Start of a Melbourne fortnight

 By way of getting a bit organised on 2 November - and being focussed as the passerine broke wind on 3 November - we pulled out of our drive at 0655.  We got to Orbost by 0730 without seeing a single car going in our direction - and very few going the other way.  Overall there was very little traffic and we got to 505 in just over 6 hours, including a 15 minute stop at the Yarragon spud shop to grab a few interesting sauces as well as 10kg of Sebago.

Temperatures along the way had been interesting.  Very warm overnight so it was about 19C as we left home, rising to 21Cas we got to Genoa.  By Bairnsdale (0845ish) it was up to 29C.  However by the time we left the Latrobe Valley it was down to 22C where it stayed.  The apartment was also at 22C.

We went shopping in Prahran, making it across Fawner Park despite much of the grass being taken up by flannelled fools.  

We sat out in the Winter Garden with the louvres open, letting in a very pleasant breeze.

About 1730hrs I was struck by the almost monochrome light at Albert Park Lake towards the Port ... 

.. and noticed a Petri Dish leaving Station Pier.
Turns out it was the Disney Wonder,  which hold, 2,400 victims and 940 crew.  The tub is said - on Wikipedia - to have 850 'staterooms': no 'cabins' on a tub sponsored by Tinkerbelle and Mickey Mouse, no sir!  That works out to an average of 2.8 punters per cell, so there must be a lot of groups of 4!  Yecch.
We still had the louvres open when the air ambulance fired up at the Alfred.  Much much louder with them open!  Judging by the way it ripped up and banked into the turn to the East,someone needed him urgently!
The sun dropped below the building on the opposite side of St Kilda Rd.
After a short while a colourful patch appeared on the building.
We have never noticed this before but it seems to be a combination of open curtains/blinds and the position of the sun given a look through! 
Lights on the cranes...

... and prominent buildings in the CBD.
Early in next morning (4 November) Frances went to get her coffee and alerted me to a "pretty" ship arriving.  It was indeed about as attractive as a Cruise Boat can be.  The Pacific Explorer from P&O: it has 1,998 paying victims and 924 paid victims, and was arriving from Auckland.  Interestingly the wiki says it is to be 'decommissioned' in February 2025 after being launched in 1996, so write off the cost over 30 years.

While I was involved with the Tawny Frogmouth rescue a second P&O (Petri & Other) Dish turned up at Station Pier.  So that is 6000 passengers and 1800 crew trying to catch a tram into the CBD in peak hour this morning!



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