Claire Saxby as a tourist in Melbourne
Claire Saxby as a tourist in Melbourne
We have completed a self-guided walking tour of (some of) Melbourne’s wonderful lanes and arcades. My friend Cath and my son Richard started at the ANZ Bank Building, perhaps slightly over the tourist photos??? While some of lanes and arcades were familiar others were less so. A detour to the underwater world of the Melbourne Aquarium was next. All were worth visiting.
333 Collins Street , Melbourne
The gent at the info centre also suggested a couple of side excursions into two buildings in Collins St. One was the ANZ bank building…an amazing gothic construction and the other we know as 333. Again a stunning foyer and walk through. Without his guidance we’d not have entered either building.
The State Library
I’ve been to the State Library a few times recently but usually I have a purpose and limited time. So I’d not made it to the galleries around the wonderful La Trobe Reading Room. There are exhibitions there – many of them. We started slowly but a lunch commitment meant that we had to hurry through the last ones. Fantastic and varied. And all free! Well worth a repeat visit…or two.
Manchester Unity Building
This is detail from the Manchester Unity Building Arcade – corner of Collins and Swanston St.
We resolved to be tourists in our own town…to seek out new corners and new experiences. With and without visitors.
Federation Square
Federation Square in Melbourne is a great meeting place and works so much better than our old City Square ever did. From early morning to late night, it seems there is always something going on. It is a meeting place, starting place, festival place…often simultaneously. Another weekend we decided to go into Fed Square to meet friends who were bicycling in from Adelaide. Here they are in Fed Square, adding up the kilometres of their journey. Over 1200 cyclists!
Pavement Art at Federation Square
We were there early but there was no need to sit twiddling thumbs. There was a multicultural festival running and food stalls lining the edge of the square near the river. Fantastic smells from everywhere…from Macedonia to Brazil, from Spanish to Ethiopian and everything else in between. Pity we’d already lunched. But it was fascinating. And after we’d walked the food aisle twice we sat and listened to music from Central America. Great beat, great costumes. There was also this great ?mandala? on the pavement…enormous and decorated completely in lentils and pulses and slices of carrot! Very striking.
The Melbourne Aquarium
We made our way to the Melboune Aquarium on Sunday to see the penguin exhibition. They have two species of penguin, the Gentoo and the King. Both seemed quite at home in the new exhibit where there was both snow and water. The thing that surprised me most was the shape of their feet/toes, much plumper than I’d imagined. They looked like fat fingers in black latex webbed gloves. Amazing to watch their antics both in water and on land.
Of course we visited all the other exhibits as well. One thing that struck me was the faces. I could see where designers of fantasy movies get inspiration for their characters. There are some seriously odd looking creatures in the underwater world.
Southern Star Ferris Wheel
We caught a bus to the base of the redundant Southern Star ferris wheel thingo. Up close, it is quite tall! Apparently when it was operating it never stopped moving, not for getting on or off. Now? Will we take a ride one day, who knows.
The waterfront was abuzz. There was a market and childrens activities and these sand sculptures. Amazing detail.
And how is any of this related to writing for children? Who knows? I wouldn’t begin to try to predict what may or may not inform future projects. But I do know that writers never clock off.
And when is there time for writing with these outings in Melbourne? There’s been a nibble on a manuscript but I’m not reeling in the line just yet. And my computer is giving off a strange smell but a check failed to pinpoint the source…so we just have to wait for it to fail. Sigh.
