![\"Pink](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/8.jpg\" "\\"Pink")
Pink Fairy Wings<\/p><\/div>\n
They were dressed in t.shirts and exercise gear but were each sporting pink wings.\u00a0 The girl cheerily replied to David that she was not cold at all and we followed them around the corner of a building and came across a huge crowd with marquees and much \u2018goings on\u2019.\u00a0 It turned out that we were now at the foot of the Eureka Tower, 91 floors of it!\u00a0 And today was the day that apparently many hundreds of people were going to climb the stairs to the 88th<\/sup> floor lookout to raise funds for charity.<\/p>\n Eureka Tower<\/p><\/div>\n It seems that the Eureka Tower was the tallest residential building in the world when completed.\u00a0 And so began a very steady stream of titles that we saw and heard everywhere.\u00a0 Biggest, best, first, even *only*\u2026 in the world, and we got quite a few giggles about it.\u00a0 And at one point I realised that occasionally the claim was \u2018*One of* the biggest, best, first\u2026\u2019 ROFL<\/p>\n Anyway \u2013 the queue for the stair climbers was long and bustling and all around the edges of a courtyard, but the queue for the tourist entrance was totally clear so we went to have a look.\u00a0 A lady just coming out told us that the view was \u2018really clear up there today\u2019 so that made our minds up.\u00a0 For a fairly reasonable price, $18 each, we could purchase a ticket to go up to the 88th<\/sup> floor Skydeck lookout, and for a small additional fee, $22 total, we could come back later in the day and see the view at night as well.\u00a0 They called it \u2018Sun and Stars\u2019 and the only question was \u201cWhy not?\u201d and we passed the girl some coins (and notes) of the Realm and were soon being bustled into a lift (thankfully!) with quite a few other people who were also taking the easy\/fast route.<\/p>\n According to their information, 38 seconds later, we were coming out onto the 88th<\/sup> floor where, fairly needless to say, were some pretty amazing views.\u00a0 And, delightfully, we could walk around about 280\u00b0 of the whole floor.\u00a0 The remaining part was cordoned off because of the stair climbers and you could certainly tell who had got there via that route.\u00a0 Red faces and damp clothing was a dead giveaway.\u00a0 David asked one man how long the climb had taken him and was told 12 minutes.\u00a0 Wow!!!\u00a0 He was very quick to tell us that he was quite a way short of the record which, in 2011, was 8 mins 20 seconds for the 89 (must start in the basement!) floors.<\/p>\n Also here was a balcony that we could go out on, and we did.\u00a0 To get there you had to go through an automatic glass sliding door, stand in a little glassed off area until that door shut and then push the button to open the outer door.\u00a0 Something to do with air pressure and air conditioning we\u2019re guessing.\u00a0 On this busy day with families waiting at the top for loved ones to do the climb it was pretty busy and very few people were showing patience or understanding of the double door system so there was much pounding on the button and people getting into the \u2018glass room\u2019 before others could get out, and there was no way we were going back the way we\u2019d come!\u00a0 But we did eventually get out and the wind made it loud and clear we were in the *very* fresh air once more.<\/p>\n View from Eureka Skydeck<\/p><\/div>\n It was lovely out there and the view through the strong, safe wire mesh stretched for miles and miles.\u00a0 We could see the whole of Melbourne city below us with all of its cultural icons as well as the river stretching away towards the Docklands, and suburb upon suburb in the other direction.\u00a0 From the angle we could look at from inside the building we\u2019d been able the see the 7 kms to the ocean as well.<\/p>\n View from Eureka Skydeck<\/p><\/div>\n Meanwhile, back on the balcony, we had heard about something named The Edge Experience and were able to witness this.\u00a0 A large glass cube, about the size of a lift (elevator) capsule, started to slide out sideways from the building.\u00a0 It was made of glass but was misted so that we could not see into it.\u00a0 Slowly it inched its way out and then stopped.\u00a0 After a minute more the glass suddenly went clear and there were several people inside it.\u00a0 I think they all pretty much went white as the glass floor had also cleared and they could see straight down 88 floors to the ground below with nothing between them and it but air.\u00a0 One of the passengers was a young girl of about 12 and she pretty much started to freak out.\u00a0 So would I have done!<\/p>\n In several strategic spots around the floor, pointing out of the windows, were some silver poles with 2 silver tubes on them.\u00a0 I thought these were lights of some kind but it turned out that they were kaleidoscope viewers, pointing at places of interest far down below.\u00a0 This one, I think, is the Rod Laver Tennis Arena \u2013 I\u2019m sure someone will correct me if I\u2019m wrong.\u00a0 The tall one on each pole was for the adults to be comfortable to look through, and the smaller hopefully for kids to be able to reach or bend to.\u00a0 The view through them was fun anyway.<\/p>\n View from Eureka Skydeck<\/p><\/div>\n Oh, and I can\u2019t leave this photo out!\u00a0 We were standing in a part of the building that stuck out from the rest, but the camera is not showing the glass on David\u2019s right at all so it looks for all the world as though he\u2019s standing on the outside of the building!\u00a0 He took a photo of me in the same spot and we also showed them to a guy who went and stood in that spot and we offered to take a photo of him using his camera.\u00a0 I think he was really happy with it!<\/p>\n David, apparently standing 0utside the 88th Floor!<\/p><\/div>\n We eventually came back down to earth and eventually wandered on to Southgate Shopping Centre and found a food hall with a Grill\u2019d and enjoyed their wares for our lunch.\u00a0 The most entertaining part of the meal was a small sparrow that would fly around the hall garnering scraps of food until someone walked through the glass automated doors and then it would hurtle hell-for-leather out through them before they shut.\u00a0 I\u2019d have loved to take a photo but I\u2019d have needed a high speed video and then used a single frame \u2013 this bird could fly!!!\u00a0 It was really entertaining to watch it though.\u00a0 At one point, that I missed, David said that the bird perched above the closed door and then deliberately flew through the sensor to open it and then shot out.<\/p>\n On another day, but I\u2019ll mention it here, we were having a chai in another spot in the food hall and David suddenly noticed the little sparrow over at Grill\u2019d nibbling on their 2 sample rolls at the till.\u00a0 I do hope they don\u2019t use those if they run short ROFL<\/p>\n Sparrow ordering Grill’d<\/p><\/div>\n We then continued to wander and explore and came across a life sized silver fairy.\u00a0 She (or is it a he?) was a busker and people were taking photos, and of course I joined in.\u00a0 David didn\u2019t want to go and give her our money so I went over.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t speak but moved fairly slowly.\u00a0 Not as slowly as those that pretend to be statues though.\u00a0 2 young girls came along and the fairy beckoned them and gave them something from her little \u2018dolly bag\u2019 and the girls were so excited and ran to tell their mother.\u00a0 It had been glitter \u2013 or fairy dust to them. And I love that you can see between her wings the Oaks On Market, where we were staying.<\/p>\n May and the Silver Fairy<\/p><\/div>\n We looked in the Crown Casino a little as we\u2019d been told about their \u2018spectacular main entry\u2019.\u00a0 Well either I\u2019m hard to impress or we didn\u2019t find it LOL\u00a0 I\u2019ve never seen so many one armed bandits in my entire life and we can\u2019t believe that anyone would spend their time putting money into these things.\u00a0 But it gave us something to look at and discuss as we continued further on our way, back over the bridge and onto Flinders Street.\u00a0 Here we found the free tourist tram.\u00a0 These were the old wooden trams, whereas the (to my mind) \u2018bus route\u2019 trams were mostly new, metal and stream-lined.\u00a0 It was crowded and felt like a \u2018don\u2019t look at me\u2019 kind of place so we looked at our map as we went along and decided to get off just before it turned left into Spring Street.<\/p>\n Melbourne Tourist Tram<\/p><\/div>\n Here were the Treasury Gardens and, beyond, the Fitzroy Gardens, which had a few promising spots to look at.\u00a0 The Treasury Gardens were only really trees and grass but once we crossed a road, Fitzroy Gardens were more interesting.\u00a0 Very soon there was a Conservatory absolutely filled with every kind of orchid, plus other flowers too.\u00a0 (I\u2019ll spare you the details of David getting himself into hot water with me just before we got there LOL)\u00a0 There was a girl inside more determined to keep the stone path raked than let people see the reason it was there \u2013 to allow access to the orchids \u2013 but such is life.<\/p>\n Conservatory, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n Conservatory, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n Conservatory, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n David Photographing Flowers in the Conservatory<\/p><\/div>\n The next stop was Cooks\u2019 Cottage but it was closed so I only got a couple of pictures of the outside, including an old fashioned post box that looked ludicrous standing here!<\/p>\n Captain Cook’s House, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n And on we went to the next point of interest, the model Tudor Village.\u00a0 I have no words for this, I\u2019ll just give you a photo and let you make up your own mind.\u00a0 It had obviously seen better days.<\/p>\n Tudor Village, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n Next stop was the Fairy Tree.\u00a0 How exciting!!!\u00a0 Not! ROFL\u00a0 It was probably quite something in its day; before we all had access to the mighty wonders around the world via hyperspace but\u2026 well\u2026\u00a0 I\u2019ll give you a couple of photos and let you make up your own mind on this too.\u00a0 The photos actually look better than the real thing \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Fairy Tree, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n Fairy Tree, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n It was time for something reliable (and a loo) so we went into the Pavilion Caf\u00e9 where the sign announced that the toilets were for the use of patrons only.\u00a0 I wish we\u2019d have managed to find these toilets, but we didn\u2019t.\u00a0 We ordered a coffee each and a frivolous something to share.\u00a0 \u2018Frivolous something\u2019 is code for \u2018I can\u2019t remember what it was.\u00a0 I think it was perhaps a lemon slice or something.\u00a0 I asked David to just save me the last 2 bites and he had the rest.<\/p>\n From here we started to make our way back generally Westwards, though we were heading slightly north as well.\u00a0 No point retracing steps when there is so much new to see!\u00a0 I adored this folly and managed to get one photo before half the population of Melbourne came and scattered themselves liberally nearby.<\/p>\n Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n As we continued our wanderings, we then found ourselves with this view of a very fine looking cathedral roof and decided to go and find that and explore it, with every hope that it would be open.<\/p>\n St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n Being a Sunday, our hopes were rewarded and we were so glad of it.\u00a0 Walking through the door was almost a strange experience.\u00a0 On the outside, the door had appeared of normal size but, the second we had gone through it, it instantly shrunk to miniature in comparison to its revealed surroundings.<\/p>\n The atmosphere in this incredibly beautiful building just gave me instant goosebumps and I felt blinky with the emotion of it.\u00a0 It is probably more than 40 years since I have stepped into a place of such religious splendour and history.\u00a0 As much history as Australia can offer from its colonised influences anyway.\u00a0 This was St Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral and a thing of vast beauty it was!\u00a0 It kept us both occupied very happily with our cameras for quite some time and I still feel rather in awe of the place as I write this, 2 weeks later!<\/p>\n St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n From here we tried once more to make our way towards the tram line but once again got side-tracked by a really interesting water feature and had a lot of fun photographing one another standing in the centre of it and capturing the rainbows that were glinting in the falling water droplets.<\/p>\n Water Feature, Melbourne<\/p><\/div>\n David found a gents loo but there wasn\u2019t a ladies \u2013 not that I could see anyway.<\/p>\n But eventually we made it to the tram and after a little bit of a wait, along it came.\u00a0 I almost went to sit on a seat along one side wall of the tram, only to realise that there was no seat there!\u00a0 Considering there were bench seats along the full length of this side of the tram it was quite a surprise to find a gap for the unwary!\u00a0 So I stood in the void leaning against the wall for stability and David hung on the strap close by.\u00a0 The 2 ladies on the bench on my left as well as the 2 ladies on the one on my right were giggling, obviously at each other, and in the end David said \u201cOut with it!\u201d\u00a0 It seems the one immediately on my left had been caught by the same trap that nearly seduced me, but she had ended up in an unladylike pile on the floor.\u00a0 Oh dear!\u00a0 At least she wasn\u2019t hurt, thank goodness, but we then joined in the giggling as well.\u00a0\u00a0 We rattled along again, this tram not nearly as crowded as the last one, and a much improved journey by speaking with the fun ladies also.<\/p>\n Quite a few stops further on was Docklands and, seeing as we had almost booked a hotel here, we decided to see what we had missed out on.\u00a0 Truthfully?\u00a0 Not a whole lot.\u00a0 Despite the fact that there were many fairly tall hotels and apartment blocks it still felt very much like a place under construction.\u00a0 There were boats tied up on our left as we walked along the dock, and a few restaurants and an ice cream place but it all felt, to us, new and unappealing.\u00a0 Eventually though we found a toilet, for which I was very grateful.\u00a0 I have to say that this was the only time that we couldn\u2019t find a toilet when we wanted one and I don\u2019t have a single toilet horror story to tell.\u00a0 Regular readers will know that I almost always have at least one \u2013 but Melbourne is to be praised, not only for its wonderful public convenience availability, but their cleanliness!\u00a0 Even one that I used, which was down stairs as if you were going into an underground railway station and obviously very old, was incredibly clean!<\/p>\n Anyway, back to Docklands.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t see anywhere that appealed enough to us to go in for refreshments or to spend any time so we looked around for a supermarket, which we found fairly close by.\u00a0 It was very small as such things go but we bought some fruit, juice, chips, ham, cheese and honey and then went back to the tram stop to take our wares home.<\/p>\n After about 5 minutes a tram came along but it said \u2018out of service\u2019 on the front and the driver was waving \u2018no\u2019 with her hand as she drove by.\u00a0 We began to have suspicions that tourist tram services were over for the day and checked our brochure.\u00a0 Sure enough it was 6:10pm and they all finished at 6.\u00a0 We still hadn\u2019t got a feel for the time so had not realised how late it was.\u00a0 Not only because of the time difference, but because Melbourne was on Daylight Savings Time and Perth doesn’t do that so we’re not used to it in any way.\u00a0 So we checked our little pocket map and set off to walk.\u00a0 The walk went without adventure I am very happy to report and we walked the journey of about 2.5 kms, deciding to go straight to the Eureka Skydeck for the Stars part of our ticket rather than waste time going to the hotel.\u00a0 We were hoping to catch the sunset so we didn\u2019t have time to waste.<\/p>\n We arrived at the Skydeck in plenty of time and David bought himself a beer and got a packet of chips for me and we found the spot that we wanted to view from and guarded it jealously \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 The sunset<\/strong> was not spectacular but it was still lovely to be up there watching it, and it was interesting to see how dark the streets below were whilst we could still see the sun quite clearly from our height.\u00a0 David was thrilled to be able to see the Spirit of Tasmania ferry setting out from beyond Docklands \u2013 we had to use my big zoom lens to read the massive writing on the side of the boat.<\/p>\n Sunset from Eureka Skydeck<\/p><\/div>\n Once it was dark we really enjoyed watching the lights stretched out before us for mile upon mile and suddenly David noticed some fireworks that were being set off probably about 4 kms away.\u00a0 I managed to get a couple of photos, though they won\u2019t win any awards.\u00a0 That\u2019s the second time we\u2019ve viewed fireworks from above and it\u2019s such a wonderful feeling.\u00a0 We also watched out for the Crown Casino gas flames but we could only see 2 of them because of the angle we were on so that wasn\u2019t so thrilling.<\/p>\n Fireworks from Eureka Skydeck<\/p><\/div>\n And I know it\u2019s not very exciting, but after that we went back to our room and had sandwiches for dinner.\u00a0 I was looking through the big glossy tourist book and found mention of a Colonial Tramcar Restaurant and we went on the web to try to book a meal but could not have got in until the following Tuesday.\u00a0 We were to leave on Saturday \ud83d\ude41\u00a0 Such a shame, and about the only thing we came home regretting.\u00a0 Maybe another time.\u00a0 I strongly considered ringing them to see if we could \u2018wait list\u2019 but David said it wasn\u2019t worth it.\u00a0 On our last evening as we were walking around we saw one of these travelling restaurants go slowly past us on the Queens Bridge.\u00a0 I bet it would have been a wonderful experience!\u00a0 And I should think rather unique in the world.<\/p>\n So we came to the end of our first full day in Melbourne.\u00a0 We had packed so much in and could hardly believe that we were only 1 day into our holiday!\u00a0 We had walked approximately 9 kms this day and were happy to go to bed, leaving the curtains open to drink in the beautiful night-time view of the city lights if we should happen to peek our eyes open.\u00a0 Whoever got up first in the night was to close them so that the morning light wouldn\u2019t wake us. \u00a0The clear view that we had of the Eureka Tower now had a different meaning because we\u2019d been in it, and looked out from it.\u00a0 And yes David, you were correct that the building on the left is taller than the one viewed in the centre LOL<\/p>\n Next page\/…<\/a><\/p>\n Please feel free to leave a comment in the fields below before leaving this page. Email addresses will not be used in any way, nor displayed for anyone to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sunday 18th We slept really well, which makes such a nice change when we go away. We\u2019ve had some real rocks to lay on in some hotels\/resorts! The roads outside were a bit wet but the sky was just a … Continue reading ![\"Eureka](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/9.jpg\" "\\"Eureka")
![\"View](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/10.jpg\" "\\"View")
![\"View](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/11.jpg\" "\\"View")
![\"View](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/11a.jpg\" "\\"View")
![\"David,](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/11b-1024x742.jpg\" "\\"David,")
![\"Sparrow](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/12.jpg\" "\\"Sparrow")
![\"May](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/13.jpg\" "\\"May")
![\"Melbourne](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/14.jpg\" "\\"Melbourne")
![\"Conservatory,](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/15.jpg\" "\\"Conservatory,")
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/16.jpg\" "\\"Conservatory,")
![\"Conservatory,](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/17.jpg\" "\\"Conservatory,")
![\"David](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/106.jpg\" "\\"David")
![\"Captain](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/18.jpg\" "\\"Captain")
![\"Fitzroy](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/19.jpg\" "\\"Letterbox,")
![\"Tudor](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/20.jpg\" "\\"Tudor")
![\"Fairy](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/21.jpg\" "\\"Fairy")
![\"Fairy](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/22.jpg\" "\\"Fairy")
![\"Fitzroy](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/23.jpg\" "\\"Fitzroy")
![\"St](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/25.jpg\" "\\"St")
![\"St](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/25a.jpg\" "\\"St")
![\"St](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/25b.jpg\" "\\"St")
![\"St](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/25c.jpg\" "\\"St")
![\"St](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/26.jpg\" "\\"St")
![\"Water](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/27.jpg\" "\\"Water")
![\"Sunset](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/28.jpg\" "\\"Sunset")
![\"Fireworks](\"http:\/\/www.mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/29-1024x350.jpg\" "\\"Fireworks")