Sunday, March 25 – Melbourne

The first order of business was to find some breakfast. Off to the Regency Club again; since it’s included in our room rate, why not take advantage? Some nice pastries, coffee, juices, and enough hot items to make it a satisfying light breakfast. 

Then we picked up the car from our hotel valet, and headed to Hertz to return it. I still wondered about the e-mail I'd received yesterday.

We were returning to the downtown location, so it was very close, within 5 minutes of the hotel on a Sunday morning with minimal traffic. You just pull into a parking garage, and the agents were right there when we arrived. The return was easy – except they couldn’t find an open rental contract on the car. Hm, they said... This car was returned yesterday! 

Flinders St. Railway Station. No trains for us this trip.

I showed them the original rental agreement ending today, and they were as puzzled as I was. They also had no idea as to why somebody processed a return yesterday, but all was well. So we were out of there and ready to go a few minutes before 9:00. Good timing so far!

We wandered slowly through the CBD for a few hours, looking at all of the interesting old buildings there.

The Forum, Melbourne

A number of them had been repurposed. 

The ACMI, Melbourne

There were some newer buildings scattered throughout too. Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is certainly a striking building. It's pretty neat inside, too.

Next to St. Paul's Cathedral, a monument to Captain Matthew Flinders, of the eponymous National Park on Kangaroo Island.

Block Arcade, Melbourne

Some of the old buildings were now shopping arcades. We walked through a few of them to admire the decorations.

Really nice effect here from the green glass lamps, and lots of mirrors to amplify the effect.

Gog and Magog. Two giants. And a nice old clock

Royal Arcade, Melbourne

Father Time, Royal Arcade

We had been to Melbourne once before, but had only passed through this area on our way to the zoo, so it was nice to finally have a chance to wander around and take it all in.

Glad they repurposed the old buildings rather than just tearing them down. They add character.

We saw several nice-looking lunch places along the way but it was still too early for that, so we pressed on. 

Emblem of the Royal Mint

The former Royal Mint. Now a Hellenic Museum!

Soon we were at Queen Victoria Markets, which was a massive outdoor shopping complex with everything you could imagine. The food courts looked great, but again, it was still too early. 

On the other side of the Markets, the Melbourne City Baths. The striped pattern of the bricks is really striking.

But, no time for a swim!

Old Melbourne Gaol

So we continued until we got to the Old Melbourne Gaol, where we made a stop for a tour. We decided not to wait until the next guided tour was available, so we just wandered through on our own.

This was a little creepy, as they’ve made exhibits in a good number of the cells which give details about convicts who’ve been imprisoned there. 

The sense of “justice” that was used in the early days of the colony seems shamefully inadequate when viewed with our modern perspective. Sham trials, executions of (very likely) innocent people, and the like. It was kind of depressing. So an hour in here was enough for now.

Francis Ormond Building, RMIT

It still wasn’t noon yet so we wandered through the RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) for a little more sightseeing. There were some nice old-style campus buildings, adjacent to newer structures.

Sir Douglas and Lady Gladys Nicholls Statue

Now, it was time to head back to the hotel to regroup and plan the afternoon. Along the way, we walked through Parliament Gardens.

Parliament Gardens, Melbourne

The statue commemorated Sir Nicholls on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Another view of St. Patrick's, from ground level. Almost back to the hotel!

There were some fancy cars at the hotel when we arrived back. Taking a break from the Grand Prix, perhaps?

We decided that a lunch stop would be a good idea so we headed back to the CBD to a place that we wanted to try – only to hear the hostess tell the couple in front of us that they were fully booked. She suggested that we try their annex a few doors further down the street, so we headed there quickly. They said the wait would not be long, so we got a glass of wine while waiting for a table.

Yarra River from Princes Bridge, Melbourne

Lunch was relaxed but nice. We had a few small plates, and took the time to plan the rest of the afternoon. 

We decided to walk south and see some of the parks on the other side of the river, since the sun was shining and the weather looked nicer than it had this morning.

Edward VII Monument, Queen Victoria Gardens, Melbourne

After crossing the river, we ended up walking first through the Queen Victoria Gardens, then the King’s Domain. 

Shrine of Remembrance, Kings Domain, Melbourne

At the far end, there is war memorial which was a very pretty monument, and you can climb partway up, which of course we did. 

While we were there admiring the view, an airshow was going on, so we had a nice view of that too.

First, older planes, then modern fighter jets.

Melbourne from Shrine of Remembrance

The city looked far away from our vantage point here. I guess we had walked further than I thought. It's going to be a bit of a hike back to the city for the aquarium.

Yarra Promenade, Melbourne

But we are back at the Yarra River, almost there now.

A few assorted aquarium critters.

This saltie was huge! The picture doesn't do him justice.









Unicorn fish?

And the star attraction, penguins!

Melbourne CBD

For our last stop, we decided to visit the Eureka Skydeck for a birds-eye view of the city. Since the sky had cleared up somewhat, and the afternoon sunshine was very nice, we thought it was worth the admission fee. 

So, back across the river but a much shorter walk this time.

Kings Domain

Shrine of Remembrance

Princes Bridge and Yarra River

Rainbow Pedestrian Bridge, Melbourne

Back across the river, to our hotel once more. 

Once we crossed the river, we hopped on a tram and traversed the CBD. Trams in center city are free but the last free stop is one stop before our hotel. So we were good and hopped off at the correct stop and walked the rest of the way.

Once we got back to the hotel, we saw the race cars arriving again.

It had been a long day, with a lot of walking, and we didn’t feel like going out again for a late dinner. I looked around on OpenTable but the effort seemed like more than we wanted to make.

Since lunch had been both late and filling, we contented ourselves with the offerings in the Regency Club lounge – including plenty of wine – before turning in early.

Tomorrow is my birthday, so today marked the end of my 40s. Tomorrow, we have an 8:40 flight out of Melbourne, to Launceston (Tasmania), where we’ll be meeting our friend for a few days. No more planning or driving for us!