The tram system here is really nice and I got a day ticket for 10 bucks. First I headed north to the Melbourne Zoo as it appears no one is going to take me out to see kangeroos, koalas, and wombats - some people are just no fun. A short ride and the train drops you right by the gate. I was orginially excited that the zoo also has red pandas, but they were sleeping high enough in the trees all you could see was a paw sticking out of a red lump. Actually most things were asleep, except the meerkats. The kangeroos looked like my poodle:

and only one awake was chowing down.

The koala looked stuffed. I am beginning to think they are all stuffed and species is extinct.

The playtus never left its den, the wombat was actually making a snoring noises...

And the tree kangeroo only woke up to groom his tummy.

The crodidile was also at least pretending to sleep in the bilabong.

The plant life, not even counting the exploding trees and the eucolpus, was pretty odd. If you're seen the grasstree root I have in the garage from a turning convention, they look as weird alive.

    

So after a couple of hours here, I rode the tram back to Queen Victoria Market, which is suppsoed to be the world's largest flea market. Tons and tons of stuff for sale on several hectearces - fruits and veggies, meat, eggs, dairy, clothing, souvenirs, you name it.

From here, I walked back to town and hit the galleries of aborginial art. There were some real nice pieces, particularly carvings, but everything was too big to carry home and shipping it was a small fortune. During the walk, I saw the parliment building,

The yarra river, several old churches from the colonial days, and lots of skyscrapers - with very blue skies.

before ending up in Chinatown again.

Finally, tired and a bit homesick, I found a Chinese BBQ place that seems very similar to our 1st China BBQ in Texas. A meal of steamed bok choy, red cooked pork and duck, and tea made me feel better and so I walked over to this brewery Rosalyn reocmmend. James Squires' Dark Malt Ale was excellent.