In the pouring rain and gale-force wind we left Launceston but not without heeding the airport sign board.

And, so, even though my bag didn’t make it when we did, it showed up eventually sporting lots of tags but no clue as to where it had gone!

Because of all the awful weather all flights to Sydney had been cancelled and the folks handling missing bags had a whole batch to send back to Sydney because there were no people accompanying them. Still can’t figure that one out!

Today we went into Melbourne and walked around the botanical gardens with our aboriginal guide.  We started with a smoke ceremony.

Various leaves are added to a small fire.  The leaves signify respect for what our elders have taught us, for the knowledge we pass on to our children, and for the lives we live in the present.  Cen’s whole lesson was that we must take care of the earth, our elders, and our children so we may receive care from them in return.

Next up was a walk through “alleys” in downtown Melbourne.  First, all the streets are named after someone. There is a street 99 feet wide named Bourne Street, for instance, and the next street is only 30 feet wide and named Little Bourne Street.  Why?  Because the wide streets had to be wide enough to turn around a horse and wagon, while the small street only had to be wide enough for goods to be delivered and customers to get to the shops.

The alleys are like the arcades or snugglewickets we saw in England. Most of these are covered and have lots of little shops lining them. The floors are fantastic ceramic inlaid floors, and the ceilings are decorated with ornate metalwork.

The thing with the metalwork made us wonder for a few days.  Many of the older houses have this lace-like adornment which rivals the houses of New Orleans. I’ll post pix later. But what we found out is that it was made from the ballast in the ships that brought these intrepid folks here!

When I get some good pictures of the gingerbread on the houses you’ll see just how beautiful it is!

To finish up with today’s activities, we went to the old Victoria Market. It spans several blocks and has anything you can think of.  Pretty cool!

After we walked through the market, Mark and I walked back to the hotel. We’re doing pretty well getting our 10,000 steps every day!!