Melbourne

The drought in Australia is definitely over. On both visits I've made to Australia in the past month (Canberra and now Melbourne) it has poured with rain. Water was washing down the streets yesterday.

Melbourne does live up to its reputation for clothes shopping,with stores ranging from high end designer through to cheap Chinese imports. Quite a few of the shops are common to both sides of the Tasman and prices are high. The malls were a welcome respite from the rain.

I took the free tourist tram tour, which goes in a circuit around the CBD, taking a bit less than an hour to complete the trip. That was a good way to keep out of the rain and range a bit more widely. I also visited the Art Gallery complex, which was mildly interesting.

The CBD itself is pleasant, with spacious main streets, a reasonable number of cafes (although these seem to be concentrated into some small alleyways) and lots of trams. The latter might be picturesque but are rather noisy. Overall the CBD seems small and compact for a city of four million. The Yara River is quite cut off from the city, with road and rail in between. The tourist sights about town are moderately interesting rather than spectacular, and most could be ticked off in a few days.