Cheryl's Travels: More in Melbourne

Despite the fact that I'm sure my friend Jude is tired of bringing me coffee in bed every morning (yes everyone, she is actually doing this - terrible isn't it!), I am still here in Melbourne and loving having the time to explore the city in a way that I haven't been able to before.

Melbourne is a very friendly "tourist" city! It has one of the most extensive tram networks of any city in the world and trams have been running here since 1884. Trams are the second most used form of public transport in this city, second only to the commuter train network.
And for tourists there is a free City Circle Tram that goes around the central downtown area of Melbourne - in Toronto it would be like a tram going along Front St. (or maybe Queen's Quay), up Yonge St., across Bloor and back down Bathurst St.. And this is FREE - and runs every 10-15 minutes, 7 days a week!

And then if you want to go a little bit further afield there is also a FREE Tourist Shuttle - which operates exactly like a hop-on, hop-off bus (or you can ride the whole loop which takes about an hour and a half), and stops at 13 of the most popular tourist destinations within the city centre.

I'm sure I mentioned that both of these are FREE - and used extensively by tourists and locals alike! So between these two services, and a city tram only one block away from my friend's house, getting around Melbourne has been very easy.

Something else that Melbourne has done is publish a series of 7 self-directed walks, ranging from about 4 - 7 kms, each one highlighting a different aspect or area of Melbourne. They all start and end at Federation Square (the Times Square of Melbourne - see previous post), and the brochures that go along with each walk are wonderfully informative. And I've decided I'm going to do all 7 (hopefully) during my visits to Melbourne.

At the beginning of last week I was on a very specific shopping mission, for something I knew I wouldn't be able to get at your typical (rather tacky) souvenir shop, and so I headed to the Melbourne Museum to see if the gift shop there might have what I was looking for. Shopping success - but I figured while I was there I might as well spend some time at the museum as well. It's an excellent space - not too big and not too small with lots of informative displays.

And on my way to the Museum I walked through an area which would be similar to our CNE grounds, and contained a beautiful old building known as the Royal Exhibition Building (have I mentioned that there are many similarities between Melbourne and Toronto?)!
The Royal Exhibition Building was built in 1880, and when built it was the largest building in Australia and the highest building in Melbourne. In 2004 it became the first building in Australia to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status.

The next day I did Walk # 1 entitled "A Walk in the Park". Now I know in my first post about Melbourne I commented on how beautiful the Royal Botanic Gardens here are, and they are hardly the only gardens and parkland in downtown Melbourne. Today's walk had me going through two more beautiful gardens, and in one there was a conservatory, built in 1930, which houses floral displays that change 4 or 5 times each year.

Cooks' Cottage was shipped from Great Ayton in Yorkshire and re-erected in Melbourne in 1934 as a Victorian (Melbourne is located in Victoria State) centenary gift. The explorer James Cook may never have lived in the cottage, but his parents probably did.

Melbournians (or Melbournites?) definitely do make use of their gardens and parklands, and this means adults as well as children. During my walk today I discovered a marvellous "Fairies' Tree" which I found as interesting as the many toddlers that were there.

One of the beautiful fountains (called the River God Fountain) I passed on this walk, with St. Patrick's Catholic Cathedral in the background.

After leaving the garden I was in, I went over to the Cathedral for a closer look. The cathedral was built between 1858 and 1897,

and across the street, hidden behind the trees, is the Lutheran Church which was built in 1853. Both are beautiful buildings.

At the end of the walk I went to see the Federation Bells sound sculpture, which is 39 electronic bells which range in size from a small handbell to a bell that stand 1.8 metres high and weighs 3.5 tonnes. Although the bells weren't playing when I was there, they do play every day and so I'm hoping to go back and hear them sometime.

Another little area that I discovered quite by accident, is a small little alleyway called Hosier Lane. Hosier Lane is opposite Federation Square and is famous for its sophisticated urban art - which is constantly changing.

Mid-week saw me and Jude going to a place just outside Melbourne called Montsalvat which is Australia's oldest artists' colony and today is still a working arts centre and home to practicing artists. Set on 12 acres of established gardens, with buildings built in the late 1930's, it was quite a lovely place.
This is the chapel and Great Hall - both of which were housing a display of water colours.

We met a friend at Montsalvat who wanted to do a bit of showing off for us...

Walk # 2 was on my agenda for the end of the week, and this walk is called "Secret Gardens" (see what I mean about gardens and parklands here????).

This building might look familiar - it's the Arts Centre - with the photo taken from the Queen Victoria Gardens where I was walking.

This walk took me back into the Royal Botanic Gardens (where I was happy to go), this time meandering along some paths that I hadn't been when Jude and I visited.

And look at something else about the Royal Botanic Gardens --- look at what colour they've painted all of the water taps located in the gardens??!! It's no wonder I love this place!

A little 'secret' garden is the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden which was created during Victoria's centenary in 1934-35 to commemorate the courage and contribution of women pioneers. And nowadays, surrounding the garden there are also many other memorials to women - Aboriginal women, women during wartime, etc..

Yesterday (Sunday), Jude and I, along with Jude's granddaughters, spent a lovely day at the Melbourne Aquarium. Hands down, the penguins were my favourite exhibit - with the King penguins (the second largest species of penguin, second to Emperor penguins) looking very majestic.

Even this one, looking very fluffy as he/she was moulting, still looked rather regal walking around.

What was really lovely though were the Gentoo penguins (the third largest species of penguin) as there were many baby chicks, some of which were only a few days old.