Melbourne

We have arrived in Melbourne. A big contrast to relatively sleepy Perth. In fact, the CBD reminds me a little of London with its European architecture, streams of people spewing from the train station and plethora of cultural activities (there is a Picasso Exhibition, Leonardo Da Vinci inventions exhibition and international film festival on the go as we speak.)

We look forward to spending a few days exploring the city, suburbs and surrounds - and potentially buying a car to take us North.



To call Melbourners footie mad is a massive understatement. They live for the game - Australian Rules Football that is. The players are more famous and popular here than any celebrity star from "Neighbours" could ever hope to be. I went to see a game today, after learning the rules from a propaganda video that made fun of every other sport played and called footie all but the answer to world peace. I was quite prepared to hate the game. Instead I found myself loving it. Very fast and brutal at times, the players make enormous leaps into the sky and photographic opportunities abound - the ultimate test of a sport's metal when I happen to have my camera in the crowd.




Of course, I got into the spirit and had my face painted in the colour of the bulldogs - in friendly rivalry with my new found mate, Harold from Germany, who opted for the "Melbourne Demons" My team proceeded to get thrashed. Oh well.



The fans were a delight to watch - not quite as animated as Rio football fantatics but close. And they start the fans very young - I have never counted so many little kids wearing team hats with their cute little cheeks painted. This particular dad was most disappointed with the performance of The Bulldogs, as was junior!



I wondered what these pipes were for. I suspected they might belch flame like the ones at the Crowne Entertainment complex (see below). I stopped to photograph them (at a respectful sistance) at sunset when they suddenly started chiming - each pipe in a different tone. It sounded absolutely beautiful. It's little touches like this that make Melbourne very special.



We visited the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, situated very close to the CBD. Beautiful and tranquil and suprisingly, totally free.



The swans in Australia are black - unusual for swans. This fellow in the botanical gardens was very accommodating for photos. I think he wanted bread.



We also went for a lovely walk along the famous Yarra River, the Thames of Melbourne. The weather was beautiful, defying all the gloomy warnings we have had about Melbourne's icey chills. We'd better wait around to experience it before we get an overly sunny view of the city.



We watched Pirates of the Carribean (a really fun movie) at the Crowne City entertainment complex. As we walked out, the chimneys lining the river unexpectedly belched huge plumes of hot flame and we thought that we were in the midst of an enormous gas leak. Scary! Turned out this is firey performance is a nightly occurrence to scare the hell out of the tourists. It certainly was impressive.





Melbourne at Night
What a gorgeous place at night with all the buildings lit up. We had some great walks by the river.



And I had an adventurous frolic in the city fountain. Got a bit soaked but worth it for the photographic opportunities:



We had a re-union with Isaac who we met at Galapagos. His home town is Melbourne and it was great to get to see him. He gave us stacks of brilliant info on the city and also Australian wildlife (he is a zoologist by profession) and introduced us to the joys of Asian noodle soup. He was leaving the next day for Cambridge, UK (small world!) to write up a study he did in Georgia for the last two years. Amazing and inspiring guy.



Some nice photos taken by Ally when she visited the Melbourne beach. The bulging mouth is the entrance to the markets. A bit freaky!!