Day 24 - Melbourne City Sights

Sunday, October 27th

It was another early morning. We met our coach in Melbourne's Federation square at 8 AM after checking out of our hotel and storing our bags.

It was a gorgeous day for our guided tour of the city. Melbourne is a beautiful city with a mix of old and very modern architecture. Transportation systems are efficient throughout the region and trams stop and wind their way through the centre of many of the streets. Our coach took us past all the sporting venues (the Aussies do enjoy their sport), through the business and shopping areas, to the port and marina areas and past historical sites. We had a few stops - the longest being at the botanical gardens and Melbourne's war memorial, called the Shrine of Remembrance. 

The building is massive and has some very unique features. It was designed so that the sun's light would enter a small opening near the top of the building at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Its ray of light takes 11 minutes to pass over the word LOVE on this plaque in the shrine.

                               

We were able to watch an electric light simulation of this phenomenon. I am in awe of the memorials I've seen in both Canberra and Melbourne. Although I haven't visited any significant memorials in Canada, I find it hard to believe that we have anything that can compare with what I've seen here. I need to visit what we have in BC and Ottawa before too long.

                                    

                                  

The tallest building is called the Eureka Tower. From the air the building is the shape of the southern cross (on the Australian flag). The colors of the building represent colors of the Eureka Stockade Flag - the flag adopted by unions for worker's rights. There is a red stripe on one side of the building that represents the bloodshed in the 1854 Battle of Ballarat - a struggle between government and gold diggers over gold licencing, poor treatment and the right to buy land.

Our morning tour ended at noon and from there we strolled down to the river for a cruise on the Yarra to view the city from the water. Now it was my turn - I love boats as much as Tina loves trains.

                   

Melbourne has so many interesting buildings! Here's a sample from pictures I took today.

                                                                        

                                                                   

Our River cruise took us from Federation Square in the centre of Melbourne to Webb Dock and back again.  

After our cruise we visited a media gallery where I read a children's book called "The Lost Thing" by Shaun Tan that has been made into a 15 minute animated movie. It's a great story for 5 - 9 year olds.

Then it was back to our hotel in Docklands (great location for our visit) to collect our bags before saying farewell to Susan and heading for the airport and our evening flight to New Zealand. 

Although I am looking forward to New Zealand, I'm not at all ready to leave Australia!

I wonder if I'll ever come back?