Aug 8 - 9

We started with wandering Queen Victoria Market. With local produce, meat, cheeses and just about every souvenir you can imagine. We tried another local coffee stand. So far every kind of coffee we’ve tried is rich, bold and smooth. If you love coffee like I do, Melbourne is going to become one of your happy places.

We grabbed some lunch before heading back to our hotel and getting ready for game number 2. Colombia versus Jamaica! We were a bit late since the trams were all packed full. The crowd favored Columbia with a joyful, enthusiastic atmosphere. And it was another full stadium - just over 27k in attendance.

We hoped Jamaica would hold strong but like the crowd, Colombia clearly dominated. We slipped out as soon as the final whistle blew and headed back to grab a train. We discovered after the last game our transit cards work for the train as well as the trams. While the trams are fun little streetcars they fill up very fast. For a bigger crowd, it makes more sense to take the train. We do have to switch trains once but then we end up back at Southern Cross station which is right across from our hotel.

The next morning we had to be up way too early. 4am to get to the airport for an 8am flight. There’s an airport bus that runs out of Southern Cross Station and it’s about a 30 minute drive. We got in, checked our bags and headed to the gate through a maze of duty free shops. Our flight was late to board but thankfully only a bit over 3 hours. They even gave us breakfast again.

I have to say flying into Wellington was so stunning. The coastline of the top of the Southern Island is dotted with tiny islands and lush trees. A small channel of ocean and then there’s the North Island where planes come into land between peninsulas. Melbourne had some sloping hills but is otherwise flat. New Zealand has real hills and mountains in the distance. Houses jut out of the hillsides like mushrooms perched on trees. It’s no wonder that this is Middle Earth. The little we saw just from the plane is otherworldly.

We got to our hotel, ordered room service and decided to call it a day. NZ is two hours ahead of Melbourne so we know the next day comes early enough. More fun tomorrow.