Both P&O and Cunard have ships scheduled to call at a number of Australian ports during their World voyages for 2016.  Melbourne, a  fabulous cosmopolitan city to visit, is amongst them which is the reason I have decided to start this Australian trilogy of ports here.

There are two recognised berths for cruise ships to dock at, both of which will involve short journeys to the point where I intend starting this tour,  Federation Square…

It was Melbourne’s first public square and was  redeveloped at the start of the millennium. It sits directly opposite Melbourne’s transport hub, Flinders Street Railway Station and is but a stone’s throw from the Yarra River, which flows through the heart of Melbourne.

Federation Square is now a focal point for entertainment, social activity,  and general  tourism for which it has an excellent multi level Information Centre. (Indicated by letter A on the map that follows)…

This is the Visitor Centre…

…and here’s a better view of the main entrance to Flinders Street Railway Station…

Behind the station entrance can be seen the top of the world famous Eureka Tower with its blue and gold panelling..It was a  must do visit for my wife and me on our visit to Melbourne and to take in the view from the sky deck which actually extends out of the building.

A better view of the Eureka Tower, gained by looking along the Yarra River (B on the map above)…

It really was only a short walk across the river to the Eureka Tower…

Here are a few photographs that should give an idea of what can be seen from the Sky Deck. The view towards Victoria Park and The King’s Domain…

…and here is ‘The Edge’ – which extends from Eureka Tower’s 88th floor and suspends you nearly 300 meters over Melbourne in a glass cube – glass walls, ceiling and floor – you can see through it all…

The view towards the Melbourne waterfront…

For those with a cruising interest, a little bit of zoom…

Hey, that’s Celebrity Solstice and Queen Mary 2 over there.

 

Leaving the Eureka Tower it is but a short walk to the Melbourne Arts Centre. You may have noticed it in the first photograph from the Eureka Sky Deck…

…and here’s the entrance. Great coffee shop on the outer side as well…

We now  simply crossed  St. Kilda Road and entered the Park which is divided into Queen Victoria Gardens and  the Royal Botanic Gardens.

We really made the most of our visit here, taking in first The Queen Victoria Garden…

…then the Sidney Myer Music Bowl  (C on the map) ...

(Anyone spot my good lady making her Melbourne debut?)

…followed by the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden…

…and eventually spending considerable time at  Victoria’s Shrine of Remembrance(D on the map)…

*****

Inside the Shrine is the Sanctuary, a high vaulted space entered by any of four tall portals

In the adjacent Visitor Centre is the Gallery of Medals,  a 40-metre-long wall displaying around 4000 medals, each symbolically representing 100 Victorians who have served in war…

It is possible to take the stairs to the top of the shrine to take in the view along Ceremonial Avenue…

The tall pillar to the left of the Ceremonial Avenue  is the Cenotaph with the Eternal Flame at its foot…

Atop the cenotaph is a basalt sculpture of six servicemen carrying a bier with a corpse, draped by the Australian Flag. The sculpture is meant to symbolise “the debt of the living to the dead“.

 

Leaving the park we crossed St. Kilda Road once more in order to take in the historical military complex of Victoria Barracks (E on the map)…

…one of the most impressive 19th century government buildings in Victoria, Australia.

 

We now headed  back to Federation Square. As luck would have it, on the day of our visit,  we fell upon a major promotion with the star-cast of Game of Thrones…

Turning right from Federation Square and heading along Flinders Street, we came to two central city gardens, Treasury Gardens and Fitzroy gardens. The first , so named due to having the Old Treasury Building on its northern edge…

 

 

 

The second garden, Fitzroy,  is infinitely more famous as it houses  Cooks’ Cottage. The cottage was originally constructed in 1755 in the English village of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, by the parents of Captain James Cook, James and Grace Cook

 

In 1933 the owner of the cottage decided to sell it with a condition of sale that the building remain in England. She was persuaded to change “England” to “the Empire”, and accepted an Australian bid of £800.00 as opposed to the highest local offer of £300.

The cottage was deconstructed brick by brick and packed into 253 cases and 40 barrels for shipping on board the Port Dunedin from Hull.

The cottage immediately became a popular tourist attraction. In 1978 further restoration work was carried out on the cottage including the establishment of an English cottage garden…

Close to Cook’s Cottage is The Conservatory, another of Melbourne’s favourite tourist attractions. It opened in 1930, over 80 years of providing spectacular floral displays. The Building copies the Spanish mission architectural style, measuring 30 x 15 metres and originally costing 4,000 pounds.

The Conservatory is a vital part of the City’s commitment to excellence in horticulture and offers five separate displays each year…

 

Exit Fitzroy Gardens by the north west corner to see or visit St Patrick’s Cathedral…

A short distance behind St. Patrick’s Cathedral is Parliament House which has been the seat of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, since 1855…

We next took the Public Transport Tram 109 service from Flinders to Port Melbourne…

…and spent a pleasant hour checking out the beach…

…and the history surrounding Princes Pier…

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…where old meets new…

Finally we returned on the tram to the central district for a quick look at the sights along the Yarra River and its South Wharf Promenade, bristling with cafes, bars  and restaurants…

*****

Melbourne is a wonderful cosmopolitan city and a great port to visit from a cruise ship.

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