MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

 February 13, 2023

Our ship anchored in Geelong, Victoria, the second largest city in Victoria—one of the six states of Australia.   The largest city and capital of Victoria is Melbourne, about 60 miles away.  We took a bus tour from Geelong to Melbourne.    


Melbourne has a population of about 4 million people, about the same as Houston.   Whereas the population of Houston is spread over a large geographic area, the population of Melbourne is very concentrated.   It is an interesting city with a combination of old sandstone structures dating back to the mid 1800’s and modern glass and steel buildings.   They pride themselves in having a vast public transportation system.   There are electric trams/streetcars traversing all over and under the city and ridership is free!!  Also, the rail system connects with all of the suburbs around Melbourne.


Our bus drove along a long beach area past a huge amusement park, then drove on streets that comprise their Grand Prix racetrack.   The race is scheduled in a couple of weeks, so they were well along in setting up grandstands along the track.   It reminded us of Monte Carlo, which also has a track through the city.   The city center has huge parks and open spaces.  In one of them, we visited the Shrine of Remembrance, Australia’s war memorial.    It is a very impressive structure designed to commemorate the lives of Australians that have given their lives in all the wars, beginning with World War I.   One of the beautiful parks contains Captain James Cook’s cottage.   Cook was the first European to map Australia, which he claimed for Britain. The cottage was built in England by Cook’s father.  To commemorate Cook’s life, it was dismantled and shipped to Melbourne, each brick numbered so it could be exactly reconstructed.    


Our last stop was Federation Square, a European-like plaza with restaurants and shops built over a major rail yard.  We discovered the Squealing Pig and had a delicious reuben paired with pints of Australian ale, while we cheered on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs as they pulled out a Super Bowl win.   


Barrier along freeways freely use colorful plexiglass to block the sound from the highway



Entrance to amusement park.   Monday on school day....so no crowds



                    One of hundreds of electric trams/streetcars.   Free ride!


                                      An example of early building in Melbourne


                                                  Now some ,modern construction


                                         Shrine of Remembrance - war memorial


                                                  Gigantic Bay Fig Tree


  Captain Cooks England cottage built by his father and relocated to Melbourne


                                         Melbourne skyline from Shrine of Remembrance


                                                  Church built in the 1800s...one of many


                                         Weird structure in Federation Square


                                         Inside Federation Square


Can't explain this pic.   The tallest building is vertical.   Not sure why all the others are leaning.


                             Getting ready for reuben and 2nd half of Super Bowl


  

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