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Published: April 30th 2007
federation square
make up your minds!! So, moving swiftly on from our drowsy days in the ACT, we arrive in Melbourne via the coast and joining onto the Princess highway. To be quite honest, the roads were just full of cars, and coming into Melbourne over the bridge, it felt like we were heading into London. The traffic was just chaos, and it was really a case of every man for himself, as cars just pushed their way into each lane, and there was some anxiety and a hint of road rage building up inside of me!!We pass through the Burnley tunnel, and this was a really nerve racking experience!! Semi-trailers (which we call Lorries), whisk past you with only a strand of hair between you, its dark, so headlights on, and we just can't wait to get through to the other side................pfeeeww!!
After some time of missing turns due to navigator error!! we finally arrive at our destination. We have generally been staying at very nice campsites, but the best ones are usually the BIG 4 and TOP TOURIST campsites. This one was a BIG4, and it was really done very nicely. Lovely big areas of grass to put your tent up, big camp
meet the family
Ashley (my cousins husband), and Mark kitchen, lovely, private toilets and showers, games room with table tennis, video games, pool, seperate tv room which looked like a cinema, and swimming pool. It was great!! The only down side was that after 9pm, everything gets locked up. So if your in the middle of a tv programme, or table tennis/pool game, finish now. Kinda feels like a bording school "lights out!!"
I have a cousin in Melbourne which i haven't seen for 22 years (since i was in India). I was eager to see her and her family. It was a fantastic experience, and after staying 3 days in the campsite, during which we had to get the car sorted (i won't bore you with this any longer!), we were kindly invited to stay at her house for a while. We eneded up staying 10 days, and i must say it was nice to sleep on a proper bed and have some great Indian food to eat!!
My cousin Natasha and her husband Ashley have a great child named Mark. Now being a child myself, we got on great (we did bribe him with a toy car and racetrack for his 2nd birthday!!). We were
meet the family 2
my Cousin Natasha, and the clan always running around the house, playing with balls, I would teach him how to get dizzy by spinning around several times in succession (i stopped when he nearly vomited!!). We had a fantastic time, and were treated fantastically well.
Now i must tell you about Melbourne. We probably did not get to see enough of Melbourne, due to the ongoing saga with the car and all, but we did get to see a lot of the CBD (city centre). Melbourne is a very busy place, busier than Sydney, which was slightly unexpected. In fact, we could draw equal comparrison with London, in that there are so many people rushing past you, there are so many shops around, a chinatown, old federation buildings, and a plethora of things to do. Melbourne is set around the shores of Port Phillip Bay. The city itself, laid out in a large rectangle and boasting a lively and cosmopolitan pulse, sitting on the northern banks of the Yarra River. One glance at a map and it’s obvious that Melbourne is a planned city: a tidy, balanced grid of neatly angled streets. But beneath this sense of everything in its place restraint lies a restless
creative energy constantly pushing back at the city’s seeming conservatism. The CBD is made up of precincts - distinct enclaves each with its own flavour and charm. Some are just a lane or two, while others cover the banks of the Yarra River or a busy CBD street. It has a rather anglo-american feel to it, and further endorses my view that Australians do have a personality complex. Are we American? English? Asian?
We start of at the famous Federation square. I must say here, that as much as i ended up liking Melbourne, this was the worst thing about it. Federation square was an eyesore, the ugliest thing I have ever seen in my life (this includes seeing myself in the mirror the morning after the night before!!). Carmen and I do disagree on this point, so i will leave it to you to decide for yourselves.
Behind Fed square is a lovely walkway, flanked by the famous Yarra river. Now we were there for the FINA world swimming champs, and being the avid sportsman, i wanted to try and get some tickets to the champs, which was being held at the famous Rod Laver arena (more
Me and Mark
my cousin's son. "where's the helicopter?" famous for holding the Australian tennis Open). However, at $150 for decent seats ($50 each for seats at the top of the arena with a beam infront of you), we decided to watch it on tv instead. We continue along the banks of the river, and spot the famous MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). Now for those of you that did not know, I was suppossed to have been in Melbourne for the boxing day test Eng Vs Aus, but due to political pressure, was unable to attend. So this became somewhat of a crusade for me, as i walk up towards the famous stadium. Before me stands a statue of one of australian crickets favourite sons, Dennis Lillee, the great fast bowler of his era (70's and 80's), and i just have to touch is boot (it was the only thing i could actually reach). What a thrill it was just to be outside the stadium, but alas, i could not get in, as it was a locked up(boohoo).
Melbourne has many federation buildings dwarfed by sky scrappers, and we take one of our scenic walks through the city. The Lonely planet has a walking guide, and takes you
through many of the historical sites in the town. There is a free tram ( a great invention, and one i will no doubt propose to whoever takes over from Tony at the next GE), which takes you on a circle tour around the various sites. We generally walk a lot (certainly more than I do in London), although getting back to my cousin's place does require a little trip on the trains. However, I have to say that the trains in Melbourne are 10 times better than in London. They are A/C for one, clean, tidy, although with the odd volitle teenagers swearing at each other or on the mobile. Rush hour is no different to any other major city in the world really, but there is less of the aggro here.
One Sunday we passed a guy who was playing street chess. We sat down to watch, as he thrashed a couple of guys with consumate ease. Carmen urged me to have a game with him, and i thought "hey, why not." I used to play chess at school, even winning 3rd place in the Island Junior Tournament and have had some games with friends since then,
crossing to the other side
across the bridge, on the way to the MCG but not for a while now. So we start playing, and as we do, more and more people come to watch. As we draw to the middle game, there is now a rather large crowd that has gathered to watch. Each wispering their thoughts on which move should be next, and what shoudl have been done before. A couple of school boy errors, and its game over................for me that is. It was rather a nerve racking game in the end, and being the ever competetive, i have since installed a chess game on my phone, and have vowed that if i were to return to Melbourne (which i hope to do), i will track this guy down and beat him at our next game!!!).
You cannot come to Melbourne without visiting the famous Crown Casino. Now i was under strict instructions not to gamble any money at this establishment ( i do like the odd flutter on the fruit machines), but i have to say that after we entered, there was just no way i was even going to contemplate this!! For one, the fruit machines were a different, more complex game all together, the tables were full of
touching the ledgend
at the MCG, touching the boot of the famous, or maybe infamous, Dennis Lillee asian people just throwing chips onto the roulette tables without a care in the world. We were shocked at the number of people haphazzardly throwing, and inevitably loosing their chips on each occassion. We move on to the poker table. This game i have yet to understand, and by the looks of it, i was probably a good thing. Again, masses of asian people with wads of money, each trying to get their big win, but inevitably loosing. You could see the kind of gold fever they had in their eyes. There was no way they were going to stop unless they either lost everything or won the lot!! The next tables were where the blak jack (or 21 pontoon) tables were, and this i did understand. As i could see thecards of the players, it was never the less still shocking to see people hitting on 17 or 18, knowing that the dealer had to hit on 17, and that their chances of getting a low enough number were very slim. BANG!! sorry mate, no win. The faces on the croupieres was facinating in itself. Some just had the same gold fever face, some were completely disinterested, some just
amazed at the thoughtlessness of the players, as they lost more and more money!!
As we continued around we past a section that was cut off from the main playing area. It was silent here, and we could see a table full of suited players. We were not allowed her, as we were not members, but this was the area where ther really big money was played. You could only wonder how much money was being put down on these tables, and whether or not these players were as feverish as the players we had just seen!!!
The casino itself is rather like an airport lounge. It is surrounded by shops, cafes, jewelers, anything that can seperate you from your hard earned money. We had a coffee and an ice cream, and that was it!! we got out after about 2 hours of watching in awe and amazement.
The surroundings of Melbourne were discovered in the following days. Balarat was an area 2 hours north of Melbourne, and this was the site of a place called soverign hill. Here is a town within a town, and its done very well. Its an olden day town from the
The Yarra River
Melbourne's famous river 1800's. People dress the part, and the town is exactly as it was in those days. You can pan for gold (and i did for about an hour, keen to find something, but alas.............). You can watch how they seperate gold from the amalgm, how they made wheels for the carts, played olden day 10 pin bowling and billiards. It was a great day out, and well worth the $20 each we paid for the day.
The Dandenong ranges was our next visit outside Melbourne, and this was a beautiful part of Victoria. Our First visit was to an area called Authurs seat. Now i have been to an area called Authurs seat, but in Edinburgh. This is a little hill (as my mate steve called it) which took us a while to get up, and served up a few creveces which required either jumping over or falling to your death!!! Well this was not so bad. Infact it was something that resembled a ski lift, and took you up and down this hill to view victoria. Alas, the lift was not working, and we had to walk up the hill!!! Fantastic views though!!!
For over 100 years
the Dandenong Ranges have been an idyllic retreat for Melburnians wanting to take the mountain air and escape the bustle of city life. Visitors flock to the romantic hilltop villages, beautiful gardens, and magnificent tall forests and views. It is these views that made us stop at one point, to look out far into the blue horizon. Now, there are many Japanese tourists around Australia, as there are most places in the world. And so it happened that 2 japanese men and a lady, about 45-50 years of age, were also at the lookout, gathering in the views. Out infront of us was a lash valley, and there was a way of getting down into the valley, by following the path around............................or, if you were japanese, you could also walk down this small, muddy rutt in the grassy hill, almost like a little trentch. It had been raining, and, well it looked kinda slippery. We watched in amazement, as one of the japenese men stepped into the trentch, and tried to shuffle his way down the slope. Yup, you guessed it. Of he slipped, unable to stop with the momentum he had gained, and continued tumbling down in a somersault
next move??
a quiet game of Sunday Street Chess action. His wife (well i guess it was his wife by her reaction) started shouting after him, something in the region of "you bloody fool, i told you it was dangerous!", whilst beating of the other guy, who was trying to get her to follow him down. It was the funniest thing i had ever seen, well worthy of you've been framed!! Carmen was speechless, i was having an asthma attack from laughing so much, the japanese lady was crying blue murder, one japanese guy was at the bottom of the valley, with solied ralph lauren shirt and trousers, and the other japanese guy was nursing a sore head from the bashing from the wife. It made for such a hilarious spectacle, it was only a shame that we did not record it on the camera!!
We have had a crazy time in Victoria, and here there really is so much more to see. But, alas it was time to leave, and say good bye to the family. We had an amazing time here. A huge thanks must go to my Cousin and her family, for putting us up (or putting up with us), and giving us some guidance
little and Large
a small federation building is dwarfed by the enormous skyscraper that shadows it on places to go. We have promised to be back here for xmas, and this time, we will get to see a cricket game at the MCG (its Australia Vs India). But for now, we say so long, farewell, alverderzane, adieu. Join us next time, when we discover the Great Ocean Road and the 12 puzzles!!!
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silvia from London
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HOLA CHICOS
hola amigos!! i am sending you a very big kiss and tell you that Gianni and I are very jealous of you travelling around Australia!!We won't probably be able to join you in December as Gianni may start working in a new College and has only 14 days of holidays in Christmas. so sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyway. I am happy of seeing you happy. Carmela, miss u terribly!!! muah muah!!!