Melbourne Day 2 - Victoria Market & Moonlit Sanctuary

Wow. That must have been the most amazing nights sleep we've ever had in a hotel. Not sure it was the jetlag, or the luxury mattresses they have on the bed. Either way, we woke up refreshed and ready to hit the road. At 7am we headed our the door to Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne's best location for Fresh fruit, Meats, Dairy Products and Seafood. There was also a huge section of vendors selling clothes, watches, toys, and tourist crap.

We decided that we should try and experience as much good food as possible at the market, and promptly ordered A Mini beef pie, and a mini Pasty for breakfast. Australia is famous for its meat pies (that can be held in the hand) and we intend to try as many as possible while we are here :) This was followed by Greek Yogurt, with Strawberry topping, which was the best yogurt we have ever tasted. Who knew yogurt could taste good.

To finish off our australian breakfast, we order 6 freshly fried donuts, filled with strawberry jam. The sign said 6 for $3.60, so we assumed they could only be bought by the half dozen. Well, apparently they could be bought single too, so now we were stuck with 3 each. Turns out 6 was the perfect number. We devoured them in no time, and feeling very guilty, decided to walk the 2 miles back to the hotel. That probably cancelled out at least 1 of the donuts.

After the market, we returned to our hotel to check out. Our next leg of the journey took us to the Mornington Peninsula, to Moonlit Sanctuary, a 25 acre reserve for Nocturnal Australian Wildlife. Slowly Anna is getting used to the driving, and is driving just like she does back home. We had one little surprise, with a Roundabout in the middle of a road where the speed limit was 100kph. It crept up on us without us realizing. Luckily there werent any other cars on there, but we flew right across it, before we realized what it was.
Oh... everytime we make a left turn, the windshield wipers go on. The controls are opposite over there too, and on numerous occasions we both go to the wrong side of the car to get in. The funniest part is watching Anna grab in the air to her left for the seatbelt :D

We had an unbelievable adventure. We took 2 tours. One at day the other at night. During the day time tour, our tour guide pulled a Baby Kangaroo out of her bag, which had just been rescued the night before from her moms pouch after she was killed by a car. This experience alone has made the whole trip worth while. We were able to pet her, which made our day.

Here are some of the other Critters we saw during the nighttime tour.

 

This evening we stayed at Rangers Run, a small B & B close by the sanctuary. We had a beautiful 'apartment' with a wood burning fire and jacuzzi in the courtyard.

The family also keep several different animals on property, including goats, sheep, ducks, geese, guinnea fowl and 2 llamas. The B&B is named after their first Llama, Ranger, who unforunately is going blind.

Annas Aussie Tidbits:

During our drive to Ranger's Run, we had to make a stop at McDonald's. On the outside, everything looks the same. But when I walked in, I thought I was in a Bistro! (They're called McCafes) It had classical music playing and the furniture looks like those you've find at a local bistro. Also, instead of pictures of burgers, different type of espresso drinks offered there adorned the walls.

International calls on our prepaid cellphone are half the cost of calling anywhere within Australia. How stupid is that?