Landmarks of Melbourne: part 2

G'day

So finally, and after many false starts, the weather is set to get warm. Indeed hot, with temperatures next week heading for the mid-30s mark (that's mid-90s in old money). Let's see how this ginger, pale-skinned Pom survives.

In the meantime, what with the nice weather and all, I've been out and about snapping away with the camera again, taking shots of some more Melbourne landmarks.

The Yarra
This is Melbourne's river. The name Yarra is aboriginal and means 'clear water' but either the aborigines were being ironic or it's got a lot dirtier since (probably the latter).

As you can see it's popular for rowing (quite a few clubs along the banks) and the views of the city are pretty spectacular.


The Royal Botanic Gardens
Yes, 'Royal' - the queen is queen of Australia too. And these gardens are pretty regal. There's the big lake ...

...with rather large eels (kids were stroking them when I took this photo!)

And there are trees like this Elm, a species that was almost wiped out during the 70s in Britain (due to Dutch Elm Disease) but which survive here in abundance.

And there's also this flower which you see everywhere but whose name I know not. Answers on a postcard...

Plus more wildlife in the shape of black swans - Australia's contribution to swan colours if my primary school teacher told me right.

Plus the gardens are not a bad spot for a wedding (this was one of two on the day I was there).

And they even have some history in the form of Governor La Trobe's cottage. Before you get too excited though this is almost entirely a reconstruction, it wasn't in this location originally and it's not open to the public. Such little respect for history...

Shrine of Remembrance
Yes, I know this has been included before but this time I got to go inside and was surprised to find it hugely interesting.

There's a photo exhibition of images taken by two young men from Victoria during World War I. They served in France, both survived and came back to Australia. The photos lay in a cupboard for years and were nearly thrown away during a clear-out but a family friend recognised their importance and now they're on public display.

Also in the exhibition is this British flag, flown in Malaysia before the Japanese invasion in World War II and then flown in Changi Prison in Singapore by British and Commonwealth troops who were POWs there. If you look closely you can see inmates' graffiti.

But the main reason for the existence of the Shrine is, obviously, to remember Australia's in general, and Victoria's in particular, dead, and a slab of stone is the main focus for commemoration. Each 11 November at exactly 11am the sun comes in through a hole in the shrine's wall and crosses the slab, highlighting the word 'love' (the whole inscription reads 'Greater love hath no man' - it should continue to say 'than this, that he lay down his life for his friends' but I'm guessing there wasn't space). Or at least the sun lit up the slab at 11am until Australia introduced Daylight Savings in the summer (putting the clocks forward). Now, when the dignitaries all gather at 11am, it's really only 10am, astronomically, and so they've had to set up a series of mirrors to reflect the sun down onto the slab at the right time for the service.

And here's the view from the top of the shrine. The long road leading into the distance is central Melbourne's Swanston Street and no building is allowed to obstruct the view along it to the Shrine.

And finally a shot of the view from Lonely Planet's roof terrace (as mentioned in the previous post, this is one of my favourite things).

And the view at sunset from my flat (but only for the next week - no, the view's not going to disappear in a week's time but I am, as after the 27th I'll be in Albert Park, a very posh bit of Melbourne apparently, so obviously I'll fit right in...).

More soon but for now, good day.

Cliff