Melbourne

After dropping $80 NZD due to insane luggage restrictions on international flights with Virgin (*would never fly with them again!) and paying $50 NZD in "departure taxes," we made our way to Australia. Passports wouldn't scan in customs, but no problems otherwise. Our rental car got upgraded and we were off for downtown.
Our first stop was the Queen Victoria Market-- the largest outdoor market in the southern hemisphere. It had everything from crafts to fresh fruit, vegis, meats, cheeses and breads to clothing and souvenirs. We purchased a homemade napkin holder made of bamboo as well as supplies for a picnic lunch.

We picked out fresh proscutio, goat cheese, spinach dip, BBQ chips, bread and fruit. There were so many choices! We took our lunch and drove to the Queen Victoria Gardens for a nice lunch in the park. We had a flock of birds waiting for crumbs to drop, but we enjoyed sitting on the bench overlooking the skyline as we ate our yummy food.

After lunch, we walked through the art center complex and along the Yarra River to the Eureka Tower. We purchased tickets to ride up to the 88th floor some 300m tall to the highest observation deck in the southern hemisphere.

We had some nice views of the skyline, the gardens, the cricket grounds, the Yarra River, and Hobson's bay. The top few floors of the building are 24k plated and the structure itself utilizes a basin of water to stabilize the nearly 1/3m swayings from wind.

After enjoying the tower, we walked through the Kings Domain and the Royal Botanic Gardens. We spotted many types of birds that we couldn't identify. On the way back to the car, we took a stroll further down the Yarra River.
Neither of us are big-city types and we were not thrilled with their crazy honking antics, but we enjoyed the one-day we had in Melbourne.