BDU: Melbourne Activities

BDU: Birthday Down Under - Trip Planning
BDU: Flying to Sydney
BDU: Park Hyatt Sydney
BDU: Sydney Activities
BDU: Sydney Opera House
BDU: Flying to Uluru and Back
BDU: Uluru and Kata Tjuta
BDU: Park Hyatt Melbourne
BDU: Melbourne Activities
BDU: Flying to Fiji
BDU: Hilton Fiji
BDU: Snorkeling Trip
BDU: Flying to Los Angeles
BDU: Hyatt Regency DFW

While Sydney is well-known for its famous sites like the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, we weren't sure what there was to see in Melbourne.  Turns out it's more a financial capital for the country and while there's plenty to do and see, it's not quite as touristy.  But they do have a hop-on/hop-off bus and a free trolley system that helped us get around town.

The closest bus stop was caddy-corner from the Victoria Train Station.  I thought it was a beautiful building from the outside and wish we'd stopped in to look around.

Victoria Station

The first stop on our tour was Yarra Park, which is home to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and across the street from Melbourne Park, home of tennis' Australian Open each January.

Since none of us know anything about cricket we didn't take the stadium tour though we did check out the gift shop and from inside that we could see a bit of the field itself.

The pitch of the MCG as viewed from the gift shopt

Across the street in Melbourne Park were three tennis facilities: Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and Margaret Court Arena.  All host matches during the Open.

One guess as to its name

Beside them was an unusual-looking building.  Since it was so distinctive it was not hard to find its name when I checked the Internet - but what a name! This is the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.  Of course it has a sponsor so it's also called AAMI Park but I find its official name funny.

Naturally the Rectangular Stadium has domes

We hopped back on the bus and hopped off again at the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens.  Turns out the exhibit was classic cars, a topic that interested none of us so we did not venture inside.  We did enjoy the gardens and green space in the middle of town.

While there was a tiny bit of slope to the street I can't figure out why
this photo looks like it was taken with a fisheye lens!

Fountain at the Royal Exhibition Building

We stopped by the Old Melbourne Gaol. I was hoping to go inside, given Australia's heritage as a penal colony but my companions did not want to pay the fee so, once again, we just checked out the gift shop.

The Victoria Markets were our next stop.  We had lunch in the permanent food court area and spent the better part of the afternoon wandering through the stalls.  Produce, toys, clothes, leather goods, souvenirs - all these things and more were available.  I don't usually care for shopping but even I managed to amuse myself for several hours.

All kinds of produce were available

The next day started strangely.  We received a call at 8:30 AM from the bellman stating that our airport shuttle had arrived. Since our flight left just before midnight we knew that wasn't correct.  Our paperwork stated they'd pick us up around 8:30 PM.  Obviously something did not get communicated correctly!  We told them to return in 12 hours.

We looked at the tourist map to plan our day and saw a point of interest we decided we just had to see.  I mean, if you were to see something labeled "Cow in a Tree" wouldn't you just *have* to go check it out?  Naturally it was about as far away from our hotel as the trolley would take us.  But that allowed us to see other parts of the city as we passed, so it was all good.  And finally, there it was, the Cow in the Tree!  Not a real cow, obviously, but a silly bit of art that was fun.

You have a cow in a tree in your city too, right?

As you can see it's just across the street from the Docklands Arena, which is currently called Etihad Stadium.  It's a multi-purpose stadium that is headquarters for the Aussie Rules Football League as well as 5 AFL teams. The Seven Network also has its HQ here.

We did a little more shopping in the area and stopped for a cup of tea but didn't really see any full-scale restaurants so we hopped back on the trolley and exited at a stop right by the Yarra River, which runs through town.  Just a block or so away was a tourist-friendly district with lots of al fresco cafés as well as a mall with indoor eating spots.

There were some unusual sculptures and displays right by the rivers.  I don't fully understand them but they made for interesting sights!

I assume the people light up at night

Am guessing a rabbit with a bass drum?

Your guess is as good as mine

Down past the restaurants we started seeing several buildings that were homes of rowing clubs.  There were several all-male teams working on their boats and then we saw the ladies getting ready to head out for a bit of training.

Fueled by girl power!

By this time we needed to return to the hotel to check out and store our purchases.  Since the hotel was very close to Fitzroy Gardens we spent the rest of the afternoon alternately wandering the park and sitting down to enjoy the shade.

Fitzroy Flowers

We passed by Cook's Cottage, named for Captain James Cook, whose detailed mapping of the South Pacific was critical to expanding the knowledge of the region.  While it might have been interesting, there was an extra fee and we didn't feel like dressing up with the re-enactors there.

Since we'd had a late lunch we decided just to grab a bite to eat at the airport.  Because of our mis-communication that morning, we expected our driver to be on time.  But by 8:45 PM he still had not showed.  Thankfully one of the bellmen got a little aggressive on the phone with Sunbus and the driver showed up just past 9:00 PM.  Poor driver was the same one who'd stopped by at 8:30 AM!

He got us to the airport in what I thought would be plenty of time.  I had forgotten we weren't flying in business class and that we'd have to deal with economy lines.  Fortunately everyone in line was on the same flight and we weren't the last ones, so they wouldn't be leaving without us.  But I looked on slightly jealous of the folks in business class who walked right up to the counter!  It probably took us over an hour from the time we got in line until we'd cleared security.  Where was my TSA PreCheck when I needed it?!

Not knowing what food might be served on a midnight flight, we grabbed quick bites from fast food places there in the airport.  Did you know Burger King is known as Hungry Jack in Australia?

Finally it was time to board our red-eye flight on Fiji Air.