Melbourne,
capitol of Australia’s smallest state, Victoria, is known as the Garden City.
Melbourne, with a population of 3 million, is the third largest city in the
Empire, following London and Sydney. The city, established in 1835, became part
of Australia as an independent nation in 1901 when all of the states unified.
One out of every seven acres in the city is a park, and nearly one quarter of
the inner city is set aside for recreational purposes. This added to the
multitude of flowers and trees creates an atmosphere of rural tranquility in a
large busy city.
The city has one of the world’s largest tram
systems that includes 227 miles of track in the city and suburbs. The inner
city tram is free. The system is reliable, fast, and convenient. The streets,
originally built to run sheep, are wide enough to accommodate the tram system.
The city’s lack of traffic problems is the envy of many a large city.
Melbourne was built on the banks of the Yarra
River. There are several parks along the river, There are 1100 known varieties
of eucalyptus trees in the world. Of Australia’s 760 varieties the koala eats only
five varieties. The oil content of the tree makes them literally explode in a fire,
however fire breaks the hard seed, so in a way the tree depends on fire to
regenerate and has the fastest re-growth of any tree.
Melbourne is the center for arts and a mecca
for sports including soccer, tennis, rugby, cricket, baseball, bowling, and
football. At noon the parks are crowded with people, many of them doing
something athletic
All directions radiate from the post office,
built in 1836. Parking signs in the city are a bit different. It was explained,
“A P 5 means one can park for 5 minutes, P 1 is one hour parking.” Parking
maids in the city are diligent.”
On
one visit to the city we spent an evening with a Wathaurong aborigine who told
us about his culture. He gave us a close up encounter with the didgeridoo. He
could really make it sing, but none of the rest of us had much success.
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| Capt. Cook Cottage in Fitzroy Park |
Ned Kelly, a notorious bush ranger
(escaped convict), became famous for his suit of armor. Australia’s Jesse
James, he defied all law and order. He was hanged, after being shot in first
one knee and then the other, vulnerable spots in his armor. A museum downtown
Melbourne describe his exploits.
Queen Victoria Market covers 17 acres
and contains 1000 stalls selling everything imaginable. Originally, in 1837,
the area was a cemetery. In 1877 part of the cemetery was converted to the
market, requiring the relocation of only three graves. In 1917 Parliament
authorized the relocation of 10,000 remains, razed the cemetery and completed
the market. It takes a long time to work your way all through the market---of
course if one just walked and didn’t stop to look it wouldn’t take as long!
Australia has a large catholic
population and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne is the country’s largest Catholic
Church. This gothic church, made of
sandstone, was started in 1850 and has under-gone two expansions. The
sanctuary’s blue-stone alter is an island at the end of the nave and pews. Surrounding the sanctuary are seven small
chapels whose walls are painted to resemble tile. One has to look closely to
realize it is paint and not tile. The capacity of the church is 1800-2000. The
magnificent stain glass windows were made in Birmingham, England in the late
1800s. The wood work and wooden pillars are truly beautiful. I found it unusual
to have the hammer-beam ceiling decorated with angels--there were 32 of them.
There is much to do and lots to see
in Melbourne and many sites have been described in previous posts. The Shrine
of Remembrance is absolutely one of my favorite places (post 6/12). I also
loved being up close with kangaroos (post1/10), koalas (post1/11), and the tiny
fairy penguins (post 9/12).
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