We spent our last two days in Melbourne (at least
for this part of our trip – we will be back again in March) resting and walking
around the Central Business District and the waterfront. On Sunday, the first really hot day we have
had here, we traveled across the Yarra River (that runs through Melbourne) and
walked along the promenade. There is a
huge building – the Crown Casino and Entertainment Center – that takes up about
3 blocks of the waterfront. There are
many little cafes and restaurants located in this building. We stopped at the Spice Temple for lunch; it
is a very upscale Chinese restaurant. I
really don’t know how the residents of Melbourne can afford to eat out very
often. The buffet breakfast in our hotel
is $25/person. Now granted that it is
Australian dollars and we in the US get a good deal on the exchange rate ($.70
US to 1 Australian dollar). Our lunch at
the Spice Temple was $64 AUS and it only included 3 each small steamed shrimp
and scallop dumplings and one bowl of house fried rice with nothing but water
to drink! It was tasty but certainly not
worth the money. I guess because it
fronted on the river is was more expensive, but because we did not have a
reservation, we ate on the basement level where there was no view.
After lunch we walked over to the Eureka Sky
Deck. I did manage to get Bill to the 88th
floor, but I couldn’t get him to go out on the terrace with me. He did walk around the floor enjoying a 360
degree view of the city. The building
where the Sky Deck is located is 975’ tall and is the world’s tallest
residential building and the highest viewing platform in the southern
Hemisphere. For you athletic enthusiasts
it is 3,680 steps to the top. For most
of us, the elevator takes only 38 seconds to reach the 88th
floor. On a windy day the top of the
building can sway as much as two feet.
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| View of Melbourne from 88th floor of Sky Deck |
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| Yarra River |
We finally went out and had a good dinner in the
evening. We started with a couple
glasses of wine at our hotel’s happy hour and then walked over to the Mitre
Tavern, located about 3 blocks from our hotel.
It is supposedly the oldest building in Melbourne. Originally built as a private restaurant, its
first liquor license was issued in 1868.
Today it is a steakhouse and beer garden. We each had a ribeye steak and salad which
was very good.
Today, our last day in Melbourne, we started off 0
for 2 in our walking tour. We took the
tram from our hotel up to the Queen Victoria Market, an outdoor market that has
been in operation since 1878. It now
covers two full city blocks.
Unfortunately, it was closed on Monday so when we return here on the 7th
of March, hopefully we will get a chance to visit. Our next stop was St. Mary Star of the Sea
Catholic Church, described as the prettiest church in Melbourne with its
colorfully decorated interior. But alas,
it was closed until April for a major heating system upgrade.
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| City Baths |
We then walked down Victoria St. that borders the
north end of the Central Business District until we came to the City
Baths. It was built in 1850 as a public
bath facility, but today houses a swimming pool and fitness center.
We then walked to the Old Melbourne Gaol, which
takes up an entire city block. Built in
1842 and in operation until 1929, it housed many of Melbourne’s most dangerous
criminals, including the infamous bushranger Ned Kelly. Before he was caught, he tried to lead a
revolution against the police, to making armor plating for himself and his
gang, but his plans were thwarted and he was captured and eventually
hung.
The gaol also housed petty criminals,
debtors, wayward children, and the mentally ill. The gallows where 135 people were hanged in
the gaol are still in place. We started
our tour at the Watch House where you are brought in by an old Sergeant and
processed as it you were being arrested.
You are then put in a dark cell for a few minutes before given time to
wander around the holding cells in that building. These holding cells usually had 3-4 prisoners in each cell. You then walk over to the main entrance to
the gaol/museum where you can go into the individual cells and read about the
notorious criminals that were once housed there and many who were hanged
there. It was quite the experience. Today most of the old gaol is now part of the
RMIT University – only the Watch Tower (or old police holding area) and the old
section of cells that now form the museum are open to the public.
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| Holding Cell in Watch Tower |
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| Shower Facilities in Watch Tower |
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| Oops, look who got caught! |
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| But, honestly Sergeant, I was just along for the ride |
As we leave Melbourne, some thoughts on the
city. It is a very cosmopolitan city
with a skyline of skyscrapers just as you would find in New York City or
Chicago. There are numerous restaurants
providing a wide variety of ethnic cuisine.
The people are very friendly and helpful, especially to tourists. The best part of the city is the tram
system. It is very modern and
convenient. Trams run to every section
of the city from the suburbs to the Central Business District (CBD). The Central Business District is a rectangle
in the middle of the city that is about 4 blocks wide and about 8 blocks
long. Most of the major tourist
attractions are located within its boundaries.
And within the CBD, trams are free.
Melbourne is definitely not an old city, at least by European
standards. Most of the buildings date
back to the mid 1800’s. But it is a very
vibrant, lively city, with many universities and trendy nightclubs and
restaurants.
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