Melbourne - Tuesday

Tuesday was a really busy day. In the morning Simon and I wanted to find coffee and hang out for a bit because it was pouring rain out, so we ducked into one of the many very cool alleyways and had coffee and just hung out for a bit. In the afternoon we met up with family that, until a few years ago, I didn't even know I had. So that was really really cool. We spent the afternoon with them after having lunch together in another really cool alley area, they took us on a tour showing us some of the sites, including a memorial and the Government House (where the Queen's representative stays), a market, as well as St. Kilda which was one of the suburbs we were suggested to go to. We didn't spend time in St. Kilda which was just as well, we had lots to do while we were there! Definitely a place I can see wanting to spend some time when summer comes back.

Later on, after some time hanging out at the hostel, we met up with a friend of mine that I met in Montreal, and who had come to visit us in Vancouver a few years ago. We had sushi at Federation Square, which is sort of the meeting area close to the central station, then we went for drinks on a rooftop of one of the bars. Melbourne is neat for cool bars and cafes etc. that are up a few floors that you otherwise wouldn't know about. This one was particularly cool (I think it was called the Palms?) as it was covered and heated, so though it was raining out, there was a cozy atmosphere under cover! A lot of the pictures I took have friends/family in them and as I don't know how they'd feel about their pictures up on the blog, I'm not including them here. But I'd be more than happy to send pictures to people if they're interested. Just let me know!

This is Flinders Street Station, the central station of Melbourne. It was half a block from our hostel, which was pretty cool. The hostel was in a really great location, too bad it felt like it was never cleaned!

This is Simon drinking his coffee out of the rain. It was raining pretty heavily at some points, reminded me of home! Luckily it didn't stop us from exploring, probably because we were so used to it :-)

Not the best photo (I don't think those exist!), but again wanted to prove that I was there too!

I think this is just outside Federation Square.

Simon outside Federation Square. The cool looking building right behind him was the Australian Center for the Moving Image, and the National Gallery (well, one of two), behind that.

Again the ACMI. There was an exhibit on about the art of Disney's classic movies, but it was expensive and there were kids everywhere. If I'd been with my mom, I'm sure we would have gone. As it was, we stayed far away!

This is taken from the bridge just off of Federation Square. Don't know the name. The tall building is REALLY tall. To me at least. Like Shangri La in Vancouver. Apparently there's a viewing platform about halfway up that you can go to but we didn't know about it until the last day and I'm pretty terrified of heights so it's good we didn't go! And there's a gold coloured column at the top that when the sun hits just right is apparently very gorgeous as it reflects light over the river. The Comedy Festival was on while we were there and though we didn't go, we did see lots of the events that were set up for it, mainly the ones for the kids. This was one of them, just outside the second National Gallery building, across the river from where we were staying.

Another shot of the National Gallery #2. I didn't take any photos of the market, as it was just food etc and I was worried I'd get yelled at, nor did I take photos of the main St Kilda street because we were in a car and I was too busy looking at everything, but this is the view of the beach. I really would like to go back when it's warmer out and sit on the beach for a while. And this is the Spirit of Tasmania, the ship you take to get to Tasmania. Apparently it takes about 12 hours (reminds me of the ferry you can take from the top of Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert!), and there are sleeping cabins and also public spaces to hang out. Though it sounds like unless you really want to bring your car, flying there is the best option. On the plane to Melbourne I was reading all about some of the historic jails that are still standing from the time when Australia was used for British convicts. It sounds like a lot of the ones still standing are in Tasmania. We passed one in Melbourne too but didn't go in. Not really what this trip was about!

Ok, I will try to be more timely with the Wednesday post. Again though, this is probably the most exciting reporting that you'll be getting for the next month or so, so I'm trying to stretch it out!

Til soon!