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Published: February 1st 2018
Hell's Angels?
Two Vigilantes, before Sue"s encounter!It was another early start today, with our taxi arriving at 6.45am to get us to the airport for our flight to Melbourne at 9.30. And just to show that it's never too early for the Kilborans to have a funny incident, we had such an incident this very morning. While I was settling up at check out, our bags had already been loaded into the taxi bus and being the nice sort of chap that I am, I took out $10 and tipped the bell boy. He looked at me a bit oddly and, for the first time on this trip, I thought I had undertipped. It was only then that I realised.......he wasn't the bell boy.....he was actually our taxi driver; I'd tried to tip him before he had even taken us anywhere!
But here's a funny thing..........that actually WASN'T the funny thing at all. It was about a 30 minute ride to the airport and the driver, as they do, asked us where we were from. After we replied the UK.........the whole journey took a different 'turn' so to speak. He was very proud to tell us that he knew the names of all the Shires in
Melbourne Skyline 1
Ooohh, what a view...... England and then proceeded to list them all......he may have got every Shire/County, but we were too surprised to notice, even if we could have! But even that wasn't it, our own personal Wikipedia, then proceeded to name every King and Queen of England back to Alfred the Great, with both names and dates! It was an epic show of knowledge and he didn't stop to draw breath until we pulled up outside departures, with the four of us reeling from the assault on our ears! I felt as though I ought to give him a bigger tip than my original attempt of $10, but as he got the date of Charles I's execution wrong, I kept it to ten!
Our flight to Melbourne was 'plain flying', touching down at 11.00am and here's the shocking thing, Sue didn't fall asleep on the plane, but Tim did! Although there was a bit of a delay collecting our luggage, we were soon outside the airport waiting for a taxi into the city. There were only a few people waiting, but very few taxis and although the 'man' showed us to our spot where we should stand and wait for a bigger
Melbourne Skyline 2
The Eureka Tower..... taxi, none were showing up. That's when it happened once again; another telling off by the 'man'! This time because I had dared to step into the road to see if any cabs were coming! This is becoming a real habit!
We eventually got to our hotel (the Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens, which was very nice with terrific staff) around 1pm; one room was ready so we dumped all our luggage there and then headed out to hit the City. A short way down the street was a tram stop and we hopped on for the short ride to the waterfront, along the River Yarra. One of the many great things about Melbourne is the tram system, a mix of old and new vehicles and where any trip within the City Centre circle (more of a rectangle actually) is absolutely free! And, this area covers the vast majority of the sights to see. A great idea.
Before we actually boarded the tram, four ageing 'Hell's Angel' types pulled up beside us at the traffic lights. I snuck a quick picture of their 'Vigilantes MC Melbourne' jackets, but Sue was a bit more obvious, almost asking them to pose
Melbourne Skyline 3
The famous MCG..... and smile! They were not happy at all and after hurling a few choice words in her direction, they roared off very noisily as the lights then changed! At least I upset people who are unlikely to batter me to a pulp Sue!
Our two days in Melbourne were characterised by stunning weather, with clear blue skies and forty degree heat! So, our first stop on the waterfront was to have some lunch and a beer. We chose a really cool place (actually, it was baking hot, but you know what I mean) called Hopscotch, which seemed to have an endless number of craft beers on tap and an interesting sign above the bar saying, 'Take Me (I'm Yours)'!! After, chatting up the barmaid (I'm sorry, I meant to say, conversing with the gender unspecific, service provider, on mutually equal terms and in a completely non-threatening manner!), Tim managed to have a taste of a number of these ales, settling on one called the Lord Nelson and very nice it was too. I forgot to mention that Tim is our resident 'Melbourne Expert', having been to the city twice before seven years ago, on business. He keeps complaining that
Melbourne Skyline 4
........more ooooo's! things have changed a lot since he was last here, but to be honest........we're actually wondering whether he ever made it here at all!!
Refreshed and lubricated, we moved on to the the Eureka Sky Deck, the highest viewing platform in the Southern Hemisphere on the 88th floor of the Eureka building. Mandy had found some 10% off vouchers in the hotel room and coupled with the concession rate for us oldies, we managed to get in for a very good price. Once again, the views across the City were excellent, although a touch hazy; Melbourne has some fabulous architecture and seems to be laid out in a far more logical manner than Sydney. On the sporting front, we had great views of the MCG and the Rod Laver Tennis Stadium, where the Australian Open was, of course, taking place.
And this brings me neatly, to this Episode's title, 'Are These Our Two Final Days?', which you may now have gathered, refers to the fact that on the day we arrived in Melbourne, it was the Ladies FINAL Day and on the second day, it was the Men's FINAL Day! Just like in Sydney, our timing was a
Melbourne Skyline 5
....is this Melbourne or Gotham City? happy accident, but this time we didn't quite get to join in. It would, of course, have been fabulous to have gone to the Men's final, in particular, but with tickets priced at $330 to $800 each, we almost certainly wouldn't have gone, even if they hadn't sold out months ago! Federer against Cilic was, of course, on TVs all over the city and we kept up with events in our restaurant that night. Amazing performance by RF and a richly deserved 20th Grand Slam. An epic sportsman, but also a very sporting and dignified man as well.
After the Skydeck, we walked across the river and into the City Centre itself, eventually walking all the way back to our hotel, where we grabbed a quick drink before heading to our rooms to relax for a while and then change, for our evening entertainment. Before we left the UK, our friends Jim and Ann Chivers mentioned something called the Colonial Tram Restaurant which plies its trade in Melbourne. Coincidentally, Jim and Ann are also in Australia at the moment and the friends they are due to meet in Sydney for a cruise, have a son who lives in Melbourne
Melbourne Skyline 6
Melbourne's highest selfie, with extra fingers! and who highly recommended the CTR. Having liked the look of its website, we booked it while in the UK, for tonight.
The CTR has three sittings during the day and we opted for the late night option, leaving at 8.30pm. It actually comprises 3 separate, old fashioned tram cars, seating about 24 in each for a five course dinner and unlimited drinks! It is very much like the Orient Express, but on the road. The experience lasts 3 hours and takes a tour around the City and out to St. Kilda, the beach area of Melbourne. We were looked after royally by the staff and the food was fantastic, particularly as the chef had a tiny space about the size of a single wardrobe to work in. The steak was absolutely amazing, all things considered. It was a great evening and well worth the money.
Day two in Melbourne and our numerous 'tellings off' on this holiday were finally catching up with us........this morning we were being carted off to prison......Melbourne Gaol, in fact! Tim had been before and highly recommend it, so off we trotted, in beautiful weather. Our first stop was to have a look
Post Box
At last we found a place to send all our postcards! Let us know when they arrive please! around Victoria Market, a huge indoor market close to our hotel. The girls went for a browse around the stalls; Tim and I found a cracking 'greasy spoon' for a coffee and the girls joined us later for a bacon roll brekkie. Apparently, there were plenty of nice things in the market, but no real bargains - so no purchases!
A short walk later and we reached Melbourne Gaol, used as a prison from 1842 until 1924 and a place of execution until the same year (after a total of 133 hangings during its history) although executions continued in the State of Victoria until 1967. And.........a big bonus on arrival; it turns out that this is a National Trust of Australia property and the National Trusts of England and Australia have reciprocal arrangements, meaning that we could get in for FREE, a saving of a cool $130. So folks, a big travel tip here......make sure you either take your NT membership cards with you to OZ, or a print off your online membership details. It could be well worth it!
Tim was right (of course), the Gaol was well worth a visit. During the first half hour or
Breaking News!
Melbourne passers by look on in horror as Mandy drops her purse in the street! so, we were taken to the Watch House and the holding cells, where you were 'arrested' and 'put through it' by the 'Sergeant of the Guard' and treated like a prisoner. This was good fun and our lady prison guard 'Sergeant Hackett' was a hoot! We then went back into the main prison and you get the chance to have good look around the cells and read up a lot of information about the history of the Gaol, many of the former prisoners and the way they were treated, including executions.
The most infamous prisoner was, of course, one Ned Kelly, who was ultimately hanged here in 1880, after a 11 year run in with the local police. Although an outlaw and fairly nasty piece of work, he is something of a folk hero in Australia; one endearing fact about him is that he rescued a young friend of his from drowning, when Ned was only 10 and the rescued boy's family gave Ned a silk scarf as a 'thanknyou', which he treasured and was wearing on the day he went to the gallows, aged 26.
Following a really good time at the Gaol (good suggestion Tim), we
The Trams 1
One of the older vehicles...... walked a couple of blocks to pick up the Circle Tram (the old style, colonial trams) another freebie which does the complete circuit around the 'free zone'. The trams are supposed to run every 12 minutes but, firstly it was a Sunday and secondly, because of the tennis the trams wouldn't be running until midday (don't know why, seeing as the tennis stadium is away from the city centre). No problem we thought, it was well after noon, but how wrong we were.
We waited and waited at the stop for trams going clockwise, but nothing; a long straight road in both directions, but not a dickie bird in sight! Then, we saw one coming in the anti-clockwise direction; the trouble is, the stop for that direction was about 200 metres down the road. In forty degree heat and with Sue's dodgy knee, we were never gonna make it, although we did try. I got there, but the tram driver wouldn't wait for everyone else. The next one would be along in about ten minutes, she said. She lied!
Anyway, we waited some more and some more, probably the best part of an hour in the end, but
Tennis
We really were in Melbourne you know! it wasn't all wasted time. I got talking to a lady from Tasmania who had come over to Melbourne to see a show about Bobby Darin. She asked all about our trip, which helped pass the time waiting for the tram. She thought the trip sounded fantastic, 'But, yer missing the best bit' she said, 'you're not going to Tazzie!'. So, Jim and Ann, currently in Tasmania, you're doing the best bit of Oz; at least, according to the lady at the tram stop in Melbourne!
Once on the tram, we took it round to Federation Square (the main square in Melbourne), jumped off and went straight into the Port Jackson pub for a snack lunch and a couple of beers. It was a bit of a boozer, but perfect for our needs at that point. Refreshed once again, we then walked through the square, across the bridge over the Yarra and into Alexandra Gardens. Once again at Tim's suggestion, we were headed for a fair old walk through the gardens to the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne's version of the Cenotaph, in another section of the gardens called King's Domain.
The gardens were lovely and we were just
The Trams 2
.......and other? across the river from the tennis stadium, where a lot of noise and music was coming from, even though the men's final wasn't until 7.30 that evening. Ice cream was called for (or anything to cool us down a bit!) and we found a cafe next to a skateboard park, which came up with the goods. The 'dude' behind the counter tried to convince me to take a lesson, but not wanting to show up these Tony Hawk wannabees, I declined politely! It was still a fair walk to the Shrine, and feeling a little jaded but not wishing to upset Tim, I whispered to Sue and Mandy, that whatever this thing is like, when we get there we had better say to Tim "Wow, its amazing!". But, there was no need, about 30 minutes later, it came into view and what a view too!! An amazing and fitting tribute to the dead of two world wars. Unfortunately, it had just turned five by this time and guess what, it closed at five! But no worries, it was lovely just to wander around the site and then sit for a while and take in the whole vista. Another big tick
The Colonial Tramway Restaurant 1
Our menue folder for the evening... Tim!
We started walking back to the city, but it was simply too hot, so we hailed a cab at the earliest opportunity, to get back to the hotel, fortunately just in time to catch happy hour........and very good those drinks were too. We were all pretty tired after another good day and decided to eat in the hotel that night and keep an eye on the tennis. After a lovely evening, we retired to our rooms, caught match point in the tennis on the TV and then fell into bed! We have really enjoyed Melbourne - a beautiful, modern city with some fantastic buildings and green spaces.
Tomorrow, we start the long drive around the south coast road from Melbourne to Adelaide, via Kangaroo Island and want to be up and out the hotel by 8.00am to get to the Avis office, a few minutes away. So, a relatively early night was called for. Of course, I can't finish this post without giving you a few quiz questions to consider, so here they are:
* Which famous rock and rolla played Ned Kelly in a 1970 film?
* The Sky Deck is at the top
The Colonial Tramway Restaurant 2
......and tonight's choices are..... of the Eureka Tower, but which famous Greek shouted 'Eureka' in the bath?
* At the entrance to King's Domain gardens there was a pop up 'Globe Theatre', but which famous American actor was the driving force behind the construction of the new Globe Theatre in London?
That's it for now folks!
TTFN
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Derek French
non-member comment
A great adventure
Just caught up with all the ones I missed and enjoyed them enormously. Loved the pics and descriptions of NZ and am very envious but not of the travel in between: must be getting old! Sydney and Melbourne brought back many pleasant memories of my time working out there in 1985, particularly Sydney where I used to watch the flags being hoisted on the Harbour Bridge from my bed before the walk to work! You will need a fortnight to recover when you get home!