MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

                                       One of my Favorite Cities

    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.  

Capt. Cook Cottage in Fitzroy Park

     Fitzroy Park is large and on a couple of visits I saw a good part of it. Beside the adorable fairy tree I was fascinated with Capt. Cook’s cottage. It was disassembled in England and shipped to Australia where it was reassembled in 1934. We walked through the small cottage and then saw the statue of the famous seaman in the backyard of the cottage.

     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).

AUSSIE UNIQUENESS

                                  Interesting  Aussie Facts

I have posted numerous blogs from my two long trips Down Under, but there is so much more to share that I have decided that all the posts in April will concern this distant destination. It is spring here in Texas and many of us are thinking about getting out of the summer heat and since it is fall Down Under this might be on one’s list.

Victoria is the smallest state and is dairy country; Queensland is known for its wool production; wheat comes from the west, and wine from the south. New South Wales produces beef, and Tasmania grows fruit---these are only the main crops and what identifies each state.

The 2500 mile long Great Divide mountain range divides the country by dividing two river systems and is the second longest mountain range in the world, after the Alps.

Australia is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the south by the Southern Ocean, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, and on the north by the Coral Sea. The Tasman Sea runs between Australia and Tasmania, the only island state, at the southeast corner of the country.

The Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania in 1642. In 1770 Captain Cook  discovered Australia, and in 1788 the first English prison ships arrived landing at the Rocks in Sydney.

Native Aborigines have inhabited Australia for 40,000 years.

The Australian landscape includes 36,000 kilometers of beach, rain forest, bush, and outback. There is the lure of the mountains as well as the glamour of the big cities. The Australian Alps are a ski area.

Sydney is New South Wales’ capital and the first and largest city in the country.

The east coast from Brisbane to Cairns (pronounced cans) is tropical, complete with beach, palm trees, and tropical flora.

The Great Barrier Reef protects hundreds of small off shore islands. The Reef itself is a protected national landmark.

The Australian coat of arms contains both the kangaroo and the emu. Neither can walk backwards.

Australia is the driest continent on earth.

Several poisonous snakes live in the country and it is the law that no one picks up a snake. If bitten there is no need to retrieve the snake as a litmus test of the wound can tell the doctor what kind of a snake inflicted the bite; thus he knows the treatment.

Many of the world’s opals come from Australia. Lightening Ridge, in the outback, 500 miles from Sydney, is the world’s most celebrated source of opals. It was discovered in 1901.

Australia is the largest producer of camels; they are exported all over the globe.

There are 151 different nationalities/ethnic groups; Aborigines make up 2.4 % of the population.

All eucalyptus trees belong to the gum family, but not all gum trees are eucalyptus. There are 1100 known varieties of eucalyptus trees in the world, Australia has 760 varieties and the koala eats only five varieties. Because of the trees oil content when they are in a fire they literally explode.

 The kiwi is seldom seen in the wild.   It hunts by smell, not by sight. Its nostrils are located at the tip of its long curved beak, technically making his beak the shortest of any bird, as a beak is measured from the nostrils to the tip. The kiwi has no wings so cannot fly. He is all fur and feathers over a very small skeleton. He lays the largest egg for his body weight and it is the male who incubates the egg for 80 days. I have seen a kiwi twice, both times in a controlled enclosure.