A Day in Melbourne City

As we had now arrived back in Melbourne after our adventure along the Great Ocean Road, we finally had a chance to explore the city properly.

We woke up at a relatively leisured pace ( as i didnt arrive back until appox. 01:00 that morning, I was quite content to get up slowly) and we had some breakfast and tea/coffee with our hosts (and tour guides!) for the weekend, Jen and Paul.

As we were staying in Berwick, it was approximately and hour long train journey to the city centre and ‘Flinders Street Station’ that we eventually embarked from. As I had commented from my first view of the city the night before, Melbourne is a fanstastic looking city. It’s a nice blend of old and new buldings – vey asthetic looking older buildings in every direction with new modern skyscrapers in the backdrop. As I write this I don’t feel like i’m really giving it justice – hopefully the pictures below the next paragraph will help illustrate my point.

After a quick tour of the city, we walked towards the Eureka Tower in the heart of the Melbourne CBD (Central Business District). The Eureka Tower is the largest tower in Melbourne and on the 82nd floor (i think it was 82nd – it was high!), there was a dedicated ‘skyview’ platform that showed unparrelled views of the city. Melbourne once again showed her splendor, this time from another perspective. It’s a pretty big city and from this height, you could see for miles. It also allowed us to see the Rod Laver Tennis Area and the imposing MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) which can hold over 100,000 people!

The Eureka tower also held one other treat…an experience called ‘the Edge’. Now, when you’re 82 (or so) floors up, when something is called ‘the Edge’ it can only really mean one thing…and you are probably able to guess roughly what that is. ‘The Edge’ is a small cube shaped room that is covered entirely by 4.5cm thick glass. The glass however is clouded so that you cant actually see through it. Anyway, as we stood in this opaque glass box (not much bigger than a standard toilet), it started to vibrate and move in an outward direction away from the building. As you couldnt see through the glass however, it was somewhat difficult to really understand if the glass box was actually moving. After about 30 seconds, the box stopped moving…quite an eerie feeling as you are quite dissorientated. Then, suddenly, the lovely opaque glass that was shielding us from everything around, turned to transparent glass…including the glass that we were standing on. And the moving sensation that we felt earlier was the box getting moved out about 10 feet from the edge of the building itself so that you could see straight down! Quite the experience!

Amy’s feet (in the Edge ‘socks’ that you need to wear) and the drop below…

Also, whilst we were wandering around the skyview floor, we noticed that there were quite a few people that were very well dressed. Of course we were imaculatly dressed as ever but some people were in black tie outfits. Then, just as we were heading to the ‘viewing deck’ (a balcony), we realised why they were all dressed up…they were getting married…in ‘the Edge’! Well, as it was quite unique and we happened to be on the viewing deck at the time, i took a couple photos…it also shows your exactly what the Edge looks like when you’re not inside!

After the excitement of the tower and ‘the Edge’, we met back up with Jen and Paul and headed for some lunch.

After lunch, it was onto the Queen Victoria Market (which is a market that has been around since the 1850’s!) but not before visiting a Christmas shop that is open 365 days a year. As you can probably imagine, the whole country is getting ready for Christmas (although its still far too early in my books) but this shop was ready from January…ridiculous. You may be thinking, ‘surely he cant write much about a Christmas shop…surely? Please?’ but alas, i can i’m afraid. Just a quick note however (you’ll be happy to hear)…. as Amy was inspecting one of the christmas ‘bauble’s’, she decided to conduct a test to see if Aussie glass could bounce. For all those who are asking a similar questions, the answer is, no, it cant. So, with a very red face, neck, ears (anywhere skin that was showing!), she had to go and explain her actions to the lovely shop owner…how very embarrassing…

After exploded-bauble-gate, we headed round the market which was really quite good. It was massive…row after row of people selling every Aussie stereotype you can think of from opals, to kangaroo leather wallets, to didgeridoo’s and boomerangs. It was amazing though…the only downside was that i was promised a Churro from one of the best market stalls in the whole of the Western Hemisphere however, when we got there, it was shut…i wont lie, it put a bit of a damper on the whole market (and potentially the whole holiday) – thanks Jen.

After the market we headed along ‘Lygon Steet’, a street that was famous as it was effectively run by mobsters ‘back in the day’. Subsequently, the street is now full of Italian restuarants and coffee shops. One of the shops however, we were told, stood out and after arriving and seeing the selection of cakes on offer, it was clear to see why. See the photos below…I may have had two, i’m on holiday after all…

After a short rest to allow the cakes to digest, we headed back in the direction of the train station and stopped at Federation Square (just outside the train station). The square is the entrance to a couple of Melbourne’s art galleries in the centre of the city and also has a giant tv screen (that shows daily movies with sun loungers to view it from) and a stage for performing…not entirely dissimilar to George Square in Glasgow but seemed a bit friendlier with the modern twist.

After the hour long journey back on the train, we arrived back at Chateaux de Clement. And after such a long day where we had been particularly healthy throughout, we decided that the only possible option for dinner was a takeaway….again, we’re on holiday after all (don’t know how long I can keep using this excuse!). Then after dinner, we settled down to watch the James Bond film ‘Skyfall’ before heading to bed. I should point out that, for anyone keeping a running total, Amy was awake for the first 25 minutes of the film before sleeping through it until the end…the words of, ‘i’m just gonna shut my wee eyes for a minute’ becoming a fairly common occurrence…

Tomorrow’s plan is still somewhat undecided…the plan will be to either head up to the mountainous area north of Melbourne called ‘Baw Baw’, head to the beach at St. Kilda or head down Phillip Island to see some to the local penguins in their natural habitat…we’ll make that call when we get up tomorrow…