August 10th, Australia Day 170

Some time ago, I had planned to take a short trip down to Melbourne, the 2nd city of Australia, though its citizens would claim it to be the 1st. Airfares between Australia's major cities are for the most part relatively cheap and I had once had the idea of taking weekend trips to each of them. That dream quickly faded as I realized just how little time I would have to travel, owing to my scholastic work load. Nevertheless, I resolved to at least make it to Melbourne as I had distant family there.

Melbourne is the 2nd largest city in Australia with a population of about 3.5 million, and the home of my beloved footy. It was founded after Sydney when a group of colonists arrived in Port Philip Bay and began a settlement. One of the founders had the unlikely name of Batman and the city was originally named Batmania. While there were once convict settlements near Melbourne, those were abandoned and the governors of the area never allowed them to land again. This history of no real convict settlement has given much to the Victorian psyche and character. Once all of Australia was under the Governor of New South Wales but as portions were broken off, eventually a delegation from Melbourne managed to convince the British government to grant them their own state. A small portion of southern New South Wales was set aside and renamed Victoria in honour of the current monarch. Gold was discovered in the Victorian mountains near the villages of Bendigo (BEHN-dy-goh) and Ballarat (bah-lah-RAT) and the money that flowed form their found its way into Melbourne's coffers so that it was at one point the richest city on Earth. For a while it was the country's largest city and capital until it was overtaken at the turn of the 20th Century by Sydney and, to settle the rivalry for capital status between Melbourne and Sydney after Federation in 1901, the capital was moved to Canberra (KAHN-bur-rah) in a compromise. Melbourne had to settle on being the state capital of Victoria and "smaller brother" of Sydney.

One of the most interesting aspects of Melbourne is the cultural importance of aussie football in the city. In one of my previous posts I mentioned how many teams are form the city's suburbs but it is important to note that its popularity crosses social barriers as well. Within 50 years of it being invented in 1858, the Melbourne Club, the sons of high society was playing a club from Collingwood, the city's worst slum. Many in Melbourne would swear that Collingwood has never outgrown either that status or mentality. It is also popular among immigrants as well so that the person who took what was known as the Mark of the Century in 1970, Alex Jesaulenko (popularly known as Jezza), was the son of a Ukrainian immigrant born in Austria. The home of footy is the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the M.C.G., also just The 'G, which is currently being remodeled, is known as the "People's Ground".

I arrived on the morning of the 10th and I had already arranged to stay at the house of my distant family who live in the suburb of Glenroy. I was picked up by a friend of theirs who was kind enough to drive me to their residence. I stayed with a mother and daughter pair who were very hospitable to me as well as being generally very good people. They were kind enough to let me use a spare room of theirs as well as provide me with breakfast and the occasional spot of tea. I found I like hot Earl Grey with nothing added to it, no milk, sugar, cream, etc. The two women are related to me by marriage in that the daughter's father was the brother of my paternal grandmother, I think.

Since I had no specific itinerary to speak of, except to see a few footy games, my adventures consisted of me wandering the city center. I traveled by train to the Flinders Street Station and then proceeded to explore this new, yet somewhat chilly, city. The weather was only good for a few short periods of time with most of the days being overcast and cool. I immediately noticed upon exiting the train station that Melbourne was a more "European" city than Sydney. There were far more old buildings than in Sydney and the street cars, called "trams", unique in Australia to Melbourne, also gave the city a European flavour. As I wandered through the CBD, sort of aimlessly, I noticed another unique Melburnian (that's how it is spelled, without the "o") tradition which is the right hand turn form the left hand lane. Actually, this makes sense in a weird way as it allows the trams which run in the center of the street to run unimpeded. What happens is that cars wanting to turn left line up across the intersection on the left hand side. When the light to their right turns green, they quickly make a right turn so that cars that will soon be going forward will have only a few seconds wait. If you go there, it will all be made clear.

I proceeded to the Victorian Parliament and then to a nearby park which had a fountain and a few statues. There were statues to a famous poet, a cattle rustler and a soldier. There is also a plan to put up another statue either to Monash or La Trobe, both important people in Melbourne's history for the 2006 Commonwealth Games to be held in the city. There have only ever been 2 Olympic Games held in the southern hemisphere, the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. From the small park I then decided to cross the Yarra River to the south bank, making sure to take a picture of a sign that said "Batman Avenue".

I proceeded along the south bank, taking pictures of various memorials, until I reached the Shrine of Remembrance, an edifice constructed to commemorate Victoria's war dead. I think, but I cannot be sure, that it was built on a design similar to that of the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos (Halicarnassus), one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Inside there are books with the names of all those who have perished in various conflicts as well as a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Beneath the main structure, there are further memorials as well as a visitor's center. Although there were school tour groups there at the time, when I walked into the main chamber of remembrance, I was the only one there and the silence was deafening. My footsteps echoed all over. I climbed some stairs onto a balcony and took some great photos of the Melbourne skyline. I exited the Shrine and made my way to Government House but seeing that there was no way to get a clear photo, I marched around the nearby gardens.

I walked quickly through the gardens, which included a small grotto, and made my way along the banks of the Yarra River to the north bank. It is quite reminiscent of the Rideau Canal at some points, though a bit more natural being an actual river than canal. I took some photos of the various bridges that span the waterway and then made my way across one of them back into the city. After a quick stop at the library, I returned to Glenroy where I had some dinner and tea and then went to sleep hoping to see Canada play footy the next day.

Photos now available at: http://australiaday170.blogspot.com/