Finally, we are getting to do the last entry of our Australia-New Zealand trip.  We have been home a month so hopefully, we can remember the last few days.

After we left Auckland, New Zealand we had three sea days crossing the Tasman Sea.  The Tasman Sea has a reputation for being one of the roughest passages, but again, just like with the rest of our trip, the weather was beautiful and the seas were not bad at all.  One of the things we saw while traversing the Tasman Sea was the southern most point of Australia, Wilson’s Promontory.  While we were in the Tasman Sea, we got an announcement from the Captain that an ill patient was to be evacuated by helicopter.  A little drama never hurts to spice up our three days at sea.

On the fourth day we docked in Melbourne and everyone had to leave the ship since it was a disembarkation and embarkation day for many of the passengers, not us since we were going on to Adelaide.

The last time we were in Melbourne, a couple of weeks before, we had seen very little so this time we took the one excursion offered.  We drove through Melbourne and finally got to see parts of it.

We then drove up to a high observation point outside the main part of Melbourne.  It was hazy but we could still see the city (barely). 

We then drove to the small town of Olinda where we were on our own for an hour or so.  We went to a restaurant with outdoor seating but the service was so slow we wound up taking our lunch back to the bus and eating it on the bench by the bus.  The BLT, no fries, BJ had was $18.95 AU dollars or about $15.00.  Australia and New Zealand are quite expensive.  Housing costs are really high, and groceries are costly too.

Back to the ship, we left Melbourne and then another day at sea and on January 24^th we docked in Adelaide.  Disembarkation was hectic, but the ride to the airport was fine.  The first flight was 2 + hours to Sydney, then 17 hours to Dallas, and then the flight home from Dallas.  This is the longest we have ever flown, but the trip was amazing, and we rate it as one of our top trips ever.  Until the next trip, bye!