Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Days 34-35 Feb 12-13, 2024, Melbourne, AU city + Botanic Gardens

Melbourne is the capital of the Australian state of Victoria and the second-most populous city in Australia (behind Sydney), although the most populous by contiguous urban area. Its name generally refers to a 3,858 square miles metropolitan area known as Greater Melbourne, comprising an urban agglomeration of 31 local municipalities, although the name is also used specifically for the local municipality of City of Melbourne based around its central business area.

The metropolis occupies much of the northern and eastern coastlines of Port Phillip Bay and spreads into the Mornington Peninsula, part of West Gippsland, as well as the hinterlands towards the Yarra Valley, the Dandenong Ranges, and the Macedon Ranges. Melbourne has a population over 5 million (19% of the population of Australia, as of the 2021 census), mostly residing to the east of the city center, and its inhabitants are commonly referred to as "Melburnians."

Melbourne is home of many of Australia's best-known landmarks, such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the National Gallery of Victoria and the World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building. Noted for its cultural heritage, the city gave rise to Australian rules football, Australian impressionism and Australian cinema, and has more recently been recognized as a UNESCO City of Literature and a global center for street art, live music and theatre. It hosts major annual international events, such as the Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Open, and also hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics. Melbourne consistently ranked as the world's most livable city for much of the 2010s.

Central Business District

Flinders Street railway station is a train station located on the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the second busiest train station in Australia, serving the entire metropolitan rail network, 15 tram routes travelling to and from the city, as well as some country and regional V/Line services to eastern Victoria. Opened in 1854, the station is the oldest in Australia, backing onto the Yarra River in the central business district, the complex includes 13 platforms and structures that stretch over more than two city blocks, from east of Swanston Street to nearly at Market Street.

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879–1880 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between 1851 and 1915 around the globe. The building sits on approximately 64 acres, is 490 feet long and is surrounded by four city streets. It is at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district. It was built to host the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880–81, and then hosted the even larger Centennial International Exhibition in 1888, and the formal opening of the first Parliament of Australia in 1901. The building is representative of the money and pride Victoria had in the 1870s. Throughout the 20th century smaller sections and wings of the building were subject to demolition and fire; however, the main building, known as the Great Hall, survived.

Princess Theater

Princes Bridge is a bridge in central Melbourne, Australia that spans the Yarra River. It is built on the site of one of the oldest river crossings in the city, and forms a gateway into the central city from the south. The bridge connects Swanston Street on the north bank of the Yarra River to St Kilda Road on the south bank, and carries road, tram and pedestrian traffic. The present bridge was built in 1888 and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register

The Crystal Ballroom (also known as the Seaview Ballroom and the Wintergarden Room) was a music venue that opened in 1978 in St Kilda, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Located within the George Hotel at 125 Fitzroy Street, it has often been referred to as the epicenter of Melbourne's post-punk scene, launching the careers of The Birthday Party, Dead Can Dance and many other local groups, as well as showcasing international acts, including The Cure, New Order and The Fall.

The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honor the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but now functions as a memorial to all Australians who have served in any war. It is a site of annual observances for Anzac Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November), and is one of the largest war memorials in Australia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne

Drive through Melbourne Business District

Mommy Do / Baby Do

Former church turned school

Lake within city

Decorative porch railing, as in New Orleans

Eliminates fire plugs for dog pee'n

St Patrick's Cathedral

The cathedral is built on a traditional east–west axis, with the altar at the eastern end, symbolizing belief in the resurrection of Christ. The plan is in the style of a Latin cross, consisting of a nave with side aisles, transepts with side aisles, a sanctuary with seven chapels, and sacristies. Although its 340 foot length is marginally shorter than that of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, St Patrick's has the distinction of being both the tallest and, overall, the largest church building in Australia.

More info:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Patrick%27s_Cathedral,_Melbourne

 

Botanic Garden

Place for horticultural research and development

Bougainvillea

The area of Melbourne has been home to Aboriginal Victorians for over 40,000 years and serves as an important meeting place for local Kulin nation clans. Of the five peoples of the Kulin nation, the traditional custodians of the land encompassing Melbourne are the Boonwurrung, Wathaurong and the Wurundjeri peoples. A short-lived penal settlement was built in 1803 at Port Phillip, then part of the British colony of New South Wales. However, it was not until 1835, with the arrival of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (modern-day Tasmania), that Melbourne was founded. It was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837, and named after William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who was then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. In 1851, four years after Queen Victoria declared it a city, Melbourne became the capital of the new colony of Victoria. During the 1850s Victorian gold rush, the city entered a lengthy boom period that, by the late 1880s, had transformed it into one of the world's largest and wealthiest metropolises. After the federation of Australia in 1901, Melbourne served as the interim seat of government of the new nation until Canberra became the permanent capital in 1927. Today, it is a leading financial center in the Asia-Pacific region and ranked 32nd globally in the March 2022 Global Financial Centers Index.