Merry Christmas! - Melbourne Tour Day 2

Today is the official start of the Melbourne tour. After a bland breakfast at the hotel consisting of toast and jam and cereals (today being a holiday), the coach brought us to the Parliament House. Everyone spilled out of the bus and started taking pictures. Designed by Peter Kerr and J.G.Knight, the buildings were constructed at the height of the gold rush. Parliament of Victoria officially opened in 1856, and so will be celebrating it's 150th anniversary next year. Further to the right of the Parliament House is the Princess Theater, which dates all the way back to 1886.

On our way to St. Patrick's Cathedral, I noticed the upside-down statue of La Trobe in Gordon Reserve, which took me by surprise. (Charles Joseph La Trobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria.) I didn't notice this the last time I was in Melbourne, so it must have been a new installment. After some research, I found out that the contemporary art piece was created by artist Charles Robb and unveiled around October. It looks like a typical 19th-century bronze sculpture, but is actually made of plastic and fibreglass. Mr Robb said the inversion of La Trobe questioned the purpose of public monuments and their meaning in contemporary society. Uh-huh.

St. Patrick's Cathedral is another great place to take pictures. It must be Melbourne's answer to Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral. Designed by William Wardell in the Gothic Revival style, St Patrick's is regarded internationally as the finest ecclesiastical building in Australia. Construction started in 1858 and took 82 years to complete. Too bad there's mass going on - I would've liked to take a picture of its organ for my Bavarian friend.

Next stop is Cook's Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens. For those who don't know, Captain James Cook is the discoverer of Australia. The original Cook's Cottage was built by Captain Cook's parents in 1755 in in Great Ayton, Yorkshire, England. There's quite an amazing story how the cottage ended up in Fitzroy Gardens. In 1933, the owner of the cottage decided to sell it. However, the patriotic owner didn't want it to end up in American hands, so she made it a condition of sale that the building must remain in England. The forthcoming sale was featured in the Melbourne Herald, and got the attention of Mr. (later Sir) Russell Grimwade. Next year was Victoria's centenary, so he thought he should make a bid for the cottage and have it moved to Melbourne, as the capital of Victoria, whose coastline included Captain Cook's first Australian landfall. The owner was persuaded to change the wording of the condition of sale from "England" to "the Empire," and accepted the Australian offer of £800 vs. the highest local offer of £300. The structure was dismantled brick by brick, and shipped in 253 crates and 40 barrels, complete with a cutting from the ivy which had grown on the original building. Today the house is covered by the ivy. Near Cook's Cottage is Sinclair's Cottage, named after James Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair is pretty much responsible for the development of Fitzroy Square and Elms Avenue. Also within Fitzroy Gardens is the Conservatory. It opened on March 13, 1930, and has flower displays all year round, depending on which flowers are in season.

Next on the agenda is the Yarra River Cruise, which I opted out of in favor of a walk along the river. One thing I noticed is that some of the bridges are built quite low. I wonder if the ferries can traverse them during high tide. After lunch, we went to the Rialto Towers to visit the Melbourne Observation Deck on level 55. Rialto Towers stands at 253 meters, has 63 storeys, and used to hold the title of tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. That honour now goes to Eureka Tower, which is still under construction. Once completed, it will be 297 meters tall and have 92 storeys. Admission to the Observation Deck is $14, and includes entry to the RialtoVision Theatre, where one can watch the award-winning 20-minute film entitled "Melbourne the Living City," featuring the many attractions and events that Victoria offers. A high-speed lift (25kph) took us to level 55, which offers spectacular 360-degree views of Melbourne, 60 kms. to the horizon.

We still have a bit of time to spare, so the tour guide took us to the Crown Casino. Comparing it to Sydney's Star City Casino, I'm quite impressed with the decorations and scale of Crown Casino. At the Atrium, Crown's light-and-sound Christmas Spectacular show happens every 30 minutes. As the giant clock counts down to showtime, the whole place is transformed into a giant circus with flying acrobats, dancing reindeers, plus the whirling carousel, the big top with the marionette show, and of course, Santa.

Last on the list is the Penguin Parade at Philip Island. The tour guide stressed to us that the night is going to be very cold, so we spent some time first inside the Visitor Centre, watching some clips about the little penguins (Eudyptula minor), and observing them in their underground burrows. Just before showtime, we headed off along the boardwalks to the outdoor viewing stands. The place is just packed with people. There are rangers around who make sure you don't sit at the sides, and absolutely no photography allowed. I saw a few people trying to sneak some shots, and were promptly accosted by the rangers. I think they actually confiscate your camera, but I could be wrong. What happens is that the little penguins go out to sea fishing all day. At night, they swim back in and waddle to shore into their underground burrows to rest. Watching the penguins come in, you can see how evolution has influenced their behaviour. Once they get to the beach, they mill around and form a single file. Oftentimes, a wave would come crashing down on them, and they wash out to sea again. If they have the numbers and conditions are right, they make a run (more like a walk) for it. The others who are too slow fall back and wait until they get their numbers up again. Watching the penguins do this again and again is quite entertaining.