Two Days in Melbourne
Trip Start
Jun 24, 2008
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2
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Trip End
Aug 10, 2008
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Melbourne,
Victoria,
Australia
Sunday, June 29, 2008
After exploring the center of the city for a bit, we headed to the Old Melbourne Gaol, which had been in use for more than 100 years until it closed in 1994. Given my interest in crime and punishment issues, I always like to visit old jails and prisons when traveling abroad.
Paul on the streets of Melbourne
The tour was pretty funny, as it was led by an actress playing the part of a police constable who treated us like inmates. Although it was funny (partly because she was funny, and partly because we had actually spent money to be treated so badly), it was also a bit sad. It was hard to believe that the tiny cells, which were dirty and claustrophobic, had held more than 30-100 people, when they felt cramped with just 5 of us. Plus, they were completely pitch-black, even in the middle of the day. Interestingly, the Australian penal system was built on the concept of silence, so no one was permitted to speak while incarcerated. Finally, we learned a lot about Ned Kelly, who I recalled from a movie starring Heath Ledger. In fact, he was a bushrangler, or a highwaymen in the style of Jesse James. Like Jesse James in the States, Kelly was very popular with citizens. Interestingly, when Ned Kelly was hung at the Gaol, his mother was also incarcerated there at the same time and sent a message that he shouldn't be a wimp and should die proud like a Kelly. Apparently, it ran in the family.
After the Gaol, we wandered some more, and checked out more Melbourne sites, including the Federation Plaza and Queen Victoria Market. The next day, we headed to Brunswick Street in the Fitzroy suburb. Brunswick Street is a strip of restaurants and boutiques that reminded me a bit of Wicker Park in Chicago. Apparently, many artists and young people lived there for many years, although now it is becoming more trendy.
My mug shot at the Melbourne Gaol
After wandering the street and eating breakfast, we stopped by a chocolate shop that had been written up in the Lonely Planet book. Even Paul agreed the place was phenomenal. Until stopping by Chocolate San Churro, Paul had scoffed at the idea that chocolate can be so good that it sends tingles up your back. After the San Churro experience, Paul was a convert. Since we had some time to kill before we went to the Aussie Rules Football game in the afternoon, we decided to stop by the Melbourne Museum for some culture. We then spent about an hour learning about how badly the aboriginal peoples of Australia had been treated in Australia. I mean, much of it was on par with how the US treated its native peoples (native schools, taking children from their families, stealing land, etc.), but some of the things that were done were really appalling, like this one instance where a tribe was sent arsenic-laced flour so that their land could be taken after they all died. After exploring the history of the Aborigines, we headed to a far-less depressing exhibit on the history of Melbourne and the native wildlife of Australia.
Suitably cultured, we headed to the Melbourne Cricket Ground for an Aussie-style football game. The MCG as it's called is, as Paul says, the Yankee Stadium of Melbourne. It has been around for more than 150 years and is enormous--it holds 100,000 people and the field is massive--it makes American football fields look like tiny patches of dirt in comparison. Everyone was wearing scarves in the colors of their team--from the looks of it, the yellow and black of the Richmond Tigers were vastly out-numbering the blue and white of the Carlton Blues. Once the game started, we tried to figure out the rules. It appeared to be a mixture of basketball, volleyball, rugby, soccer and American football. The pad-less players (18 for each team) would dribble, punch, and kick the ball back and forth to get them through two of the four goal-posts at either end. In my opinion, it made American football with all of its padding and stops look like football for sissies. Also highly entertaining were the frequent fights that would break out on the field that the referees and the other players would ignore. At one point there was a pile-up of about 8 players fighting in the corner while the rest of the players and referees continued the game in the background. After getting trounced by the Tigers in the first half, the Blues came out swinging the second half and came back from a 30-point deficit to win by more than 30 points. And, to be honest, I found Aussie rules football much easier to follow than American football--and much more fast-paced.
After two days of exploring Melbourne, we realized that it would take much more time to see everything Melbourne has to offer. Unfortunately, we leave for the island of Tasmania on Sunday, so we do not have any more time. But, we look forward to exploring Tasmania, although perhaps not to the task of driving on the left side of the road. Keep your fingers crossed!!!
Comments
you don't have to go that far to get arrested!
Melbourne sounds amazing. Did you know that for some time AUstralia had a 'no dark people' immigation policy? Appalling too.
love
Andrea
We laughed........
at Pauls 'mug shot'. He was trying to look so tough. He would'nt make it an hour in ANY jail!