Australia - Melbourne
Trip Start
Dec 05, 2005
1
64
124
Trip End
Ongoing
Melbourne,
Victoria,
Australia
Friday, December 8, 2006
Arriving bang on time at 7am we collected our bags and took a taxi to the city centre, which at $45 wasn't much more than paying for a shuttle bus (which would have dropped us off down the road from the hotel - with the amount of bags we were carrying we didn't fancy the walk!)
We checked into the 'UniLodge on Flinders' (in a great location opposite Flinders Station and right by Federation Square). The UniLodge is used as university accommodation for (rich) students of Melbourne University. Our room was a studio with en suite and cooking facilities and was really well appointed and great value considering the prices of other hotels so near to the centre.
We were surprised to find that at 9am our room was ready, so we unpacked and took a little time out to catch up on the sleep we missed the night before.
Reawakening at 12 we booked a couple of the tours that we wanted to do whilst in Melbourne - tours that we had missed during the last time we were in town; the Melbourne Old Gaol (Jail) Night Tour and the 'Neighbours' Tour.
We then decided to take a wander around town, but instead of just walking aimlessly we followed a planned route that Verdi found in a tourist info leaflet. The route took us around the 'arcades and lanes' of central Melbourne (PICS) and provided us with an alternative look at the city, as opposed to the main streets full of multinational chain-stores and characterless fast food joints.
One of the arcades had a very ornate interior, enhanced by the Christmas decorations and the two statues of 'Gog and Magog' who have looked over the arcade since it was built (PIC).
001 Arcade
On the hour they carry out a little musical performance, one banging a drum and the other ringing a bell. In the same arcade is a highly recommended chocolate shop called 'Koko Black'. Of course we had to pop in and see what all the fuss was about! A shared cup of rich hot chocolate and a box of 8 (pretty expensive) chocolates and we understood exactly what all the fuss was about - possibly the best chocolates in the entire world! Completing the loop around the arcades and lanes we arrived back on Flinders Street and decided to revisit Federation Square. As soon as we entered the square we were presented with a huge advent calendar - erected on the side of a building (PIC), we wondered how big the chocolates must be behind each of the numbers! As Fed Square often has 'things' going on we went to investigate what would be happening; a stage was being set up for something but our attention was drawn to a nearby exhibition along the waterfront.
The path along the water had about 50 enormous photographs of spectacular aerial views from around the world in what was entitled the 'Earth from above' exhibition. They were amazing shots - some of people, some of landscapes and natural phenomenon and all awe-inspiring. We took some photos of our favourites (PICS). Best of all - the exhibition was free!
Whilst we were by the river we took a stroll along the pathway, through a park known as Birrarung Marr (PIC) and enjoyed the warm afternoon air along the Yarra River (PIC) before returning to our room for the night.
002 Flinders Arcade
Day 2
We took a bit of a lay in before waking up to a very foggy Melbourne skyline, or at least we thought it was fog. Having switched on the news we soon found out that the misty weather over the city was in fact smoke from a series of massive bush fires in the suburbs about an hour from the city. The fires developed over a number of days, initially caused by lightning strikes and then propagated by 40 degree temperatures and 100km/h winds. The fires had joined to produce 'Super fires' over 100km in length!
Leaving the apartment and braving the smoke filled streets we caught the free loop tram up to the Old Melbourne Gaol. The Gaol (or Jail) is best known as the location of the last months of outlaw Ned Kelly's life. We had booked a night tour for a couple of days time but also wanted to see the jail in the daylight.
The Gaol building was the only remaining building of what was once a vast complex taking up an entire city block. The building was in excellent condition (PIC) and gave a macabre idea of the claustrophobic living conditions that prisoners must have experienced. The jail also had a lot of information about Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang, including Ned Kelly's death mask (PIC) and a replica of his famous iron armour - which Andrew decided to adorn (PIC) - despite the fact that it was meant for kids!
We were lucky enough to be at the Gaol at the right time to take in a short performance about Ned Kelly's life - entitled 'Such a Life'.
003 Majorca Building
This title is based upon Ned's final words before his hanging in that very building; "Well....I guess it had to come to this.....such is life". The gallows in the jail, used to execute 135 prisoners, was probably the most chilling feature of the place - that and the ghost on the second floor! (PIC) After leaving the Gaol we walked back down through the CBD via the 'three businessman' sculpture, which is displayed in one of the busiest shopping streets (PIC). The strange figures looked like they could use a couple of days sleep and a good meal! Strolling again through the small lanes and arcades we stopped at one of the little backstreet cafes for a late lunch and then returned to the Yarra River beyond Federation Square to try and find the Federation Bells (PIC). We had tried during our last spell in Melbourne to find the collection of bells but to no avail. This time we were more fortunate and what was more we got there just as they started ringing - about 50 metres from the place we had stopped the day before!
Again we sat by the river but found the weather too hot to be out in the direct sun so we made our way back to the apartment. After a cold shower and a snooze we updated the diary and settled down for a balmy night.
Day 3
Getting up late (the overly warm evening led to a restless night) we left the apartment and jumped on a tram to the seaside suburb of St.Kilda. The weather had become even hotter throughout the morning and was now into the low 40's.
004 Gog and Magog
We were surprised to find that it was actually warmer near the beach than it was in the city As it was a Sunday the Esplanade Market (PIC) was in full swing so we wandered along the long row of craft stalls, marvelling at some of the creative ornaments and pictures that some stalls had on show. Entering the main street via the famous Luna Park fairground (PIC), we noticed that it was packed with loads of cake shops - we resisted the temptations and opted for a healthier Falafel from a nearby Greek café.
We walked down to the beach but no sooner had we reached the seafront we turned around and walked back. It was way to hot to be out of the water and we didn't have our bathers (we suspected that the other beach-goers wouldn't appreciate a quick skinny dipping display!).
Perhaps it was the fact that the weather was unbearably hot but we found St.Kilda to be a bit run down and with little to offer. With nothing left to see or do we returned to the city. The centre was much cooler than the beach; a sudden weather change had dropped the temperature from 42 to 23 degrees in the space of an hour!!!
Back at the apartment we cooled down, had an afternoon nap and Andrew continued with the travel blog while Verdi chatted to her parents.
Day 4
Trading yesterdays late morning with an early one we were up at 7:30 and headed down to the Neighbours Tour shop. We were soon greeted by the actor who plays 'Max Hoyland' in the show. He arrived to say hello, pose for photos and sign some autographs.
005 Fed Square Advent Calendar
He seemed nice and friendly but it was obviously 'in his contract'. We caught the tour bus to 'Erinsborough', which is actually a small suburb of Melbourne and goes by a different name. Our first stop was 'Erinsborough High' (PIC) - otherwise known as Blackburn School for English. The school only has a small amount of students who can be moved around into different parts of the school when filming is taking place.
We then drove into the film studios; we were fortunate to be able to do this as they weren't filming, and saw Lou's Garage (PIC), bits of Lassiters Hotel and some other exteriors they use for various scenes.
Our final stop, and the only reason anyone actually goes on the tour, was 'Ramsey Street' (real name 'Pin Oak Court'). The cul-de-sac is much smaller in reality than it looks on screen, thanks to a number of clever camera angles. All of the houses looked very familiar - from Paul Robinson's right through to Max and Steph's (PICS). All of the houses have permanent residents who are paid to allow access to the crew and cast on filming days. They have to move their cars out of the driveways and are not allowed to change a thing on the exterior of their homes without prior consent, as it has to be written into the storyline. We did the typical touristy thing and posed with the Ramsey street sign (PIC) and then returned to the city.
We took the opportunity to go to the local IMAX cinema while they were showing something we actually wanted to watch - the animation 'Open Season' 3D.
006 Spire
It was a great experience and did add something to the film, and some silly glasses to our faces (PICS). On the way back from the cinema we passed the elegant Royal Exhibition Building (PIC) and walked to the city library to see the authentic Ned Kelly armour (stored at the library instead of the jail for some unexplained reason). Unfortunately by the time we had got there they had closed off the museum floors of the library so we walked back to the apartment.
As the evening closed in we travelled back to the Old Melbourne Gaol to embark on the 'Hangman's Night Tour'. The tour took us around the jail and offered a completely different view of the place to what we had seen during the day visit (PICS). It wasn't actually as scary as we thought it might be as it concentrated more on the gruesome details of life in the prison for some of the inmates - and the way in which some of them met their grisly end. It was a really fascinating tour and complimented the day visit perfectly.
Day 5
Our last day in Melbourne was also our last day in Australia! We started the morning doing the diary, sorting a plethora of photos and chatting to Andrews's parents on the phone. Laundry duties followed and we popped to a nearby book exchange to get rid of our Australia Guide.
We returned to the library to see the Ned Kelly armour (PIC), only to find that the helmet was on a tour of Australia and wouldn't be back in Melbourne until mid 2007. The impressive view of the grand reading room in the library made up for the slight disappointment (PIC).
007 Earth from above
En route back to the apartment we stopped off at the Hard Rock Café to pick up a gift for Andrew's Dad and then caught the free tram back to Flinders Street (PIC). The rest of the evening we prepared for our departure and packed our bags.
Day 6
We arrived at the airport in plenty of time for our flight and joined the long queue to check in. The queue took a surprisingly long time to progress but eventually we reached the check-in desk. We were greeted with the news that we required an ongoing flight out of New Zealand before we left Australia; otherwise we would not be allowed into New Zealand and would be sent straight back. This news was in complete contradiction to the New Zealand guidebook, which claimed that we merely required proof of funds to afford an ongoing flight. Evidently this was no longer the case!
This presented us with a problem; we had little idea how long we would want to be in New Zealand and even less idea of where we wanted to go next. Our initial idea had been to go to Fiji but with the current military coup in force we had to pick an alternative.
Finally we opted for a flight to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, mainly because it was one of the cheapest locations to fly to from New Zealand and would have a similar 'feel' to Fiji. We knew next to nothing about the island but took a chance and booked it regardless.
All of this unexpected hassle had taken its time and we were now in a race against the clock to catch our plane. We had to pick up our Rarotonga tickets from another desk, and then go through security, find the gate and board the plane - all in the space of about 10 minutes! This was not as simple as it sounds! One of our bags was stopped at security to go through the scanner 4 times, Verdi was then 'randomly' selected to be swabbed for explosive / drug residue and we then had to find the gate.
We showed up just as they were calling our names for immediate boarding - Phew!
