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Published: March 29th 2023
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Boot washing station
Done to prevent the spread of Cinnamon soil fungus which kills a lot of the root systems once infecting the soil In our final couple of weeks, we have focused on a few areas not yet visited. St. Kilda’s Beach is on the south east side of the city centre and a short tram ride (assuming you get off at the right station) from the main railway station at Flinders Street. There is a nice board walk with a few restaurants and a well maintained beach. We were there mid week and the weather was “coolish” so it wasn’t busy, however, it was easy to imagine the area would be packed in prime time. The surrounding area was a little tired and disappointing. A promenade close by was lined with 2nd and 3rd tier retail shops and a carnival facility with a Ferris wheel and roller coaster was somewhat distracted from a reasonably nice waterfront location.
The Brisbane Range National park(not near the city of Brisbane) was the destination of our weekend hike and about 1 hours drive from Point Cook. The Anakie Gorge was a 9.5km hike that was relatively flat with about 1/4 of the trail requiring a steep climb up to the top of the gorge. As we moved from one section of the trail to another, there
St. Kilda’s Beach
Nice boardwalk meandering beside the well manicured beach. We had lunch a one of the restaurants on the beach. was a boot washing station to prevent the spread of a particular soil fungus. This was somewhat unusual and we have yet to determine how the Kangaroo and other animals are convinced to wash their feet before entering? Neither Alexa or Siri had an answer!!
Phase 2 of our Botanical Garden visit from a couple weeks ago was at the Cranbourne Gardens, about an hours drive from the city. It is an attractively designed sister facility to the main gardens in Melbourne and features primarily plants and vegetation indigenous to the Australian continent. Historically the climate is quite varied throughout the regions (probably more so now with climate change) and evolution has changed many species, giving them unusual characteristics in order to adapt to local climate conditions. It was noted that Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth.
Our final trip into Melbourne was to visit the Shrine of Remembrance which curated the numerous wars in which Australia participated. There was far too much information to absorb in one visit, therefore, we only covered the highlights. It was an interesting to note that during the Second World War, USA had rotated over 1 million troops through Australia
Banksia Australian wild flowers (part of the Proteaceae family)
An amazing feature of the Apple iPhone. It can identify the plant species and reference Wikipedia which allows us the pretension of expert knowledge. during the years 1943-1945. Australia and USA have historically been close allies as evidenced by the fact that Australia participated in the Iraqi and Vietnam wars.(Canada of course participated in neither). During the Americans being stationed in the country there was tension between the locals (primarily men) and the American troops, in fact, there was the infamous Brisbane riots in which the putative allies clashed resulting in numerous injuries and 1 death. Apparently the Australian women preferred the Americans as they were better mannered and had more money!
It was a pleasure to have friends drop by the house for a coffee and visit. Pam and Rick from Fredericton are on an extended tour of New Zealand and Australia before catching a repositioning cruise back to North America. We haven’t seen them for a couple of years therefore, it gave us the opportunity to catch up.
Well our time here has come to an end as we make the long trek back home. Melbourne and area was very enjoyable, offering many of the things we like to do when away for the winter. The weather was quite pleasant without the high heat and humidity common to other parts
Cranbourne Botanical Gardens
The red soil is quite common in Australia and evidenced by the iconic Ayers Rock or what’s now called Uluru of Australia. We continue to be impressed with the country and although they are facing many of the same challenges as Canada, it’s our feeling, they are very progressive and able to manage their affairs quite well. Our next trip is Italy in September and we’re looking forward to reacquainting ourselves with the local Chianti!
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