Marvellous Melbourne

"Marvellous Melbourne" was the phrase used by journalist George Augustus Sala to describe this city when he passed through in 1885, and in our opinion, could be used to describe Melbourne today. Although it is much bigger, it had a Manchester feel to it; friendly and vibrant. One of the first things we did, was to go to the reputedly friendly tourist information centre. We would highly recommend a stop here first; they gave us information on everything we needed (and more), and appeared very efficient, despite being really busy. We were half tempted to hand over our travel plans for the next 5 months to the woman behind the counter, who could have easily sorted them before she knocked off at one. We passed a good week, idling through the streets, parks, and suburbs of Melbourne and rather enjoyed our little selves.

The botantical gardens were very pleasant, even at Autumn time. We were amused to find that the oldest (claimed) house in Australia is situated in the (Fitzroy) gardens. Unfortunately, in order to qualify, it had to be shipped all the way from Yorkshire in England, brick by brick! The house was the former residence of Captain James Cook's parents (dating from 1755 and brought to Oz in 1934 to celebrate Victoria's centenery), and is a typically sweet yorkshire cottage but looks a bit odd to be plonked down in it's "new" Australian surroundings.

Captain Cook's parents house.

No trip to Melbourne is complete without a visit to an Aussie Rules game (so says our friend Ryan who arranged for his dad to get us tickets AND accompany us to the match). We met Glenn (Ryan's dad) to watch Essendon (Ryan's team and Melbourne side) unfortunately get thrashed by Port Adelaide (94-158). It's a really fast game to watch, and very physical. We didn't really have a clue about the rules, and would suggest the accompaniment of a Glenn to set you straight; without his explanations, we would have been lost. Lisa also wishes to thank him for providing seats so close to the action that she couldn't help but notice the size of the thighs on the young players. Aussies appear to be very good at sports, but also excel in sledging. We witnessed a Port Adelaide fan wind up an Essendon fan and concluded that the Port Adelaide fan would have been going home in a St. John's ambulance, had he tried similar antics in England. Incidentally, all the fans (home and away) sit together at matches, relatively good naturedly, which makes a refreshing change.

Keeping up the sporting theme (you can't get away from it in Melbourne!) we took a guided tour around the MCG. A very nice older chap in a very smart stripey blazer took us round. The tour included a behind the scenes sneek into the changing rooms (they smelt) and the post match interview rooms etc, as well as a walk near the sacred turf. Currently the pitch is set out for the Aussie Rules season, and the square has been dug up and moved until cricket season starts again. Later we looked around the sports museum, which has a brilliant cricket section, full of tales of the Ashes, etc. Even Lisab wasn't bored (although she was a bit irked that Andyb didn't let her win on the interactive cycle race, OR the goal shots game, OR the cricket wicket game - competitive husband was on great form).

MCG (well half of it)

After perusing the city for a few days, we decided to take a trip out into the Yarra Valley, to have a look at some wildlife, at the Healsville Sanctuary. We got ourselves a public transport pass and had a lovely ride out on the train, and then the bus. They don't half pack 'em in on the trams at [c]rush hour though, on our way home. The sanctuary contains a hospital, and we were lucky (though the bird wasn't) to see a Kookaburra being operated on; it had been shot in the wing and they were mending it (in medical terms). We also got to feed the red kangaroos from Tasmania and listened to a talk on the Koalas. Some of the animals have arrived at the park because they are injured and no longer able to survive in the wild. We were suitably impressed (as usual) by the exoticism of the animals and birds on display. Lisab also got to see her favourite animal in the world, the Platypus. Although they are nocturnal, they have this fabulous really huge glass panelled tank which displays the little platypus in their environment. 2 babies were born in February 2008 and we think it may have been these that we saw in the tanks, their parents were having a (well earned) sleep in their burrows.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo and it's Joey

Koala

The Bruntons have taken to saying "stone the crows, you great galah" at every opportunity, in keeping with Aussie speech, and therefore feel that we are integrating well into the Aussie culture.