Next we traveled to Melbourne, AU to visit some friends, Edie and Les Sheffield, who we met a few years ago while Les was at Yale doing medical research. Always nice to see a city from the POV of people who live there. Also nice to spend some time having a home cooked meal when you're on the road. Melbourne is a city of beautiful parks in the south of the country. This picture on the left (taken by Edie who was worried it wouldn't come out) was taken in the magnificent botanical gardens on the southern boundary of the city. The inside atrium of our hotel is pictured on the right.
One of my tennis goals has been to visit the venue of each of the grand slam tournaments. I've been lucky to go to NYC's US open many times and also went to Wimbledon (London) and the French Open (Paris). The Australian Open is held in January, so I didn't see any tennis, but at least I went to the venue. I consider that close enough! Picture follows.
From the damp, cool weather in Melbourne, we head to the tropical North and the city of Cairnes (pronounced "Cans"). It's the home of the Great Barrier Reef.

For pictures, click here.