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Melbourne

 

POPULAR

(must-sees for the 5-days-tourist)

In Melbourne we stayed at the Rendezvous Hotel it was right in the centre of Melbourne actually on top of the 'e' of Melbourne on the Google map, which is pretty odd.
The Rendezvous Hotel is a nice hotel and a little old fashioned in a lovely way. We went for a Clubroom which was nice (not the use of the word 'nice') for the two of use it was $249.00 AUS per night which isn't too bad for a nice hotel, in a nice part of town. $24.95 AUS for 24 hours worth of Wireless Internet Access is not nice though, nor $53.00 AUS for breakfast. The extras mount up at the Rendezvous Hotel.

Day One

Melbourne is busy, fun and there is so much to do in this cosmopolitan city that you really have to get your skates on so that you see everything.

To get a great look at the city nip downtown to the Eureka Skydeck 88, located on level 88 (hence the 88 in the name). As the good people of Skydeck 88 say this is the tallest viewing platform in the Southern Hemisphere.
Cost of admission is modest at $16.50 AUS for over sixteen's and $9.00 for a person from 4 to 16 and you can tell that this is a new attraction and very contemporary attraction because a family ticket priced at $29.00 AUS is for one adult and two children and Opening Hours are 10am until 10pm (last entry 9.30pm).

You can also visit The Edge while you are on level 88. The Edge is actually an extra and not for everyone's taste or indeed stomach, why, well simple. The Edge is a glass cube which juts out from the building by 3 metres and so when you look down you are looking straight down three hundred meters, the kids will love it and your legs will go weak. There is an additional cost of $12.00 AUS for an adult and $8.00 AUS for a child to experience this 'experience.' You can get more information here http://www.eurekaskydeck.com.au

It is wise to rest for the rest for the day after the vertigo induced thrill, but if you have kids or are with people with stronger constitutions then you will be expected to sightsee until you drop and that isn't an impossible task in Melbourne. Take a short walk to the Parliament House of Victoria and on the way get a coffee.
You will also be able to see the lovely gothic St. Patrick's Cathedral on the beautiful tree lined Albert Street and then have another coffee to further steady your nerves in Café on Albert a great little place hidden away behind the tennis courts. Maybe even stop for lunch or dinner lunch specials start at $6.00 AUS and are great as is the coffee. Check out http://www.cafeonalbert.com.au for more information.

Day two

I dropped into Café on Albert to have breakfast and met the family at the Melbourne Cricket Club for a tour of the National Sports Museum it was really riveting, of course I had gone there to mock but the history of the place added to the passion that any Aussie has for any sport and our guide had for Cricket in abundance made something of an impression on me. I have to stress that we were lucky and had a guided tour normally you are free to look around on your own. Click here for more information. http://www.nsm.org.au

Admission prices are $15.00 AUS for an adult and $8.00 for someone from 5 -15. A family ticket here unlike the Skydeck is for two adults and two children and costs $45.00 AUS. As we did you can book a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Club for the same prices, which actually makes the visit to both places a bit expensive, but it is worth seeing in my opinion.

Afterwards to help rest our aching feet we hopped on the Melbourne's City Circle tourist tram apparently it doesn't really have a beginning or an end - but then, hey it is a circle, but it is great for taking in everything from street level and I like trams they are slow, environmentally friendly and stop frequently so if you see something that you want to investigate you can do easily. The Melbourne Tram company operate two tram services as far as I can tell, one is clockwise and the other anti-clockwise which seems somehow very sensible. The clockwise trams pass every twelve minutes between 10.00am and 6.00pmand are free. The cost ofday ticketsfor on other trams is $6.50 AUS full fare and $3.50 for concessions and is valid for the whole day.

Day three

Just down the road from the Cricket Club is the Royal Botanic Gardens, now I am not really a fan of tropical plants grown in hot houses.
But when the hot house plants are growing without hot houses in the open air they seem to take on a different interest, the tropical jungle with lakes that is the Royal Botanic Gardens is a very special place and well worth half a day of anyone's time and it is free to enter, and so you can forgive the droning noise of the Melbourne traffic.

There is of course a Glasshouse and in the middle of the day the temperature is at the top end of unbearable so nip off for an Aussie beer and leave the 'others' to get dehydrated there. Try this link for more information http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au.

In the middle of the day we got out of the sun and laid in the shade next to the pool at the hotel recovering our strength so that we could really have an early start and fully enjoy the 130 year oldmarket called Queen Victoria Market. Down on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Victoria Street the market usually opens from 6am through to 2pm Tuesday to Sunday, though the opening hours on Sunday are 9am - 4pm. Obviously the market is free and a great place to local watch, and of course to enjoy the food and drink that they do.

Day four

Time to catch your breath and slow the pace down? St Kilda Beach is one of the longest beaches I have ever been on, it is clean and scrupulously maintained and reminded me in places of Santa Monica with lots of markets and amusements and unbelievable it is very close to Melbourne City, in fact just down the road from Albert Park.

Like the rest of Melbourne there is so much to at St Kilda Beach it is impossible to sit down for any length of time. We took in the pier and Luna Park and were dead beat enough to rest for the afternoon after a large lunch at the George Hotel.

Then in the evening it was back to Luna Park for the amusements - well the tickets were valid all day! The cost of entry is toddlers (3years & under) $12.95. Children (4 -12 years) $25.95.Adult (13+ years) $35.95. Family (2 adults + 2 children) $108.95 and covers all rides, though sadly not the hot dog stand.
You can use this link for more information http://www.lunapark.com.au.

Day five

Well so much for a rest at Luna Park we were whacked and over slept but never mindhappily we didn't much on Phillip Island and we definitely didn't miss the Penguin Parade because it is open till late.
Driving the 70 miles from Melbourne to Phillip Island is easy because the highway is so smooth and once you are at Phillip Island the Penguin Parade is 5 minutes away.

The concept behind the Phillip Island Nature Park was to create a reserve not only to protect Little Penguins, which a while ago were called fairy Penguins but also to promote awareness. The Parade itself is actually something that the Penguins do naturally at sunset they walk, waddle and totter across the Summerland Beach as they return to their sand dune burrows.
Humans who in my opinion should always be separated from wildlife because of the harm we tend to inflict on anything wild can view the 'parade' from specially constructed viewing stands and boardwalks, leaving the Penguins relatively unharmed and the viewers somehow ennobled - well apart from the little human who I saw throw some trash into the breeze - humans! The cost of entering the visitor centre and watching the Penguin Parade is $16.00 AUS per Adult. $8.00 AUS per Child between 4 and 16years of age.

You can see more about the Phillip Island Nature Park herewww.penguins.org.au. There is more to Phillip Island Nature Park than just the Little Penguins you can see a seal colony, amazing sea birds and experience the Koala Conservation Centre where you can meet Koalas 'face to face' on treetop boardwalks and they will ignore you happily Koalas are such fun and have such great taste!
Admission is Adults $10.00 AUS. Family (2Adults &2Children) $25.00 AUS.Children between 4 and 15 years of age $5.00 AUS

NATURE & GEOLOGY

Melbourne has a moderate oceanic climate and is well known for its changeable weather conditions. In fact Melbourne is cooler in the winter than any other major Australian city. Melbourne is located at the south-eastern end of the mainland of Australia. It is built on lava and Silurian mudstones supplemented to the southeast by Holocene sand, which forms the wonderful stretches of sand dunes. Melbourne has a number of beaches which have calm seas lapping them, the closest surf for surfing is about 53 miles away in places like Rye and Portsea. Wildlife which can be seen in and around Melbourne include, Koalas, Penguins, Seals, Possums, Skinks, Flying Foxes, Rainbow Lorikeets and Frogmouths.

HISTORY

The first inhabitants of the area in and around Melbourne were the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation and they and their ancestors have lived in that area for over 40,000 years. The British established a penal colony in the district of Port Phillip in 1803 but abandoned the site after a few months.

It wasn't until 1835 that Melbourne was explored and he bought about 600,000 acres from the Kulin people to build a village. For the seven years the town and then city of Melbourne grew steadily until the gold rush of the 1850's.

Over the ensuing thirty fiveyears the city boomed until the Australian depression. During the second world war Melbourne was the Allied HQ for Pacific operations. The fortunes of Melbourne always seem to be boom and bust and from the end of the war until today this cycle seems to define the city.

CULTURE

Melbourne is known everywhere as the capital of Australian sport, the Cricket Club not only hosts local and national teams it is also the home of the Australian Rules football team. Street art is very popular and now is something of a tourist attraction and cause for civic pride. In a recent survey Melbourne was found to be the second least affordable city in Australia.

POLITICAL

The metropolitan area of Melbourne is divided into 30 local government areas and all of these are designated as cities apart for five on the outskirts which have the designation of shire. The Lord Mayor of Melbourne governs the city of Melbourne and also represents the cities and shires.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Melbourne is a vast place the sprawl of its conurbation is enormous and so has some large environmental problems and concerns because of the low density housing and forced dependence upon the car due to the fact that there is little if no public transport outside the city, having said that Melbourne's tram network is the largest in the world. Sadly only about 9 per cent of the population use the trams and other forms of public transport. The train network serves the metropolitan area with 19 lines and is mostly electrified some of which is underground. The Flinders Street Railway Station is Melbourne's busiest railway station and in the 1920's was the busiest railway station in the world and connects to Sydney and Adelaide. The Port of Melbourne is Australia's busiest container and cargo port handling over two million containers in a 12 month period.

There are four airports serving Melbourne, Tullamarine is the main international and domestic airport and serves as a hub for Quantas the national carrier.

DOS & DON'TS

Don't say you hate sport, the consequence could range from disbelief to a long lecture on the 'art' of Australian Rules Football. Always be on your guard against pick pockets.

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