Melbourne

St Kilda, Victoria, Australia
Saturday, December 28, 2013

It has been hot, hot, hot today. In the top 30s for most of the day, so we had a rest day from the cricket and decided to explore Melbourne, or at least as much as one can do in a day. I think the cricket score by the close of play justified that decision, (ghastly yet again) but Peter will attend tomorrow, whilst I sort out for the move to Sydney.
My initial impression of Melbourne, during the pre Christmas rush was far from favourable, but I have revised that somewhat today. Like Adelaide, this is a very liveable city. There is lots of green space, sporting facilities, with the harbour and beaches in close proximity. Architecturally it is a mix of early eighteenth century warehouses, Victorian Gothic revival, Edwardian villas festooned with intricate ironwork, mixed together with the ultra modern statement buildings. It does have a soul the more one sees of it and reflects the mix of British roots and the Australian no nonsense outdoor life to perfection.
Despite the heat we tackled one of the planned walking routes, taking us through the old part of the city from Federation Square, looping up and back again. It was extremely interesting and had the advantage of us being able to duck inside for a drink and respite from the ever rising temperatures. There are several Victorian arcades, plus some newer ones, which of course work perfectly in a city of extreme heat. Well I say that, but in truth Melbourne has a reputation for the sort of changeable weather that we are used to in the UK, just more extreme. The city does receive a high rainfall for Australia and there can be enormous fluctuations in temperature as we found out today.
Following our walk we wandered to the Southbank on the Yarra River and could take a great long range shot of the MGC from the bridge spanning it. We finished the day of exploration by taking the tram back towards St Kilda and dropping off at yet another Botanic Gardens for a green fix! It was an uphill walk from the tram stop and by the time we arrived at the visitor centre, we were dripping. Restorative measures were called for and the locally made ice cream beckoned. Peter went for his usual coffee and I had Turkish Delight, which was indeed a delight of creamy subtle flavour. Suitably recovered we ventured out into the garden. I suppose we had been indoors for perhaps 45 mins and to our shock the wind had whipped up out of nowhere and the temperature had dropped by a good 15 degrees. This is not unusual for these parts I understand. The gardens were lovely in a structural Capability Brown sort of way, but without the colour of others we have visited. There were beautiful views of the modern city scape soaring over the tree tops, which I think occurs all over Melbourne, because of the many green spaces built in.
We arrived back in St Kilda footsore and quite happy to relax back at the apartment, which is incidentally called Arcadia, for the evening.
In postscript, one thing I should refer to has been the nightly after dark entertainment, put on for our benefit. What energy these Australians have! The first night we were here we were awoken by what seemed to be a herd of elephants on the roof, in the courtyard, we could not work out where. They seemed to be all around. I know that Karen had said they had a cat, but this was ridiculous. We lay there petrified, talking in whispers above the cacophony, which eventually died away. This has been the score most nights, sometimes accompanied by screeching and loud hissing. You have probably gathered, it's possums on the nightly prowl. They are a real pest, destroying vegetation and at epidemic proportions I gather. Of all things they are a protected species here, unlike in New Zealand where they are trying desperately to rid themselves of their uninvited guests, because of the number of flightless birds they take. I would quite happily have shot the two on our roof last night, pesky little blighters! On that pure English note, I will sign off, resuming in Sydney in a couple of days time.Read more