Melbourne Tour

Although the tour of Melbourne was big news today - the bigger story is the fact that it finally rained in Mornington! The first real rain the city has experienced in the past 3 months. With high winds and dried out vegetation, fire fighters were worried that today could be very dangerous in terms fires spreading - but the wet weather greatly helped, and for such a good cause - we don't mind getting a little wet ourselves. Especially when it's 32 degrees here and -27 at home.

Our team, let by our now familiar fearless leaders, Geoff Gilsenan & John Renowden, loaded into our bus and headed for the beautiful city of Melbourne. Our first stop was the impressive Shrine of Remembrance, where Australian and New Zealand soldiers lost in WWI & WWII were remembered. We also witnessed a short memorial service where a symbolic light passes over the grave stone of the unmarked solider.
From there we meandered around town to the Melbourne Art Gallery, Federation Square and then stopped in for a morning tea. From there we went all the way to the top of the Rialto Tower where we stood out on the observation deck and felt the 100+ km/hr winds at their full strength. Incredible 360 degree aerial view of downtown Melbourne. When it comes to architecture in downtown Melbourne, it is an interesting mix of new and old, modern meets contemporary. It is a truly beautiful city with a river running through the central core, large shopping districts, art galleries, museums, Cricket and Tennis stadiums, botanical gardens and endless cafes and restaurants. The city is impeccably clean and the people are extremely friendly.
We enjoyed lunch in the 'happening' South Bank area. And then the team split up and the girls did some frantic shopping and the guys did a little looking around themselves and found their way to a local pub for some drinks. (Apparently milkshakes and juice...or so the story goes)
From there we gathered up again and made the trek back into Mornington. We all met at Peter Lawrence's home (incredible home I should add!!) and the team reviewed our GSE presentation that we'll be presenting tomorrow night at the Mornington Rotary Club.