Victoria - Melbourne

 

Melbourne City

Melbourne Central Business District (CBD) is rather small, compared to KL. High rise buildings are concentrated in a squarish vicinity and there are not many of 'em. Remembering the streets name isn't a problem. Travelling in the city is easy and convenient. Trams are everywhere. I could even ride for free in a special tram that goes round and round the city. Like I've mentioned, the city ain't that big.

 

Map of Melbourne CBD (Courtesy of Victoria Tourism Board)
          
CBD (from Flinders Street point of view) The Railway Station, Federation Square and St. Paul's cathedral  

One of my favourite stops during my 6 days stay in Melbourne is the Victoria Market. Yeah. A market. I hardly step into one in Klang. But this is different. It is clean. No filthy smell and no aunty suddenly splashing a bucket of dirty water on the floor right in front of you. Here i'm talking about a market loved by both locals and visitors. Souvenirs are sold aplenty there. What more, the price is reasonable. There are also many sections selling fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and seafood. We got the food stuffs from there when we had the Aussie BBQ the first night. What's sad is that the market closes very early. As early as 2pm.

 

  

 Nothing to show you. Everything's closed!

 

Another thing that Melbourne never fail to amaze me is that there are parks/gardens everywhere. IN the city. And I'm not talking about small parks. They're huge. What a place to unwind after a hectic day at the office.

 

         Welcome to Fitzroy Garden        

 

                      The one on the right is Captain Cook's cottage
               

         These houses are so tiny and cute

 

Fitzroy Gardens made our day. We spent about 3 hours there so you can imagine how lovely and big it is. Spotted many Aussies having their lunch and short picnic at the park.

 

Very near to the city is St. Kilda. St. Kilda is known as our very own Bangsar or Hartamas. Pubs and exquisite restaurants are everywhere. We took a tram to St. Kilda and dropped off at the beach. Yeah. A beach near the city. As it is winter, there are not many people around. The water was very chilly so obviously, I didn't take a dip there. Just sat around and enjoy the sea breeze. The beach is well taken care of. No litters. Toilets are everywhere.

 

              
        

 

 

On our way back from St. Kilda, we went to Albert Park. The place where my best friend had her wedding a year ago and where the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix is held every year. Darling did a test drive on the tracks with Aaron's car the night before. I would love to drive on the tracks too if only Aaron's car is not a confusing manual car. Our first gear is its reverse gear. Dangerous.

 

Albert Park is oh so beautiful in the evening.

 

           

     

 

The Swans are very human friendly. They'll come to you when you snap your fingers. Or is it they just wanted food??

 

The last and final part of Melbourne coming... (Well, it's time to wrap it up)