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Published: October 26th 2015
We had planned to leave the bus in the Caravan Park and use public transport while we were in Melbourne as the majority of things we wanted to see were close to the city. There was no tram or train close to the park, however a bus stop was opposite the park entrance so that was perfect.
The first day in to central Melbourne went quite smoothly. Georgi picked up some Myki cards (for all public transport in Melbourne) from the park office and the bus arrived just a few minutes after we walked across the road to the bus stop. It took about 30 minutes to get right into town so we had time to relax and check out life in Melbourne. One thing we noticed immediately was the level of noise. There is always building work happening and the noise level is quite significant. After arriving in the CBD, we walked to the State Library where we had coffee and toured the building and the excellent ST Gill exhibition that was displayed. We waited for the guided tour but for some reason it was cancelled for that day.
One of the things that we had been looking
forward to was re-visiting the National Gallery of Victoria in St Kilda Road, and it was even more exciting as the Catherine the Great exhibition had only recently opened. We visited the Catherine exhibition first and when it got a bit squeezy with VIP's and school children, we slipped out and had an early lunch at the Gallery Cafe. After lunch, we toured the remainder of the gallery and then took a tram back into town to see the Potter gallery at Federation Square. This particular gallery has the Australian masters from the Heidelberg School plus others and also a range of more current interesting works. Georgi was most impressed that Joseph Brown had funded a collection at this gallery so we had to take a photo of the entrance. We had a juice in one of the cafes at Federation Square and then walked to the Block Arcade where we had a yummy afternoon tea at the Hopetoun Tearooms and then walked through the Royal Arcade and on to Myer and Melbourne Central. By this time, we had done a lot of walking and it was quite warm so we decided that we would go "home" rather than stay
in town.
We had a sleep-in the next day and then took the same bustrip back into town. This time we walked to the Museum where we spent the remainder of the morning. The highlights were The Mind exhibition, Wild (animals), The Melbourne Story, Forest Secrets, and, of course, the legendary Phar Lap. While we had lunch at the Museum cafe, a short heavy shower of rain fell and it was really interesting to see the nanoglass shed the rain almost instantly. The rain stopped almost as soon as it started so we walked back into town and wandered around the shops until we got to Myer and decided to have afternoon tea in the Brunetti cafe. Great food and service at a very reasonable price. Dare I say that the food was as good as what we had at the Block Arcade! More window-shopping was on offer after our stop at Myer and you could tell that Spring Racing Season was approaching when you run into a pink horse (complete with hat). We wandered past a Hoyts cinema and having not seen a movie since Broome, instantly decided we should see something. We were able to see "Legend",
Georgi at NGV Catherine exhibition
This photo was taken with a 3D background image of a room of the Catherine Palace at Pushkin, Russia (bit of a trick)the story of the Kray twins in London. It was an excellent but somewhat sad movie and quite long too so it was after 9pm when we left the cinema. I had earlier promised Georgi a Chinese meal so we headed to Chinatown but found it hard to make a decision on which restaurant to go to. After a strange mixture of entrees and duck we headed back to find our bus. We didn't have too wait too long and soon we were back in Braybrook.
Our last day in Melbourne had been hastily arranged as we toured the city. We were catching up with a work colleague of Lenny's from way back when he worked in Melbourne. Because we had to visit a few places in the day (and not the CBD) we decided to take the bus for a run. Neil and Jane were very accommodating as it was also the day they were celebrating their son's birthday. We planned to arrive just after lunch and stay for a cuppa but we were running late as the traffic was very heavy (Caulfield Cup day may have been the reason). We bought a birthday cake just down the
Georgi at NGV Catherine exhibition
This photo was taken with a 3D background image of a room of the Catherine Palace at Pushkin, Russia (bit of a trick) road and we all sang Happy Birthday to Cameron who had turned twelve the day before. After the visit to Neil and Janes, we decided to drive a short distance to see if Lenny's first place in Melbourne was still standing. Alas, it had long gone and a 1980's brick house was now on the block of land at number 23. Our next stop was the Botanic Gardens by the Yarra River. On the way there, we were right behind a car accident and we stopped to render assistance. Lenny rang Emergency Services and then organised traffic while removing broken car from the road while Georgi comforted the elderly lady who had been involved in the crash. The ambulance arrived and then the police so we were able to head off to the Botanic Gardens where we enjoyed afternoon tea (again) and the fabulous gardens. While we were having scones, we noticed that the Ornamental Lake now had a gondola business. We thought that might be fun so we booked a ride. It was great and we would recommend this if you enjoy visiting Melbourne and the Botanic Gardens.
Visiting Melbourne had started out as maybe a week (with
potential visits to friends and relatives) but had been cut to the barest minimum as we had stayed at other places and extended our days there (like at Wilsons Promontory). Still, we had seen the things that we wanted to see in Melbourne before we headed for the Spirit of Tasmania and home.
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