Melbourne Official Day 1

We did a walking tour with my friend Tash. We started off heading to the East from our hotel over to Flinder's station. The architecture of the buildings is amazing. Rounded accents, angled walls, curved buildings and lots of places in town with large concrete pieces sticking out on an angle from the ground like a piece of artwork.

From Flinders station we crossed the roadway and walked along the Yarra River.  It was Labour day long weekend here so there was a festival named, Moomba, happening all along both sides of the river. The festival included food trucks, rides, and entertainment. While on the other side of the river we were able to take in an international wakeboarding competition, I have never seen anything like that before.  The female athletes we watched would attach a rope to their leg and complete one pass of tricks spinning on their board behind the boat, along with front flips and back flips!

From there we headed North to the Museum. Inside the museum was a dinosaur exhibit with in depth explanations through interactive screens and movies about fossils and archeology. We were also able to see insect skins, live spiders in enclosures and a replica of a forest ecosystem in an atrium space at the center of the museum. Fabulous job creating a good, interesting experience.

   

Melbourne is home to a large indoor market where you can purchase fresh produce, meats, and artisans. Due to the public holiday, it was closed. On a side note, due to the public holiday there is a surcharge at each restaurant to eat take-out food…. And if you order a Starbucks, you are most certainly a tourist.

We experienced an indoor mall with six stories! At the top of the mall was a cinema and at the bottom of the mall in the ground was a grocery store and in between all the levels were retail shops and food stops.

After dinner we walked North to see some different sights and find an ice cream shop. Stumbling upon the University grounds we toured the growing Melbourne University campus before making our way for dessert then onto the room for a sleep.