Visiting Melbourne

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We made many trips to Melbourne and felt at home in the city, it reminded us of Manchester (apologies to 'Melburnians') We would come down on the 6.50 train from Castlemaine, the real one, not the chuff chuff woo woo, or drive to Essendon and take the train from there.  It pulled into what everyone still calls Spencer Street Station, in the last stages of a major renovation and very recently renamed 'Southern Cross'

Traditional and Modern Co-exist               

 

 And it is still possible to shop in Victorian Splendour at the Royal Arcade

 

Dome Industrial - preserved in Melbourne Central Mall

Coop's Shot Tower inside a modern mall      

Built in 1888 to produce shot pellets by letting droplets of molten metal fall the length of the tower and into pools of water which would result in the desired spherical shape

When it closed, rather than demolish it, they covered it with a cone of black Steel and glass and created a museum inside

And Classical - within the State Library of Victoria

Domed  La Trobe Reading Room

Apart from the architecture there are interesting artefacts and art work on display

Jan Senbergs 'Melbourne' a gift from the Italian community                   

Ned Kelly's suit of Armour
I last saw this suit of armour being worn by Mick Jagger playing Australia's bushranger 'folk hero', in a really bad movie

The Aquarium

Sea Dragon with beautiful luminous 'train'

The big attraction in the summer of 2006 was "Monsters From The Deep" the star of which was a giant squid 'Frozen In Time'. We came for the sea dragons as we had recently seen a documentary on the fascinating little creatures.  It's perhaps as well, as the 'star' was a huge calamari in a non too clear block of ice.  Our Canadian Iceberg ice is much nicer , especially in a G&T

Signage points out that the creatures in the glass tunnels that we are walking beneath appear smaller than they are but it wasn't until 5.00pm when the lucky divers who were experiencing the thrill of 'swimming with the sharks' entered the tanks that we realized just how much smaller

I certainly wouldn't want to meet one in the ocean
Winery in The Yarra Valley  Day Trip From Melbourne

The weather was glorious, our guide personable, the winery staff welcoming and knowledgeable but at the end of the day we remained Philistines with regard to wine and I am more than happy with my discovery of Banrock Station White Shiraz

 

  
 
 

  
Coal mines use canaries and vineyards roses for the early detection of problems
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