After waking up and poking around Sorrento, a gorgeous town that sits at the mouth of Melbourne Harbor straddling the Pacific Ocean, yesterday was spent kicking around Melbourne, a very unique place.

First, the obligatory beach shot before departing Sorrento. Three or four surfers were already out testing the early morning swell.

Matt, while contemplating the day’s coming attractions:

Melbourne is large, with a population of 4 million, and a reputation in Australian Rules Football (more on that later) to match. It’s quite spread out, and the shoreline approaching from the southeast reminded me of the Marina District in San Francisco. The entire shoreline of Melbourne Harbor is parkland – mile after mile of unbroken coast, sand and trees. Just incredible – no businesses, homes, restaurants or other buildings on the water – only nature, with everyone invited to partake. These guys really know how to live and understand what’s important.

As yesterday was Saturday, Matt suggested hitting Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market. Really fun to do some street photography, which I love. What a place – everything imaginable is for sale there, and we wandered over to the food court, where we found the best oysters we’d ever tasted, followed by great “take away” food to enjoy in the perfect weather outside.

Hmmm… American cultural imperialism at its best. We stayed away, but thanks for the offer, guys.

Melbourne’s commercial architecture is like none I’ve seen in other U.S. or foreign cities. Pretty bizarre overall, as though the local architects were eating the Koalas’ Eucalyptus leaves before hitting their drafting tables. The juxtaposition of old and new is fascinating.

Typical streetscape in an upscale neighborhood we passed through:

Inside and outside Melbourne’s Museum:

Shopping scene in Chinatown:

These folks must have been playing Pokeman Go. They had no idea that the real world beckoned them with great fun just steps from their screens.

This gent was the first homeless person I’ve seen in Australia, and I’ve covered a lot of ground. He seemed very happy, singing and laughing to himself. Pass the Eucalyptus leaves….

Another great idea from Matt – “Let’s see an Australian Rules Football match.” This is Australia’s national sport – a religion in every way. What a total blast. If you like U.S. football, soccer, hockey and lacrosse, you’ll absolutely love this game. Ten times as fast and fluid as NFL football, with tons of scoring (the final score was 105-77, with non-stop rock ’em, sock ’em action throughout). The field is just enormous, and the players don’t stop running for a moment during the game. The fans were fantastic and super friendly, explaining the game and its nuances to us. Many beers later, we were total converts. We hope to pick up some games back home on one of ESPN’s multitude of channels.

Before we wandered over to the game, we came upon two places – a bar and a condo complex around the corner from each other – with instantly recognizable names. Wonder if someone was playing a sly joke…

(Sorry – had a hard time with these photos. Couldn’t e-mail them from my phone to my notebook.)  Then we were off to dinner for some Asian cuisine, Matt’s request on his last night down under.