I’m so tired. That is what happens when you’ve been on a 14 hour flight that has crossed both the international dateline and the equator, setting you back a day and two seasons. We have just flown halfway around the world from Australia to the USA. We ended our visit to Australia in Melbourne. Melbourne is very hip with lots of restaurants and cafés – almost all of which are super expensive (I’m a KID and I realized that, and that’s sayin’ a lot). For example: Five Aussie dollars for a coffee… PSHHH!☕️😕

One of the main sources of transportation in Melbourne is by tram. We took a lot of trams from St. Kilda, where we were staying, into the city center and around the city.

We visited some exhibits at the library and saw Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly’s homemade armor. Ned Kelly was a bushranger, and many people think he was a folk hero. During his time he was highly ‘WANTED’ by the police. He made body armor out of farm instruments to protect him in a shoutout with the police. It didn’t really work; He got captured by the police. We had read about him in our history book, The Story of the World, so it was cool to see the armor up close.

At the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) we learned about the first kinds of movies and how they developed into modern day films, television, and even video games. The museum featured a lot of Australian actors. We even saw an exhibit on movies about Ned Kelly. Mick Jagger and Heath Ledger both played Ned Kelly in different movies. We saw the movie version of the suit of armor that Ned Kelly’s character, performed Heath Ledger, wore.

Melbourne also has a lot of parks, so I got to play a tiny bit of soccer. There is also an amusement park called Luna Park, based on the one at Coney Island. I got to ride the bumper cars there.

Nearby, is the St. Kilda pier and at sunset people gather to see little penguins swim in from their day of fishing and hop on rocks.

Melbourne turned out to be great for gluten free food. I got a gluten free margherita pizza at Mr. Wolf and then a huge stack of gluten free pancakes at a place called Hide + Cheek. Check out my food section for photos.

Australia was full of excitement, wildlife, fun activities/things to do, and high prices. I really enjoyed camping, surfing, and just being in Australia. I hope that someday I can go back. BYE AUSTRALIA😉👋!