Melbourne Day III

We are at our gate at Tullamarine airport and very ready to be boarding; alas, that doesn’t happen for another forty minutes.  We had a third very busy day in Melbourne, making the most of our long weekend.

This morning we woke up around 9:00 and checked out before heading off to find brekkie on a laneway.  We ended up at the Quarter on Degraves Street, a laneway packed kerb to kerb with tables from various cafes which open onto it.

From Degraves we walked the block to Flinders Street Station to catch a tram across the Yarra River and out to the beach suburb of St. Kilda.  We caught a 3a down St. Kilda Road, and twenty minutes later got off on the Esplanade and walked along toward the beach.  We turned out to the water, accompanied by throngs of people enjoying the beautiful weather, and made our way down an historic pier which juts out hundreds of yards into Port Phillip. At the end of the pier, where a breakwall begins, we got to see fairy penguins which live amongst the rocks.  It is hard to believe, but Melbourne is far enough south that it can (and does) support a penguin population, even though it does get warm.

Returning to the shore, we walked south along the Esplanade to Luna Park (a historic amusement park which shares the name of the park in North Sydney) and then turned north to wander through the market along the main road.  A tram rattled down the fairway, we peeled ourselves away from the stalls and dashed to the centre of the road to hop on and head back toward town - I think it was a 16 toward Melbourne Uni.  We had no plans, so when the tram stopped at the King’s Domain and a warm breeze blew through the tram we jumped off to enjoy a walk in the sunshine.

Wandering through the park was wonderful, and the weather could not have been more beautiful.  We walked back south a bit to the Shrine of Remembrance, the Melbourne War Memorial.  It is very large and quite a site to behold, and we enjoyed touring through it and climbing to the top for some fantastic views across the city.  Admittedly, it puts the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park to shame.

Looking up St. Kilda Road toward downtown Melbourne from the top of the Shrine of Remembrance.

After we had taken in the views we headed back down to St. Kilda Road and caught a tram back to Flinders Street Station.  We got off and headed west along the Yarra River, crossing over to the south bank via the old Sandridge Railway Bridge.  Constructed in 1888, the bridge is now a major pedestrian link between the north and south banks, and contains a huge art installation and etched glass panels representing each country from which people have immigrated to Melbourne.

On the south bank we made our way to Eureka, home of the highest viewing deck in the Southern Hemisphere (the second tallest building in Australia).  The viewing deck in 292 metres above the ground, almost 30 metres higher than the Sydney Tower's highest deck.  The views were spectacular across the city and out to Port Phillip, and we enjoyed the walk around the 88th floor and even out onto the open-air deck.

Looking southwest from Eureka 88 toward Port Phillip.

Looking northeast from Eureka 88 toward Flinders Street, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the eastern half of the CBD.

The trip down the 88 storeys in the lift took only 40 seconds, travelling at 9 metres / second.  The trip could have gone without the cheesy space-like commentary for our 'return to earth'.  From Eureka we walked back across the river and over to Chinatown, relying on Google and Foursquare for restaurant recommendations, as we were very hungry as the morning had somehow become 2:30.  All I can say is thank goodness for social media and the technology to access these sorts of things on the go!  We ended up in a run-down building off a grubby alley at Shanghai Dumplings.  The food was phenomenal, filling, and our meal cost less than a single drink from the night before!

We ate our fill of vegetable dumplings (18), egg rolls, and spinach and mushroom buns (at the recommendation of a Foursquare user), and then wandered out, stuffed and content, to do a bit of  shopping for Amanda.  As the time to head back to the hotel to grab our bags drew closer, we stopped in at Young & Jackson, a pub opposite St. Paul's Cathedral and Flinders Street Station.  Opened in 1861, it is steeped in old-timeiness, and we found a seat by the long bar to enjoy a pint of their house ale, Naked. It is a German Wheat Beer, and boy was it delicious - not a bad way to wrap up a weekend of great food and drink.

A pint at Young & Jackson.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped once more at Lord of the Fries.  Amanda got a burger, and recommended the same, but after my experience with the nuggets I was skeptical.  I ended up trying hers and it was really good, so I had a bit of regret at just getting some chips.  Live and learn.

We popped into the hotel to grab our bags and then walked the block to Southern Cross train station to catch the Skybus to the airport.  The trip took only twenty minutes, and now are are just awaiting boarding.  We had a great trip with lots of eating and drinking, which seems to be the thing to do in Melbourne.  Back to Sydney and work tomorrow!