - there was a cheer leader acrobatic group that did amazing routines whenever the home team scored 4 or 6, but the lag on my phone meant I missed every one.

It was a really good evening, with the Melbourne Stars winning (in fact we left 2 overs before the end to miss the "crowds" as it was clear who would win and go on to the final in Sydney on Sunday).

I think this is the first night we've stayed up past 2100 - must be feeling better!