by iankent

The Fairy Penguins of Phillip Island

Here we are again ‘Down Under”.  We had taken the train from Sydney to Melbourne, an interesting trip passing through places like ‘Wagga-Wagga’, ‘Cootamundra’, and past Australia’s capital of Canberra.  It was a pleasant ride as we travelled through miles of pasture land, cattle ranches, thousands of sheep, horses, and even some alpacas.  There were lots of pines and eucalyptus and many species of trees I could not recognize.  We eventually arrived at the ‘Southern Cross Station’, now named ‘Spencer Street Station’.  We were lucky because our travel agent had booked a great hotel just across the street from the train station, so we were soon settled into our room. Read More

by iankent

MELBOURNE’S “COLONIAL TRAMCAR RESTAURANT”

Melbourne, Australia’s “cultural” centre, an amazing city in an amazing country! We had never before seen such a delightful mixture of old and new architecture, a tasteful blending of the best features of both styles. This mingling of old and new was also apparent in the city’s transportation system. Standing on the curbside by our hotel, we were intrigued by the sleek, modern tram-cars that glided quietly by, then periodically one of the free, old “colonial” tram-cars came along, clanging its bell, changing the ambience to one of an earlier century. Read More