To St. Kilda and back into the city

From Yarraville, we cycled across the city to reach the seaside suburb of St. Kilda, where we had booked into a hostel for the night. We planned to leave our stuff in the hostel, jump on our bikes and cycle back into the city to explore a few more things we wanted to see.

Leaving Yarraville, we made use of the excellent cyclepath network to skirt south of the city. The path took us safely across the busy Westgate Bridge crossing the Yarra River, and alongside the M1 - a main freeway route across the city. We were both impressed by the dedicated cycling infrastructure: proper cycle lanes wide enough for two bikes and segregated from the road, crossing points with bicycle control light filters, and dedicated underpasses to ease your way through an incredibly traffic-busy part of the city! Above us, the city authorities are building an additional freeway by stacking it on top of the existing one, and are including a bicycle and pedestrian lane by suspending it underneath the high level freeway. Fantastic!

Chatting with Amanda’s friend Jason yesterday, he mentioned Melbourne is rapidly growing with its population increasing. The city already has a massive suburban area - the Greater Melbourne area is approximately 9900km² with suburbs spreading more than 40km to the south, 30km to the east, 20km to the north and now new development is reaching into the flat plains to the west. All this needs new infrastructure to cope and the city seems to be building.

We enjoyed passing the large container port - the bright colours of the high stacked containers row upon row and the efficient bustle of the port machinery on a huge scale.

Then cycling alongside the Port Melbourne area, with the marina front dominated by gleaming modern apartments, their glass frontages glinting in the sun. The esplanade was wide and with road, tram, walkways and cycle lanes side by side it provided an open relaxed feel, punctuated by planted areas and art. One unusual piece of sculpture was by John Kelly - an 8m high bronze of a cow stuck in a tree. The seemingly surreal vision is based on reality: Australian floods are often violent and it is not unknown for cattle to be swept into trees whilst floods are ascending, only to be stranded once they subside. It is also a nod to William Dobell’s work in WWII when Donell served as a camouflage labourer, making papermaché cows which were moved around airfields in the hope of fooling Japanese pilots. Dobell was quoted as saying he thought the authorities had underestimated the eyesight of Japanese airmen!

The sun now shining bright we lazily weaved through people strolling along South Wharf and Yarra promenades, passing a small 19th century tall ship and cafes and eateries along the waterfront.

Turning south we hit Albert Park (where the Australian Grand Prix has been held and will do so again next year). We rode parallel to the F1 finishing strait much slower than last years winner, Lando Norris (now thats a proper race car drivers name). Cycling around the large ornamental lake we stopped to admire the cityscape reflected in the calm water. Black swans, coots and ducks languidly floated and fed with bottoms up in the air. It seemed that many had already paired up as southern hemisphere Spring approaches. The city is full of green spaces and although a large metropolitan area with a population of around 5.4 million, it doesn’t feel claustrophobic or oppressive, with consideration given to nature, space and its inhabitants.

Riding up and over a hill we freewheeled down to our hostel located on a busy crossroads. The area felt ‘real’ and a little bit gritty but with pleasant quiet side streets running down to the esplanade and sea front. We checked in and our room was on the third floor with views down the street.

Being a lovely sunny day, we quickly dumped our kit and grabbed the bikes to head off into the city. Riding along quiet streets to Fawkner Park, we crossed the park on paths lined with trees, reminding us very much of the Meadows near our home in Edinburgh. We arrived at the Royal Botanic Gardens and wheeled our bikes through the large tranquil haven, south of the Yarra River, around the ornamental lake and admiring the collection of plants: often with big tropical leaves unusual to us.

Riding toward the city centre, we passed the the National Gallery of Victoria, with its outdoor fountains and large David Shrigley ‘Thumbs Up’ sculpture and next door, the Performing Arts Centre complex of theatres with its large white iconic steel spire rising into sky. The area was busy with achool trips, buskers and tourists visiting the attractions. We rolled slowly along the south of the river enjoying the laidback vibe of the Southbank promenade before heading over the river to cycle up through the CBD to reach Queen Victoria Market, just north of the city centre.

The market is the city’s last remaining Victorian markets and spread over 15 acres is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere. We wandered up and down checking out the stalls. A working market with the usual staples of fruit, veg, fish and meat, busy with the market traders shouting encouragement and cheeky patter to attract customers. It was very vibrant and good to see the heritage buildings being maintained and used and seemingly, very popular with visitors and locals.

Leaving the market, we cycled over to the Fitzroy neighbourhood. A bit hip and trendy, it is known for its music scene and is home to Melbourne’s Fringe Festival and the area is full of independent shops, cafes and some great looking bars. Street art peppers the walls of houses and shops. We walked along Brunswick St, one of the main thoroughfares, lined with historic buildings, the colourful facades painted in the late afternoon light. The gloaming light was fading, so we headed back to St. Kilda, stopping briefly in a lovely park to enjoy the last bit of the suns warmth.

Navigating the city in the dark, we aimed for the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), its floodlights illuminating the area, like bright beacons in the sky. It is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere and has served as a main stadium for past Olympic and Commonwealth Games as well as cricket matches, rugby and Aussie Rules Footy. The area was busy with people, some wearing scarves, hats and shirts, of the supporters of the two AFL (Aussie Rules) teams, playing a match that night. Carefully weaving our way through the throngs, we ambled back over the railways past the Melbourne Tennis Arenas, some named after famous Australian players and venue for the Australian Open. Such a sporting city and nation - fantastic facilities right down to the tennis courts in parks, rugby pitches and AFL pitches. No wonder that the Aussies are wonderful at sport.

Crossing the Yarra river, the city centre buildings now lit up and reflecting in the still water, huge fruit bats flew silently on the warm evening air, heading out for their nightly meal. We climbed the hill by the side of the Botanical Gardens, passing runners out for their evening jog along the Tan, a 3.8km gravel running track, lying outside the boundary of the gardens and one of the city’s most popular jogging routes. Retracing our route back to St. Kilda, we arrived back at the hostel and manhandled Thom and Pete into the lift and then tucked them up in our room for the night.

A fine last day in a city that we both loved, tomorrow we work our way south along the coast of Victoria.Read more