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When John Batman sailed his boat up the Yarra River and declared that
"this is the place for a village", he could hardly have imagined
what it would look like more than 150 years later! Today Melbourne
is a bustling metropolis famed for its fine restaurants, beautiful parks
and gardens and wide boulevards. Melbourne enjoys a well-deserved reputation
as a sport loving city that hosts the Grand Final of the Australian Rules
Football competition, one of the world's most famous horse races, the
Melbourne Cup, and the annual Australian Open tennis tournament. But it
is also a sophisticated city that can compete with the world's best in
fine indoor and outdoor dining and superb theatre, opera, ballet and concerts.
Melbourne is truly a city that offers something for everyone.
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So what would you like to do in Melbourne? |
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Food Glorious Food!
Melbourne is a microcosm of world dining; with more than 140 nationalities
that call it home and over 3,000 restaurants, there's plenty of choice
for every taste and mood.
For excellent moussaka or to indulge your sweet tooth with some baklava,
the city's Lonsdale Street is the place to go. Known colloquially
as the Greek precinct, you'll find plenty of restaurants along this strip
that offer the food that YaYa (Grandma) used to make back home in the
village.
Half a block away is Melbourne' famous Chinatown, an area centred
on Little Bourke Street and its side streets. Chinatown has been serving
delicious Chinese food since the days of Victoria's Gold Rush in the 1850s,
when many Chinese prospectors came to find their fortune and stayed to
share the wonderful cuisine with the locals. Today the area has expanded
to offer Japanese, Malaysian and other Asian cuisines. It's a not-to-be-missed
experience during your Melbourne visit. For mouth-watering Vietnamese
food, Victoria Street Richmond is the only choice. Known as Little
Vietnam, there is a huge range of terrific but inexpensive Vietnamese
restaurants to choose from, often located next to Vietnamese grocers where
you can buy anything from a pair of Kung Fu shoes to a smoked duck to
take home.
If Italian is on your mind, take a stroll to the end of Russell Street
where Carlton's Lygon Street starts. Along this famous "eat
street" is a huge variety of great Italian restaurants that are fairly
easy on the pocket. Beautiful pasta and more-ish pizzas are guaranteed
to satisfy! If coffee and cake is on your agenda, you can either head
to Brunswick Street Fitzroy and check out the passing Bohemian
parade of life, or head down to St Kilda's Acland Street,
which is a definite no-diet zone with its luscious European cream cakes
and excellent coffee.
And don't forget the marvellous dining area at Southgate, just
across the Yarra River from Flinders Street Station. Sit inside or outside
and enjoy river views as you sip your Latte or indulge in a more substantial
meal at one of the riverside restaurants. For food on the move, try the
famous Colonial Tram Car dining experience, where you are served
a dinner of several courses while cruising around Melbourne in a vintage
tram - it's a whole new way of watching the world go by while you enjoy
a dining experience to boast about back home!
Shop Till You Drop!
Shop-a-holics will be in seventh heaven in Melbourne. If you're looking
for the best in upmarket couture and accessories, the famous Paris end
of Collins Street (between Swanston and Spring Streets) is home
to some very exclusive stores that are also perfect for window-shopping.
Across the river, Southgate has plenty to offer the discerning shopper,
while the Crown Entertainment Complex has plenty of Armani, Versace and
Tiffany for you to enjoy.
For the latest in groovy gear, Prahran's Chapel Street
is the place to be, with more than a kilometre of shops in which to browse.
Bridge Road Richmond is where you can pick up a bargain,
as it is home to many factory outlets and "seconds" shops, including
the popular Esprit label. And don't forget the famous Queen Victoria
Market in Victoria Parade, where you can buy just about anything from
apparel to souvenirs, with an exciting market atmosphere thrown in as
a bonus!
Garden Glories
Fancy a stroll in amongst exotic rainforest, followed by a meander through
beautiful English flowerbeds? Then Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens
will cast their spell over you with a huge variety of Australian and international
flora. Established in 1846, these beautiful gardens cover 36 hectares
and feature a lake teaming with ducks and black swans. You can enjoy watching
their antics from the indoor/outdoor lakeside café, or stroll right
through the gardens to the Observatory Café at the Domain Road
end. The smooth paved paths make the glories of the Botanic Gardens accessible
for everyone, whether on foot or on wheels. Pack a picnic and relax on
the many green lawns provided for your enjoyment. In the summer months,
various professional theatre groups stage special outdoor productions
for children in the daytime, and a Shakespearian play in the gardens by
night. It's all part of the magic of Melbourne's parks and gardens.
On the edge of the Central Business District are the Treasury Gardens
and the Fitzroy Gardens, which is home to the famous Captain Cook's cottage,
which was transplanted from Yorkshire last century to commemorate the
explorer James Cook. At the northern end of the city centre are the Carlton
Gardens, which surround the Royal Exhibition building. Across to the
west are the Flagstaff Gardens, which are Melbourne's first public
gardens, established on the highest point of the city. Further afield
is Werribee Mansion home of the State Rose Gardens.
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Calling all Culture Vultures...
For lovers of theatre, art and music, Melbourne has so much to
offer. Each year in October the city hosts the Melbourne Festival,
which is several weeks of innovative international and local performances,
including a number of free indoor and outdoor events. Throughout
the year, major companies present excellent productions in Melbourne's
theatres and concert halls. For theatre lovers, Melbourne is home
to the Melbourne Theatre Company, Playbox Theatre and the
Australian Ballet. Opera Australia presents two seasons a year at
the State Theatre, while the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
and the State Orchestra of Victoria stage concerts throughout the
year at the Melbourne Concert Hall and the Melbourne Town Hall.
There is always at least one big commercial musical in town at the
Princess or Regent Theatres, and there is a host of smaller professional
theatre companies and orchestras that keep Melbourne entertained.
Visual art lovers will enjoy the magnificent collection at the
National Gallery on Russell, or they may like to see the
best in contemporary art at the famous Heide Museum of Modern
Art on the river at Heidelberg.
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of interesting interactive displays, while the Imax Theatre next door
has a fabulous range of giant screen two-dimensional and three-dimensional
films, covering everything from nature documentaries to contemporary
shows such as "The Simpsons". The Immigration Museum is
located in Melbourne's beautiful old Customs House Building which
dates back to the 19th century. Discover Melbourne's history from
the perspective of those who migrated here, and don't miss the huge
replica of an early ship that carried many immigrants to Melbourne's
Station Pier.
Across the Westgate Bridge, in Spotswood, is the huge Scienceworks
Museum, which is full of interactive displays and shows, ranging
from Sportsworks, where you can try your running skills against
Cathy Freeman and judge an Olympic Diving Competition to special
temporary exhibitions looking at the world of electricity. There's
also the Planetarium, where you can visit outer space simply by
lying back in your reclining chair. Victoria's maritime history
is well covered by the large antique barque Polly Woodside which
sits permanently on the Yarra River together with a hands-on maritime
museum that's great fun for kids from 2 to 92. And for a look at
the darker side of Melbourne's past, the historic bluestone Old
Melbourne Gaol is worth a visit, with its recreation of prison life
in the 19th century.
Sport, Sport and more Sport...
For the sport mad tourist, Melbourne is the place to visit. The
city was the birthplace for that uniquely Australian "religion",
Australian Rules Football. And it's been going strong since 1858,
today incorporating teams from South Australia, Western Australia
and Queensland as well as a host of Victorian teams. The home and
away games run through the autumn and winter months, culminating
with the huge spectacle of the Grand Final on the last Saturday
in September. If you like passion with your sport, going to an Aussie
Rules game is a must!
If summer sport is more your bag, you'll want to be in Melbourne
in January, when there is a veritable feast of tennis at the Australian
Open, held at the Melbourne Tennis Centre. Over two weeks the
best in the world do battle with each other in a city which becomes
tennis mad. The Melbourne Tennis Centre boasts an attractive grassy
outdoor area with a big screen bringing you all the action from
the Melbourne Tennis Centre's showpiece, the Rod Laver Arena. If
you want to sample a wide variety of matches with top international
players at an affordable price, a ground pass to the outside courts
is the way to go. For around $15 a day you can watch tennis from
mid-morning to dusk and catch a lot of top class action.
If petrol head is a term close to your heart, then the Labour Day
weekend in early March is the time to be in Melbourne. The world
famous Grand Prix motor race comes to the Albert Park Grand
Prix track, and crowds flock there for all the motor sport action
with top international competitors over those three days.
The first Tuesday in November is one of the big days for all of
Melbourne, thanks to the Melbourne Cup. Melbourne may well
be the only city in the world where a public holiday is declared
for a horse race! But what a horse race - all of Melbourne stands
still for the three minutes it takes to run the Cup on a November
afternoon. International horses and human visitors descend on Melbourne
for the annual event, and Cup Sweeps are the order of the day in
just about every Melbourne workplace!
Whatever your interests, Melbourne has something
to please and delight you!
Written by Julie Houghton
Photos by Cherryl Houben
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External Websites:
Photos
of Melbourne
National
Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Zoo
Victoria's
Museums
Melbourne
Aquarium
Royal Botanic Gardens
Queen Victoria Market
National Trust of
Australia - Victoria
Victoria's Public
Transport Services
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