Melbourne

I know I know. Don't judge me, I'm still doing it, better late than never, right? I finally worked through the Melbourne photos from, yes I know, September. Why even bother? Well, I have a big holiday in May and I needed to catch up, plus I really enjoyed my time in Melbourne, created some great memories and had to opportunity to reconnect.

Part of my trip to the area, we spent a good two days walking around Melbourne, day one around the parks, museums and university library then on the second around the Shrine of Remembrance, War Museum and surrounding Royal Botanic Gardens of Victoria.

Our hotel was actually around the corner of the Queen Victoria Markets and having been there nights before, breakfast was an obvious first stop. The main hall was filled with the usual hats, clothing and other non-edible market items. The North East Building was home to the daily daytime food vendors though. I later returned to buy a beanie hat to replace the one I owned that was constantly being pilfered.

We grabbed some sausage rolls and walked out of the North entrance, heading east on Victoria Street. Our next goal was the Royal Exhibition Building and Melbourne Museum, plus all the weird and wonderful buildings on the way there.

After a leisurely wander we arrived at the grounds of the Carlton Gardens, adjacent to the Royal Exhibition Building.

Now, the Exhibition Centre was hosting an affordable art fair. Their title not mine and at something like $25/person we felt like it was a bit much for us. We instead preferred walking around the outside and then visiting the Museum next door, which was great though I didn't really take any photos...

Our walk took us the back of Parliament House, as we were hoping to get a glimpse of it whilst all the works were happening on the west side, and as we did we came across St Patrick's Cathedral on Gisborne St. It's an 1800s gothic revival-style cathedral, whatever that means. It looks pretty cool on the inside though.

We hooked a right turn and walked back into the commercial districts.

Ending our first day at the State Library Victoria was absolutely worth it. All areas are of course free, but the prize is the La Trobe Reading Room, and if you climb the stairs on the perimeter of the reading room, you can also enjoy the literature related exhibits on each floor before you enjoy the view on the fourth floor. At the far end of the building there is also the slightly less impressive Redmond Barry reading room.

As we walked back to the hotel we were privileged to see the fringe groups come out of the woodworks. The 5G doctors, the trump supporters, the no (to the voice) voters and the sovereign citizens. What a day!

The next morning we ventures South East along the tram line and visited the Shrine of Remembrance. This temple-like concrete structure was one of the many buildings within the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.

You can work your way round in a clock or anti clockwise direction around the base and once you're done, take the stairs to the upper levels where you can venture out onto the balcony and enjoy the view.

After the museum we bimbled around the botanic gardens, taking in the sights, taking photos, and made a point of visiting Guilfoyle's Volcano. It sounded cool anyway, a small man-made raised pond surrounded by cacti and other water challenged plants. Anyway, enjoy some photos to finish off this blog entry.