Melbourne pt. 1
(18th Jan 2026)
My overnight journey from Sydney went surprisingly smoothly, even with a derailment along the line meaning a transfer to a replacement coach service midway through. There was markedly more legroom than I’d have been afforded on a standard economy flight, so even though I was ‘trapped’ in the window seat, I was comfortable. After a spot of reading, I slept most of the way to Albury, where I sleepily stumbled onto the coach and resume heavy napping.
I arrived at Southern Cross Station at 8am and after dropping my luggage somewhere safe, went on a mahoosive walkabout. Melbourne is the only stop on my hols where I don’t have a relative to supply me with free bed & board, so I had a whole morning/afternoon to fill before I could check into to my accommodation. I headed for Alexandra Park, a huge, sprawling space full of greenery and scenery. I walked in a leisurely, semi-aimless manner around the park, passing through the Royal Botanic Gardens and stopping off at Cook’s Cottage; it’s the old family home of Captain James Cook – no relation (that I know of) – but for blog purposes, it was cool to see my ancestral home was being so well looked after!
2 hours and 10km later, I decided I’d done enough walking in the baking sun and took a train to my motel lodgings out from the centre of Melbourne. I made one last effort to cross the freeway and get a few supplies, then for the rest of the day refused to lift a finger for anything more physical than writing a blog entry.