Briefly Online
I can access the executive lounge at the Hilton, which has free wi-fi. I'm not up to spending large sums for the connection in the room. I may spring for connectivity in the convention centre a couple of times; I'm not sure. And of course it depends on whether the service even lets me do so, since the mobile phone I got yesterday won't let me use a non-Australian card to recharge it. I need to go to a shop sometime today to put some minutes on it, or otherwise I can only receive calls, not make them. If you don't have an Australian credit card, you can recharge the minutes in person at certain shops, but not online using a credit card.
I did go to dinner on the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant last night, the start/end of which is a block from the Convention Centre. I had a nice steak and a blood-sugar-raising chocolate mousse that I enjoyed a great deal along with a tour of parts of Melbourne from on board the tram that has been converted to a restaurant. Now I understand one of the reasons the meal is relatively expensive: there's a bunch of alcohol included in the price: sparkling wine, dinner wine, after-dinner drinks. Not having any appreciation for the taste of alcoholic beverages, this was lost on me. But I still enjoyed myself a lot.
Knowing how streetcars work, I was not at all surprised when we reversed direction a bunch of times. The trip is not circular, but out-and-back, and requires the streetcar to change ends several times. This was disconcerting to the group sitting next to me, who kept complaining about the car "going backwards." I was sitting at one end of the car, which is all wood and mirrors and curtains and very pretty, but a couple of times one of the tram operators opened the end door (covered in mirrors), and you could see the regular tram control stand at my end of the car.
It was a great trip on the streetcar restaurant, and if I'm here in Melbourne again sometime, I might well do it again. Maybe next time I'll even spring for the late dinner, rather than the early (shorter, less expensive) early dinner. But in this case, I was happy to be on the early seating because it meant I could get to bed relatively early -- but still 4 AM by Pacific Time. I slept well and woke up on my own at 7:30, so, fingers crossed, I'll not have too much trouble adjusting to the time down here. I don't have time for jet-lag.
I did go to dinner on the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant last night, the start/end of which is a block from the Convention Centre. I had a nice steak and a blood-sugar-raising chocolate mousse that I enjoyed a great deal along with a tour of parts of Melbourne from on board the tram that has been converted to a restaurant. Now I understand one of the reasons the meal is relatively expensive: there's a bunch of alcohol included in the price: sparkling wine, dinner wine, after-dinner drinks. Not having any appreciation for the taste of alcoholic beverages, this was lost on me. But I still enjoyed myself a lot.
Knowing how streetcars work, I was not at all surprised when we reversed direction a bunch of times. The trip is not circular, but out-and-back, and requires the streetcar to change ends several times. This was disconcerting to the group sitting next to me, who kept complaining about the car "going backwards." I was sitting at one end of the car, which is all wood and mirrors and curtains and very pretty, but a couple of times one of the tram operators opened the end door (covered in mirrors), and you could see the regular tram control stand at my end of the car.
It was a great trip on the streetcar restaurant, and if I'm here in Melbourne again sometime, I might well do it again. Maybe next time I'll even spring for the late dinner, rather than the early (shorter, less expensive) early dinner. But in this case, I was happy to be on the early seating because it meant I could get to bed relatively early -- but still 4 AM by Pacific Time. I slept well and woke up on my own at 7:30, so, fingers crossed, I'll not have too much trouble adjusting to the time down here. I don't have time for jet-lag.