I had a chance for an early morning walk on the promenade before our bus tour of the city, making it down and back from Federation Square without being run over by rather aggressive cyclists. We went through the Central Business District, stopped to visit the Shrine of Remembrance and walked through a section of the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Shrine of Remembrance

Royal Botanic Gardens

Our afternoon was at leisure, and I visited the Immigration Museum and resumed my promenade walk down to the Convention Centre. The day was overcast and somewhat windy, and it started to rain about mid-afternoon. I tried to wait out the rain in the Crown Entertainment Complex, which houses a casino and upscale stores and restaurants, but as there was no sign of it stopping anytime soon and the restaurants were closed, I decided to return to my hotel and get ready for tomorrow’s busy day.

Immigration Museum, Melbourne

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• Melbourne City Tour
• Royal Botanic Gardens
• Shrine of Remembrance
• Yarra River Promenade

After 21 hours in the air followed by a short drive from the airport, I arrived at my hotel, but it wasn’t until after a four-hour nap and walking behind my hotel for my first real view of Melbourne that the reality of my vacation finally sank in. This is the view of the Melbourne skyline from my room at The Langham. The promenade along the Yarra River is just behind the hotel, so I had the opportunity to take a short walk before our Welcome Dinner.

Melbourne Skyline

Yarra River Promenade

The members of our tour group met for the first time at the Welcome Reception and Dinner, which was a buffet consisting of five stations with seafood, salads, made-to-order dishes and dessert (a sure sign of a Tauck tour!). These are views from the lobby and second (restaurant) levels of The Langham. Our tour director gave us our only order – “be on time” – and our itinerary for Australia.

The Langham, Melbourne, Lobby Level

The Langham, Melbourne, Restaurant Level

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Yarra River Promenade