Only 24 hours down under, and already in the slammer!

Our second day of themepark-going in Orlando consisted of a visit to Universal Studios. This was fun, but really paled in comparison to Islands of Adventure the day before. The one thing most notable about the day was the fact that I was sporting a full-on handlebar moustache. This was the first -- and most likely last -- time in my life I've ever had a moustache, and I think Christine was thrilled to see it go the next day. Here's a photo of me with the handlebar, though it doesn't really capture how it looked in person very well:

I guess this is what happens when you hang out in one too many biker bars down south...

After Orlando, we made our way down to my sister's condo in Naples, where we finally unpacked the Commander, did some laundry, took a quick tour of the area and then headed off to Miami for our flight to Melbourne!

We landed in Melbourne on Sunday, April 1, and immediately fell in love with the city.

Christine in front of Flinders Street Railway Station

Me in front of Federation Square, the main pedestrian gathering place in the city, complete with galleries, performance space, cafes, and utterly wacky architecture. You can actually send text messages from your mobile phone to a certain number and they'll be displayed on the scrolling message boards embedded in the exterior of the building behind me. Those crazy Ozzies!

Breakfast down a narrow cobblestone alleyway

Melbourne has a completely free tourist tram that circles the entire downtown area, as well as a completely free tourist shuttle bus that takes a more irregular path around the city, stopping near all the major tourist attractions. How thoughtful are these people?!?! We made use of both during our visit, stopping first at the Old Melbourne Gaol.

Me and Christine in the Old Melbourne Gaol. This former jail was opened in the mid-1800's and was the setting for 136 hangings, most notably that of Irishman Ned Kelly, still a folk hero of sorts in Australia. (He has been played in movies by both Mick Jagger and Heath Ledger, among others.)

Once we had some of the history of the place under our belts, it was time to lock each other up in some of the prison cells:

Christine as inmate

Rob as inmate

Does this cell make my thighs look fat???

Last shot of Old Melbourne Gaol

After serving time at the jail, we headed over to the Melbourne Museum.

Australia's largest museum is also home to the world's largest 3-D IMAX screen, so we took in a viewing of the documentary "Deep Sea 3D." That should be good preparation for our SCUBA diving next week off the Great Barrier Reef. ;-)

The museum was also having a special exhibit on the Great Wall of China, and after visiting it, now I'm really itching to visit China and hike a substantial portion of the Great Wall. Not sure how I can fit that into my plans. Hmm...