Docklands vs. Port Melbourne

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The weather is very fickle here. It seems like it's always beautiful on the weekends, but cold and rainy on the weekdays. Obviously not complaining but find it interesting.

Anyway this weekend was no exception as you can see from the photos it was bright and sunny. On Saturday, I went down to Docklands. My tour guide book had a walking tour around this new developing section of Melbourne. This is supposed to be based on the harbor of Sydney when it's all done. Right now its mostly still being built. They are building a new Farris wheel that will be the largest Farris wheel in the southern hemisphere. Just slightly smaller than the London eye. Other than that it's mostly luxury high rise condos built around a bunch of docks where rich people park their yachts. It was nice though and very picture friendly.

That afternoon I went to find a place to get my haircut and found a shop that offers a free bottle of beer with every cut so off I went. Saturday night I went to check out a movie I'd been hearing about. It's called 'Once' and it is brilliant. It's not playing in Nashville yet but when it does go see it.

So on Sunday I checked out a new church in Port Melbourne which is a little suburb on the coast. It's an Anglican church, which I don't know much about but seems like catholic light. Based on my research, I think sums it up well. They played Edwin Starr's 'War (what is it good for)' during the offertory which coincided with the homely "Can there be a holy war" and Pink Floyd "Us and Them" during the Eucharist. I thought that was awesome. I talked to the reverend after the service and turns out he is a big music fan and used to play in a band.

After church I walked to the beach of port Melbourne. I found a fish and chips place and ate it on the beach. I then walked down the coast to see what I could find. I eventually found St. Kilda, and some kite surfers. This sport looks really fun but tough to do. Basically you have a giant kite and you take it in the water with a surf board strapped to your feet, and try to hold on.

I walked back to the city through Albert park, and tried to get to Parliament house and St. Patrick’s Cathedral before the sun set. I made it fine, as you can see from the pictures.

That was basically my weekend. I did find a really great church, which meets on Tuesday nights in various pubs or cafes. They are very similar to Mosaic (my church in Nashville) and are going though some major decisions about where to move, grow, and establish a direction. They invited me to share how we do church in the states, and it's been really cool to see the same questions we both are going through. It's exciting to see God work.

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Photos

Cow in tree
From what I read in the nashville city paper we should expect more of this back home.

Telstra Dome
Footy's second home in Melbourne. This is a convertible stadium. Used for most season AFL games.

Farris Wheel
When complete this will be the 2nd largest Farris Wheel on the planet. The London Eye is the largest.

ANZ Bank
This is a state of the art building as far as energy efficency. It's also very colorful.

Exhibition Center
On exhibit was the human body. This disturbing display has followed me around to almost every city I've been to. I guess there is no excape.

Blowhole
This one is pretty cool expecially when it's windy.

me at blowhole
It sits in the middle of a childrens park.

Caught in a Trap
This pedestrian bridge is very fun. Designed after an abiriginal eel trap, it's great at trapping tourists.

I can
The only bridge I've everseen with a 180 degree turn.

Tasmainia
This cruise ship goes to tasmania (8 hours away).

Kite Surfing
Let's go fly a kite and then strap a surf board to our feet. Sweet, this is my kinda sport.

dog park
Everyone has a dog. Back in St. Kilda, these racks are used for dogs more than bikes.

View from Albert Park
skyline from across the lake

Gog and Kog
These guys where brought in from London and ring the bells every 15 minutes.

Parliment House
This was the first capital of Australia, but now serves as the chambers for the state of Victoria government.

Princess Theater
There are several theaters in Melbourne this is one of them

St. Patrick
There are two giant cathedrals in the city. This one is for the catholics.

Steeple
A church isn't a church without a steeple

Storm over city
Storm rolling in from the bay.

At the office
This is taken from one of the clients I was working on in the city.

Comments

[Lance]

Nice Blog
Thanks for the great pics. It sounds (and looks) like you are having some fun. Keep up the good work.