Just a wee taste of Australia on this trip, with only two days in port before our fortnight of Seabourn pampering comes to an end.  So we couldn’t think of a better day trip to do from Melbourne than a wine tasting tour in the nearby Yarra Valley.

After a bit of a rushed start due to the late arrival of the ship and some shenanigans with Customs & Immigration, it didn’t take us long to catch up at the first winery, Yering Farm. From there, it was on to Helen & Joey’s Winery – I’m sure they said they sometimes see kangaroos there but for us they were distinctly absent, just a field of cows to observe while we sipped on the various tasters put in front of us. More wine at the vineyard lunch stop, St Huberts, followed by a gin tasting at Four Pillars Gin. A shared Spotify playlist on the party bus kept things lively as we drove back to Melbourne.

A ’paddle’ of gins to work our way through at Four Pillars

We continued our food and drink highlights of Melbourne tour at Chuckle Street Park bar, basically a caravan in an alleyway with some well-thought out lighting. After all that wine, Darren was glad of a ’tinny’. We rounded off the evening with a mouthwatering banquet of dishes at Rice, Paper, Scissors, a highly recommended Asian Fusion restaurant.

Some of the food highlights included Twice cooked sticky pork belly with tamarind caramel and a tangy, fragrant herb salad, and Crispy barramundi with summer peach slaw and a sesame ginger dressing. SO so good!
Not even dark when we got back to the ship

After a final sea day to squeeze in more champagne and caviar, we had the last of our destination ports on the cruise, Eden. A sleepy little coastal town, the southernmost in New South Wales, with a population of less than 5,000, we couldn’t quite work out – of all the towns in all the southeast corner of Australia, why Eden? In the end, we figured it was more of a convenience stop just over half way between Melbourne and Sydney.

Still, it was a nice enough morning for an exploratory walk, and our trusty AllTrails app had recommended just that.

Not many others from the ship ventured this far

I was quite enjoying the walk, albeit the trail soon petered out and became a beach. That is, until the beach petered out and became a river. There was no other option for it than for me to hoist up my capri pants, take off the shoes and socks, and wade through. With a resigned look on my face.

A more thorough look at the AllTrails reviews revealed multiple mentions of ”passable at low tide only”
At least someone was happy with the beach walk
A warm, happy welcome back to the ship!
Last opportunity for C&C. After this decadence on the balcony, we finished off the champagne in our private hot tub (not really, but we were the only ones there) as we cruised away from Eden
An Epicurean evening allowed the Seabourn crew to showcase tasty canapes and cocktails on deck, followed by a parade of team members around the top deck, lots of whooping and hollering as we thanked them and said our goodbyes. Throw in an Abba party and an Indian buffet and we had ourselves an awesome final evening onboard

After the dreaded packing and an early start the next morning, all that remained was the final sail in to Sydney. What a treat to see the distant skyline approaching, to cruise past the iconic Sydney Opera House and to sail right under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Early doors
We weren’t the only ones who got up early to experience the sail in to Sydney
Nice morning for it, with the sun glinting off the city skyscrapers
And there you have it. No mistaking this one.
Quick, let’s get a selfie!
Trying for a unique angle of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Meanwhile, Darren gets the unique angle of me.
Looking back out to sea from within the harbour

Unfortunately, there was no time to explore Sydney, as we had to get back to the reality of the day job and all that. But at least no drama on the long flight home via Fiji, and there’s certainly worse places to arrive into in early January than Southern California. Home 🙂