Hello Melbourne

Here I come - flying into Melbourne.  Although Melbourne is one of Australia’s biggest cities (depends on which statistic you look at which is actually bigger, Sydney or Melbourne, and of course both lay claim to the title), the airport is still located in a part of the city that doesn’t, yet anyway, have urban development all around it.  It’s sort of shaped like a ‘V’ or ‘U’ with the airport being at the bottom and urban development up both sides, but not directly over top.  So depending on your flight path it’s still possible to fly into this very large city (over 5 million people), and really not see very many houses at all before landing.

Mullum Mullum Creek is in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne.  It is the main watercourse of the Mullum Mullum Valley, a tributary of the Yarra River.  It is one of the only watercourses lying with urban metropolitan Melbourne that is surrounded by native and regenerated bushland for almost its entire length, and is a significant remnant ecosystem in Melbourne.  The friends I’m staying with first live out in the eastern suburbs so this walking trail is close by for me to access whenever I want to stretch my legs.

Adjoining Mullum Mullum Creek are several designated parklands.  Yarran Dheran is a 7.4 hectare bushland reserve very near to Ringwood, the Melbourne suburb where I’m staying first during my time in Melbourne.  Yarran Dheran is a mixture of original indigenous bushland and reconstructed bushland.

Of course, I’ve been walking for a couple of hours at this point when I see this sign!  Nothing at the start of the trail when I set out … and I can tell you, I was slightly more cautious on the way back!

Schwerkolt Cottage is a historic cottage built in 1885.  The heritage site houses the original stone cottage and associated buildings, and is adjacent to the Yarran Dheran bushland.

The stone cottage was constructed of stone carted from the nearby Mullum Mullum creek and cemented together with mud.

The barn, of authentic slab construction, is now over 100 years old.  Timber slab construction was one of the cheapest, simplest, and most durable methods of building.  The barn was made by sliding slabs of timber between cleats on smoothed logs at the top and bottom.  If you can see, the barn’s door hinges are made from old horse shoes.

The smokehouse - before refrigeration, perishable foods, such as meat or fish, were preserved by drying, salting or smoking.

The smithy is of timber slab construction, similar to the nearby barn.  The pioneers who settled Victoria depended heavily on horses, not only to help them work the land, but also for transporting supplies, produce and people - as such, blacksmiths were highly skilled, and highly valued, tradesmen.

Many nineteenth century homes, particularly in rural areas, had a cellar in which wines and household provisions were kept in cool conditions.  The cellar provided dry storage for a variety of foodstuff and items not in frequent use.  In 1882 August Schwerkolt won a prize for the best colonial wine at an exhibition in Amsterdam.  The vines were killed off a few years later by phylloxera (a root feeding aphid which affected grape vines throughout Victoria).

Time to venture into the CBD of Melbourne - first stop the iconic Flinders Street Railway Station.  Originally opened in 1854, this current main building was completed in 1909 and is a cultural icon of Melbourne.  It is the busiest train station in Australia, serving the entire metropolitan rail network, 15 tram routes, as well as many country and regional train routes.

The Yarra River, or historically the Yarra Yarra River, is 242 kms long, and flows throughout Victoria.  The lower stretches of the Yarra are where Victoria’s state capital, Melbourne, was established in 1853, and today metropolitan Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches.  The Yarra River’s journey begins on the southern slopes of the Great Dividing Range and twists through the forested valleys of the Yarra Ranges and its quaint regional towns before concluding its journey on the muddy flats of Port Phillip Bay.  Today the Yarra River Precinct is the vibrant heart and soul of Melbourne’s tourism industry.

The annual Moomba Festival is Australia’s largest free community festival and is culturally important to Melbourne, having been celebrated since 1955.  Traditional events include the Moomba parade, fireworks displays, carnivals in the gardens along the Yarra River, and river activities including speed boat racing and water skiing.  And as luck would have it, Moomba was on while I was there.

Can you see the wakeboarder?  Look up in the air.

Trying to keep cool on a 40+ C degree day - standing in front of huge fans blowing out water.  They were set up all over the area…but even so, the extreme heat resulted in lower than usual attendance at the festival, and the cancellation of the Moomba parade!

Evan Walker Bridge - a pedestrian bridge over the Yarra River.

How do you like this - a floating restaurant with its own pool!

The Sandridge Bridge is a historic bridge which originally carried railway lines over the Yarra River.  In 2006 it was redeveloped as a pedestrian path, featuring public art.

Some of the art work on Sandridge Bridge.

Gayip - the Travellers.  Gayip is the ceremonial meeting of the different Australian Aborigines clans, where they would interact with each other.  It was vital for many of their social traditions like marriage, trading, settling disputes, etc.

Ophelia - once known as ‘the face of Melbourne, Ophelia was inspired by the character from Hamlet, full of both love and sadness.

Princes Bridge, originally Prince’s Bridge, is built on the site of one of the oldest river crossings in the city, and forms a gateway into the central city.  The present bridge was built in 1888 and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.