Ken’s tour of Melbourne - Melbourne Greeting Service

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As Will’s still looking for work we have decided to cram in as much touristy stuff as possible, so we’d booked ourselves on a free personalised tour of the city via the Melbourne Greeting Service.

We met Ken at the Tourist Information Centre on Federation Square at 9:30 and introduced ourselves. There was supposed to be a third person on the tour with us, although we guessed the slightly unpredictable weather scared her off, so we set off.

Ken initially led us up through Degraves Street which is where a lot of cafes were serving breakfast that looked and smelt amazing; Will did well to restrain himself, although you could see him getting food envy! Along the way Ken explained how Melbourne’s layout and wider roads differed from the more conventional design of other Australian city’s with the addition of small service roads nestled between the street block’s.

Moving on we visited 333 Collins Street which had not only been beautifully restored, but more interestingly the building of the old bank is now actually completely entombed in a modern high rise office block. This process of retaining the old historic structures and incorporating them into Melbourne’s more modern developments featured throughout the walk, including many restored buildings that are now home to boutique style malls and designer shops, much different from the banks and industry’s they used to be home to.

The next stop was actually a gothic looking bank and the old stock exchange. Although the outside looked amazing, it wasn’t until you walked in and saw all the traditional style wooden cashiers desk’s still in operation that you appreciated the contrast to today’s sterile looking banks. At this point Ken pointed out Australia’s involvement in the World Wars, and how those who volunteered were honoured on plaques in buildings throughout the city. We then walked into an area at the back of the bank which had an incredible high ceiling, in addition to a mosaic style floor and beautiful marble panelling, although we learnt the marble wasn’t original. Ken explained when they restored this building, the original French marble had been painted over in white wash and it was impossible to remove at the time, so they had to replace it all!

Throughout the tour Ken explained and pointed out the four key phases and influences on Melbourne’s development; which were: Agriculture, The Gold Rush, World Wars and European Settlers.

During the tour we stopped for a coffee at the Manchester Press which was packed out. If you hadn’t already guessed it used to be a printing works. When they served our coffee we were very impressed with the designs they had crafted on top.

When we got to the Town Hall Ken pulled a few strings to get us in as there was a ceremony honouring the service men who had displayed bravery in their line of duty serving the city of Melbourne. Considering the buffet lunch laid out, Will behaved himself and didn’t steal any of the service men’s lunch, although you could see his predatory instincts kicking in, so we left hastily before causing any embarrassment!

During the last phase of the walk we picked up on how Graffiti had been embraced into areas of Melbourne, with some pretty impressive pieces of art on display around the lanes, and in particular along Hoiser Lane. There are designated walls/ laneways around the seating where the council encourage/ tolerate the graffiti in a bid to stop the graffiti spreading all across the city.

After grabbing a quick photo with Ken, we said our farewells and headed to Time Out Café on Federation Square, where we tucked into a well earned brunch whilst being entertained by a band before walking to the MCG.

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Photos

333 Collins St
A building inside a building

Marble Function Hall in ANZ
now only used for Christmas Parties

Comments

[judith ashford]

Restraint!!
Can't believe how food orientated you are Will!! But those coffees looked good!