Visit To Rainy Melbourne

Or...A Day In The Life Of A Visitor To Melbourne (nah, that's not very catchy either)


What is there to do in Adelaide on a rainy day?

Well, to be honest I suppose I have done a lot, on many rainy days, in Adelaide.

So yesterday I found myself spending a rainy day in Melbourne, just for a change. Of course I didn't know it would be a rainy day when booking the flights, but as it turns out, I was lucky (!) enough to visit Melbourne on their first real day of winter, which has come just a tad early. The sharp change in weather caught many of Melbourne's people by surprise, but I'm Scottish and so ready for any turn in the weather.

The flight there wasn't too bad. And actually, when we landed it was sunny. The clouds crept in quickly thereafter, and the rest of the day was overcast and punctuated by wind and drizzle. Fun!

I caught a SkyBus to the city, from the airport, which only takes 20 minutes, to the very centrally located Southern Cross Station. My hotel was only a 5 minute walk from the station, but check-in policy meant I couldn't get access to my room til after 2pm. So, rucksack in hand, I tried to get lost in the fair city of Melbourne, because, as you may know, some of the best things happen when you feel lost.

As it is, Melbourne is not as easy a city as you might think, to get lost in. In fact, it was ridiculously easy to navigate my way through throbbing crowds, while artfully hopping out of the way of both yellow taxis and oblivious women, wildly waving umbrellas in one hand, and coffee in the other.

Melbourne Museum

This was my first proper stop. Here, they have the Tutankhamun Exhibition.

Every young boy has, at some point, pondered upon Ancient Egypt, a world and time seemingly pregnant with promise and possibility. I was no different, and my inner child was looking forward to the sights, textures and smells stretching across time and space from the people who worshipped Kings as Gods, and who whispered of arcane secrets.

But nothing is ever easy.

The exhibition is shown in sessions, I imagine because it must be hugely popular and is a convenient way to manage the area and viewings. I was 90 minutes early for the next session. I had a wander around the main museum, exploring presentations and displays, essentially wasting time. It wasn't a waste of time though. There were a few areas which did little to capture my attention, but then there were other areas which were pretty awesome.

One of my favourite areas was dedicated to "Mind" - evolution, illness, concepts of behaviour and perception...it was all really interesting. There were different stimuli available, for people to assess what would create certain emotions, or what your eye could make your brain believe with various optical illusions.

I had a quick meal from the cafe too, it was O.K., but I suppose it was a bit substandard when you consider the price. But that sounds like I'm mean, and I don't want you to think Scots really are tight and penny pinching.

And then on to the drama.

The next session was due to begin, and I headed along and stood in line. Indeed, I stood for a good 10 minutes, until a museum staff member decided to ask me to put my rucksack in a locker, located elsewhere.

Asking for an explanation, the confrontational man informed there was not a lot of space in the exhibition. I understand this. This makes sense. I don't want to push anything over, and cause any damage to what may be rare and/or highly valuable (in both terms of cultural and financial cost) items.

I had some questions though.

Would I now lose my space in the very swollen queue? Yes.


Why am I being asked to do this when there are women with handbags which are as big, if not bigger than my rucksack? Handbags are acceptable.


Why wasn't I informed of this requirement before, when purchasing the ticket? Don't know.

I had been wandering around the main museum with my rucksack with no issue. Yes, space was the issue in the exhibition, but as I said, women were going in with bigger bags, and with kids in strollers! Space couldn't have been that limited...

I complied. I left the queue, put my bag in a locker, and re-joined the queue, at the end. I thought to myself that it was no big deal, I still had a ticket, I would still see the exhibition.

But I wasn't happy. I was angry. I wasn't being treated equally to other people. I felt the policy of no bags, which I do understand, was actually being enforced with implicit sexist discrimination.

As I made slow progress, I came upon an area where staff were taking patrons' photographs for souvenirs. People not having their photos taken were told to essentially get out of the way, in not too kind a manner. Indeed, a few of the staff minding the queue came across as frustrated, preoccupied and even aggressive.

One female staff member at one point said to the crowd, who were forming a civilised queue, in a line, "Right...Listen, people! Move up here. It doesn't need to be a line", with quite an angry tone.

An older man leaned over to me and said, "Well, if you ever wondered what life as a sheep would be like, this is it!"

At this point, frustrated with being treated with what I feel was very little respect, and still angry at having to leave and re-join the queue, I made a decision. I left the queue and went to the desk where I purchased my ticket. I explained my concerns and observations and requested a refund. This was denied. I have now sent an email to the museum, explaining how disappointed I am with the service offered.

Melbourne Aquarium

This was my next stop. A much happier one by all accounts. I had walked quite a distance before arriving at the museum, and my little feet felt tender. So, being in Melbourne, I hopped on the tram to Spencer Street, and walked the rest of the way, which really wasn't that far.

The staff here were friendly and warm. They didn't ask me to take my bag off. So off to a good start!

I had a lovely time here. They care for various species of fish, turtles, sharks, penguins and stingray. It was great getting a glimpse of what lives in our oceans.


We all know how cool penguins are, but here you get the chance to watch them swim from the perspective of under the water's surface.

The turtles and frogs captured my heart. Who knew theses little green guys could be so cute?!

There were education sessions provided, and I arrived in time to watch divers feed the stingray and sharks. Very cool! The stingray seemed to cuddle the divers at various times. Amazing!



Then, typical tourist that I am, I had my photograph taken and super-imposed on to various aquatic backgrounds. Cheesey? Yeah, a little, but it was fun. I bought a pack, including the photographs, a book marker, key ring and CD-ROM.

Melbourne Immigration Museum

I hadn't been to an immigration museum before, even though there is one in Adelaide. The one in Melbourne is just across the road from The Aquarium, and I thought it couldn't hurt to see what it involved. I found it to be more impressive than I imagined it would be. There were viewings available educating people on migration trends, political, economic and cultural influences, immigration law and many other aspects of building a life in Australia.

There is emphasis on a time-line, keeping everything in a historical context. There are videos of people sharing their stories and experiences of emigrating to Oz, with the opportunity to contribute your own story. I haven't...yet.

A large area, with many presentations looking at African culture, and a separate section on identity is located upstairs. Discrimination is also looked at, with information, education and varying viewpoints being showcased.

Hotel

I was happy to check in to the hotel and have a hot bath. Soaking my poor feet never felt better. The room was basic, though it didn't have much of a view. But it had everything I needed.

Once I had freshened up and had a rest, I was off out again.

This was the scene
from my hotel window, Yikes!

I bought some coffee from a counter outside Flinders Street Station, and took in the atmosphere of night time Melbourne. There were people racing around, seemingly in a rush, everyone trying to get somewhere. I found it fascinating, being "there", and watching them trying to get "somewhere else".

People watching - love it!

A quick visit to Nando's for chips and a chicken burger and my day was almost done.

I headed back to the hotel. Bill Bryson's "A Short History Of Nearly Everything" kept me company for an hour or so, til I fell asleep.

There were some interesting sights out and around Melbourne.

Maybe it was with all the wet weather, but if I'm honest, Melbourne felt a little dirty.

And there were construction sites everywhere.

However, there is no doubt Melbourne has A LOT to offer.
 
A short flight and I was back in Adelaide. Cold, wet Adelaide.

Adelaide is so clean, and coming in over the green, unspoilt park lands of Adelaide today made me feel at peace, knowing I live in such a great city.

It's good to be home!


Unfortunately this post has taken me two days to publish. Blogger had quite a lot of downtime and even when it was up, the post editor, for writing the posts, was not working as it should do. Blogger removed all recent posts by bloggers yesterday to solve the issue and then replaced them today. The post editor can be buggy at times, but this recent experience was awful. I hope it doesn't happen again any time soon, Blogger...

I had initially put a lot more photographs of my day in Melbourne in the post, but they continued to overlap each other and "mysteriously" move around the post, from top to bottom, etc etc. If you want to see more photographs please follow the link on the right for the Facebook Page for this blog.

Also, comments had been left, but they have also been removed/lost. I apologise to those who commented as it must be frustrating to spend time and energy contributing, and then have it up and disappear.