Today we slept in. Well, someone slept in and someone went downstairs for breakfast and got a gluten free cheese sandwich and tea! I will let you figure out which one did what! I let the person who had just driven over 800 km from Adelaide round trip get some rest however I was hungry – lets blame it on the cruise ship! My body wanted food! I went downstairs at about 9:45 am and they were just finishing up the breakfast buffet in the hotel we are staying at – Element by Marriott. This is a pretty modern hotel and lets say the restaurant is not what a regular hotel restaurant normally serves for breakfast – they kind of leaned towards Asian fusion type food. The buffet was not appropriate for me and they were just starting to take it down so they asked me what I would like and I said what do you have that is suitable for someone with Celiac Disease? They said how about a grilled cheese sandwich? I said you bet! I then helped myself to a cup of tea and sat at one of the breakfast tables and waited for my grilled cheese sandwich which showed up fairly fast! I was quite impressed! The restaurant, named Mint Lane, seems to be used by a lot of people who work in the business complex where the hotel is located.
Once Andrew woke up, as I noticed on the lunch menu they had gluten free calamari, I suggested we go down there for a simple lunch if he was hungry! So we did! WOW – now I have eating calamari around the world however these must have been the biggest calamari rings I have ever seen! However they were also VERY delicious and well seasoned/cooked!
Back in our hotel room, the view out the window was quite interesting with the blinds now open! We had these really tall – like 6 feet tall plant blossoms sticking up and pretty birds landing on them! Interesting to watch! Andrew figured out that the plant and the blossom stalk is called a Doryanthes Excelsa or Gymea Lily.
Next on the list of things to do was to deal with my ongoing pain – so I looked up a local doctors clinic in Richmond, the suburb of Melbourne where we were staying and picked a doctor from their website which to make and appointment with. His name was Dr Tuan Nguyen and while Australian, he also had a specialty in Pharmacology, which like my pain specialist, I thought would be an advantage. I made an appointment to see him to get the medication that Dr. Ong, my pain doctor had recommended that I get when we were in Maui, which I was not able to get and the ship did not have on board with them. The office was not very far away and it was a pretty seamless experience! Cost me $108 AUD which is not bad either! I received my prescription of Baclofen, which is used for people with spinal cord injuries and muscle spasms like I have and he had no issues prescribing it to me which was good! Then it was off to Coles, which is a grocery store and to a pharmacy to get my prescription filled!
Got the prescription filled – a whopping $17 AUD for the medication! I think I pay more in Canada for 100 tablets! Pretty good! Now off across the shopping mall to Coles to get some sustenance for our day trips for the next couple of days! I was particularly looking at their gluten free sections of course and found what I was looking for – Gluten Free Weetabix! It is made from Sorghum and is an excellent start to the day! Especially for those with diabetes as it does not raise your blood sugar due to the protein content in the sorghum. After getting a selection of buns, meat, cheese, chips, drinks, cookies and breakfast items we were on our way back to the hotel to relax for the rest of the evening. On our way back to the hotel, we passed by a beautiful old church that perhaps Andrew’s mother had seen when she lived in Melbourne, so we took a picture of it!
Tomorrow, we are going to drive to Phillip Island, which is south of Melbourne and visit some little penguins! I have been here before with Karen and looking forward to going back as they were just SO CUTE waddling up onto the beach after a day out at sea! Looking forward to also taking my new medication and getting my body back into better form too! See you tomorrow!