This morning when we woke up, the skies were overcast even though the temperatures were already in the high twenties. I had forgotten that the rain had followed us in most of the places we were visiting so was wondering whether this would also be in Melbourne!! We were down for breakfast by 9.30 am after I had finished up with some blogging – now I was up to date and as i am writing this evening all about today’s wandering around in Melbourne, I will try to keep the blog current.
We were outdoors by 10.30 and took the tram to the city stopping at the Casino so that we could walk the Southbank Promenade – our plan was to climb the highest tower in the southern hemisphere, the Eureka Tower. Well it wasn’t actually climbing the tower – rather in less than 40 seconds we would arrive at level 88 in the fastest lifts in the Southern Hemisphere. The 360 degrees views of Melbourne were awesome – even though we had overcast skies! Interesting to note, is the fact that the glass on the top 10 levels is 24 carat gold plated. This and the name of the Tower – Eureka – refers to the Greek term meaning “I found it” that was used in the Victorian gold fields whoever gold was found!
After our high altitude experience, we were back on street level and walked across the pedestrian bridge to Flinders Street Station and onto Federation Square. Another interesting note about Federation Square is that this was the site where the Aboriginal tribes of the Kulin confederacy of Aboriginal peoples lived for thousands of years. The Wathaurung, the Bunurong and the Woiworung peoples occupied the land. The Woiworung group comprised a number of clans including the Wurundjeri, who laid claim to the area drained by the Yarra River and its tributaries. In the first years after European settlement, Aboriginal clans still camped at their traditional locations on both sides of the Yarra River, near the Government House. Over the last two hundred years the site had been home to the city morgue, a fish market, corporate offices and rail yards. While planners had long dreamed of linking the CBD with the Yarra River, the divide created by the railway yards had consistently thwarted further development. However in 1998 it was decided to have this square designed and built in time for the Federation’s centennial – and it is now a cultural and events driven place enjoyed by both locals and tourists alike due to its central position.
Well that’s some history listen for my readers! And this is where we decided to stop our walk about and enjoy some crushed juices and watch the world go by. As the City’s information centre is located on the Federation Square, I decided to get some info on a good walk to get to know the old Melbourne. But first we visited the Anglican St. Paul’s Cathedral built on a site that previously from 1836 to 1848 was the site which served as a corn market for the growing city. This cathedral has had various stages of constructions but as it stands today, it is a magnificent place of worship both from outside and inside. And yes, it’s become traditional for Gerry and myself to light candles in remembrance of those who are no longer with us.
Our walk around was based on one of Melbourne Walks – Arcades and Lanes which covered lanes, alleyways, little streets, arcades, cafe society and fascinating shops! Although the walk was only 2.5km and to be walked in 1.5 hours, we took much longer as we were curious about some interesting places – e.g. the first public toilets for men built in 1910 while the Ladies’ public toilet was only built in 1927!
Once we had completed our walk, we were really dead beat and decided to take the city free circle tram so that we could see the rest of the city while enjoying the ride. I was so dead beat, that I nodded off a bit while sitting on the sunny side of the tram!!!
It was well after 18.30 that we took our own tram back to St.Kilda and back to our hotel for a little rest and a shower before going out for dinner. This time we remained in St.Kilda and as I had read that there were some really good restaurants along the esplanade, we strolled down to the beach. And we were in for a big surprise – everyone was out strolling on the beach or just hanging around, waiting for sunset. We were lucky to get a table which gave us full front view of the sunset – oh that was so magnificent – life is good!!!
Yes I could easily adapt to this way of life – the five million Melburnians have such a good life!! But that is all the time we can spend in this wonderful city as tomorrow we are on our way to Sydney with a stopover at Beechworth to spread the driving over two days!
