What To Do With Limited Time...A (Half) Day In Melbourne

The ship had been on the East Coast of Australia for a good two weeks.  Toward the end of the itinerary the ship docked in Melbourne for one day, and one day only.  Like the title of the blog implies, I did not have much time to explore Melbourne.  It has happened before, and it happened again; I left the port wanting more than the fraction I had seen.

This is an uncommon occurrence for me.  95% of the time circumstances favor plenty of time for exploration.  Yet the day in Melbourne was not good for me.  Here’s the thing: every five days I cannot get off the ship.  That is, unless one of my colleagues with similar emergency station duties takes my position for the day. 

The lone day in Melbourne was my day, and I had a hard time finding somebody to replace me.  Once I finally found someone, I could only get off after noon.  I was to start work at 5:30pm.  I had just a few hours to walk into the city, explore, and come back.  It was not ideal.

Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia, and is considered the cultural capital of the country.  The music scene is large, vibrant, and full of creativity.  This alone is something that really draws my attention.  The city boasts numerous museums not only of art but also of many other fields.  The restaurant scene is quite the highlight, offering a great variety of different food from around the world.  Naturally, a place such as this requires a few days to explore thoroughly, not a few hours. 

I mean...I tried to cram it all in at once...

After seeing all of this, I felt as if I scratched the surface of something immensely valuable.  A part of me was left unfulfilled.  Melbourne was brimming with a massive amount of opportunity for discovery.  The city wanted me.  I wanted it, too.  I still do.  I could live and work in Melbourne.  Something tells me I could, even though I only scratched the surface.  That something was better than Sydney, but I don’t know why.  I don’t know because there was not enough time to find out.

As soon as I could get off, my heart jumped.  Everything I’d heard about Melbourne, via friends and research, seemed to rush at me like the heat of the day as I walked off the ship. 

Soon afterward, by chance I met up with some good people from the ship, also heading out to the city.  Suzie, Georgina, and Lee were making their way out of the terminal.  This will be an even better day, I thought to myself.  I like going out by myself more often than not, however it’s nicer and more fulfilling to go out with people once and a while.  We all need that. 

Some shots from the port town.

Though we looked for transportation, the decision of the group turned out to favor walking into the city.  The trams into the city were out of commission, and the buses required a re-chargeable credit card for their fees.  We were hesitant to find out which cafes and liquor stores sold these “myke” cards.  I guess it was too much trouble for a simple ride into the city.  So it was that we ended up walking the “road less traveled” toward the city centre. 

Traversing the “road less traveled” is important to me.  I like to see the things most other tourists might not see: the local cafes and restaurants, the dirt road leading up to the secluded house on the hill, the small street that winds its way toward the statue of a town hero or a pretty park.  These things always pique my interest more than the main streets and tourist hubs, and certainly more than the tourist-trap stores and stands.  At any given moment I may gravitate toward the anomalies in travel, for they show you more reality. 

some shots from the walk toward the city centre:

I was happy with this unfolding of events.  The time constraint was being used wisely.  I was able to immerse myself in more sights, especially those of the “road less traveled.”    

Eventually we did grab a taxi…but the driver went up only one block before coming into the city centre! 

From inside the taxi

Southern Cross Station

Ha!  Nicely done, nicely done.

Outside Southern Cross Station

We had walked much farther than we’d thought!  Once at Southern Cross Station, we crossed the street and stopped at this Japanese café called “Purple Peanuts.” 

It had a wonderful selection of noodles, beef, pork…something for everyone.  I chose the beef curry soba.  It was perfect.  

Check it out here:

https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/food-and-drink/directory/cafe/purple-peanuts-profile

Another friend of ours joined us for a while.  Ashley happened to walk right past us!  That’ll happen in port occasionally; serendipity is a good thing.  She sat down with us as we enjoyed our meals.

After lunch, we walked to the river, and there the group split up. 

Lee exclaimed, "Jordan!  LOOK at that..."  I didn't see it at first....  HOW did they get that in the ground?!

Ashley and I chatted for a bit.  We wandered back towards the downtown streets before I went off on my own.  

By then I had only an hour left before needing to make my way back.  My mind was bombarded by multiple decisions: which direction to take, which way to go at the next intersection, landmarks that may or may not be seen.  …aaahhhhhh!  How could I experience the grandeur of the cultural capital of Australia in an hour?! 

Look at that skyline...

...and there's also the highway system, among the most extensive in Australia.  I can't see NEARLY enough of this place in one day without a car, too!

Look; people in my position sometimes lose perspective of others’ lives on the ship.  I have loads of free time and am prone to take it for granted.  I lost perspective that day.  Only after the day was done did I think about Suzie, Lee, Georgina, and Ashley.  Georgina generally has a lot of free time, like me.  But the others?  Suzie has a demanding, time-consuming job that usually leaves her with a few hours of free time on a good day. Lee’s job consists of numerous responsibilities and gives him little free time.  Ashley’s free time is marginally better than Suzie’s or Lee’s.    

I was aware of none of that during the excursion into the city.  I was dominated by the need to experience Melbourne.  Part of me wanted to sit down at a nice coffee place and talk to some locals about Melbourne.  The other part of me wanted to wander as deep into downtown as possible in order to see as much as possible.  I don’t know what was making me more anxious: those two options, or the minimal time mocking my attempt to do anything at all. 

some shots from my solo wandering into downtown:

Underneath the metro railway.

I finally decided on a plan.  There was this beautiful little street that oozed an artsy, sophisticated vibe, but was enveloped in a casual, local comfort.  

I chose a coffee place called “Naked Espresso.”  Australia’s coffee culture is high and mighty; there is amazing coffee to be had in any part of Australia.  Naked Espresso was quite small, and had limited seating.  These are the places to which people should go, the places of great quality.

Check it out: http://www.nakedespressoco.com.au/

I hit it off well with the guy behind the counter.  Daniel was his name.  The ice coffee was quite good; very rich yet not overpowering, almost subdued.  Once I was finished, I went to pay at the counter.  Daniel was genuinely interested in where I came from, and he even took the time to explain some directions to me regarding landmarks near the coffee shop.  I thanked him kindly, telling him I’d love to come back someday. 

I’ve seen this before: more often than not, an Aussie will take time to help someone without hesitation.  Two weeks ago in Darwin, I struck up a nice conversation with a father.  Almost every person whom I met in Sydney was kind and engaging, a rarity in huge cities.  A good buddy of mine lives in Brisbane; he’s a truly colorful, charismatic person who would give priority to those close to him at any time.  Heck, my boss, also from Brisbane, is a really great guy too when he wants to be!  (haha, I’m sure he’ll be glad to read this.  “Shots?”).  We’ve known each other a long time.  He definitely has that great warmth which I’ve seen everywhere in Australia. 

“Yeah; this really is one of the best cities in the world to live in,” Daniel’s colleague told me as I made my way out. 

“Oh, I believe it!” I replied.  A city that possesses a thriving culture, music, and art scene, good weather (though Melbourne can get four seasons in one day), very high living standards, and wonderful people is everything I could ask for. 

And yet I left unfulfilled and disappointed.  As I made my way back toward the port, Melbourne kept calling to me, saying, “there’s so much more!” 

…YEAH, I KNOW!

I wish I had time to hop onboard the tram or the metro...would've been a great option short of renting a car....

I’ve been studying Buddhism for the last year.  For Buddhists, this is a classic example of giving in to desire and attachment.  Sure, I was attached to the notion of seeing more of Melbourne, and that desire was understandable given it was a place both new and wonderful to me.  However, dwelling on that attachment and that desire creates negative thoughts and feelings.  Letting it get to me—or reinforcing those wonderings—therefore created the disappointment.

All in all, letting the disappointment get to me was the true disappointment….

I was due to leave the ship on March 1^st.  I had been onboard now for seven months….  That’s a long time.  The main culprit of my negative feelings was the anxiety of being onboard for so long.  If this day had happened earlier in the contract—say, two months into it—my positivity would not have wavered.  The later a contract goes, the more my anxiety grows; thus the more my positivity is prone to wavering.  This happens to the best of us.  I’ve seen people get very—hmmm, let’s say “interesting”—as their long contracts near the end. 

It was a hot but nice walk back to the ship.  The air was fresh and crisp, and the neighborhoods lovely, quaint, and quiet.  I was listening to some good music: Kenny Garrett, Jim Black and Chris Speed, Art Blakey, John Hollenbeck and his Claudia Quintet…. 

It took a while to cross all the roads underneath these overpasses.
At this time I decided to put some good music on.

One last look at the skyline before heading toward the shore.

NOTE: It is always good to have a map, either tangible or on the phone.
If I had taken the right of the fork in the road, it would have taken MUCH longer to get to the shore!

This tune by Jim Black was playing as I neared the shore and caught my first sight of the ship since noontime.  It was Jim Black’s “You Were Out,” off of Splay. 

https://play.spotify.com/track/7EhY1UIwqkKV4xjQgNzckP?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

There are several different emotions in this piece: angst, contemplation, comfort, ignorance, reluctant acceptance….  That last one hit home for me as I finally reached the shore.  Once I stopped to look at the ship, I suddenly noticed how heavy and tired my body was.  It was a good-tired though, a nice productive workout.  To be sure, I continued to “reluctantly accept” the reality of things…and the song turned into something bittersweet.  But, it was more sweet than bitter.  Because overall it was a fine day.  The sound of the end of the track seemed to emphasize that fact.  It was a satisfying end. 

Once back onboard, the burden of time was gone.  Suddenly I could see; I could consider my friends who have much less time than I do.  Lee.  Suzie.  Ashley.  Their time is precious.  They do what they can to experience a place for what it’s worth.  I then stretched that fact further to the waiters and the bartenders, some of who are good friends of mine.  They have much less time off than Lee, Suzie, and Ashley….

I did see Melbourne.  It was a fraction of the city, but I can say I have seen it.  It is a beautiful city, a desirable place to live, and on the top of my list….  I’m still fighting through the fog of attachment and late-contract anxiety, yet through that fog I can see my true joy in being unbelievably well-traveled at such a young age. 

Disclaimer: 

I do not intend to speak on behalf of Azamara Club Cruises.  As an employee of Azamara Club Cruises, I hereby state that all views and expressions of opinion I hold are solely my own, and do not reflect or represent the views, values, beliefs, opinions, or company policies of ether Azamara Club Cruises or Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Additionally I neither own nor claim any legal rights to the links provided in this post.