Blogs from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 3

Last night when Bernie was cleaning his teeth the smoke alarm in our room went PEEP, PEEP and then stopped. Then, just as we were settling in to go to sleep, the smoke alarm went PEEP, PEEP and then stopped. Hmmn, it probably means that the battery needs replacing? However, the ceiling was too high to be able to disable the alarm to ensure a good night’s sleep so we settled in regardless. Fortunately, we didn’t hear anything more from the smoke alarm until 6.20am this morning which was sort of about time to get moving for the big drive home anyway. After a shower and a quick breakfast, we packed the car for the final time and checked out. Shannon, our tour guide from last night, was in the reception area and said that the ... read more

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Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria Melbournehttp://www.heygo.com We were close to the Melbourne Remembrance Shrine and Observatory so where was Alex taking us. Well he took us to the beautiful botanical gardens as part of his Surprise Down Under programme. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne Gardens has been a treasured part of Melbourne’s cultural life for more than 170 years, it was founded in 1846. These beautiful Gardens are home to amazing and diverse plant collections and we were able to discover just part of the 38 hectares. There is no entry fee & it usually would be buzzing with people but with the current lockdown regulations in Melbourne we almost had the place to ourselves. We wandered through the different areas admiring all the wonderful trees and plants including the Cactus Garden, Fern Gulley & the Bamboo ... read more

Looking for kangaroos with http://www.heygo.com https://www.heygo.com/tours/kangaroo-spotting Westerfolds Park is a metropolitan park situated in an eastern suburb of Melbourne. It was 7am on Sunday morning in U.K. (4pm in Melbourne). Alex our heygo guide had brought his girlfriend along today, it was nice to meet her, they make a lovely couple and a great team as we hunted the kangaroos in this beautiful area. Westerfolds is classified as a metropolitan park and conserves habitat within the Melbourne urban environment. The park nestles into a hilly bend in the Yarra River. In 1846 the land was purchased from the Crown. In the early 1930s, the Turner family bought the property. After World War II many of the dairy farms and orchards in the surrounding area were subdivided for... read more

Melbourne Art ‘Travellers’ 19th April http://www.heygo.com The Travellers celebrates Indigenous presence and the meeting of cultures through migration. It comprises ten large-scale sculptures, each approximately 7.5 metres tall and collectively incorporating 3.7 kilometres of stainless steel. Nine of the ten figures are motorised and at regular intervals move along the length of Sandridge Bridge, sited near a former Aboriginal meeting ground and near the landing point where many early migrants stepped ashore. Built in 1888, the bridge is the third to occupy this site, the original constructed in 1853. Each of the ten figures comprising the work represents a phase of arrival, as historian James Jupp has defined these. The figures, graphic and abstracted in form, are Gayip (Aboriginal period); First Settler (convict period); Melbourne Beauty (gold r... read more