Marvellous Melbourne

Well that was its Victorian era headline back in the Mother country as the report of the goldrush brought hordes over to Melbourne, a wealthy and at times lawless city...

Things have changed. After a very rocky flight in, the temp was reported in Melb. to have hit a high of 37. I arrived late that night at 1am, there was smoke to be smelled from a bush fire just outside of town, and of course because I arrived the temp dropped to 23 degrees for my first day there and there were sprinkles of light rain. I put bush fires out. So there's yet another change... Just hire me for all your fire needs.

Melbourne is bigger than I thought but the downtown core is very easy to handle. It's a remarkably English type of city, the back lanes, the buildings...

Melbourne's rapid recent growth has added some really ugly buildings though - they belong in the likes of Dubai or Cairo.
Yucky new stuff...

 To stand next to the symbols of the original 5 tribes who were here.

 The old goes against the new... and yep, rain showers! Fortunately very light.

 One of the city's original founders was called Batman, hence the claim that Batman made Melbourne, not Gotham.

 The cricket ground.

 The graffiti is something to be seen, in a few corners they encourage it!

 This lane is famous for a club called The Cherry.

Why oh why is this hedonistic street so famous????

 And the name of the lane shows you who made it famous, yes AC/DC are a Melbourne export together with Dame Edna Everidge.

 The Cherry has unique art as does much of this area.

 Including some Banksy stencils below.

And I had heard of but not seen till now the "yarm bombing" craze - they knit on things - in an effort to make things what? Feel softer? What has the world come to? Graffitti wool.

 This man is expressing his right to deface everything in sight. Australia is a place for the liberated! He has grey hair and he is still doing graffiti... the old never cease to amaze!

or are they just the lawless... garbage cans (rubbish bins here :-) have rights too!

 This chunk of brick cut off shows how deep the paint layers are... the place changes its look by the hour apparently.

 Lane cafes and coffee culture abound!

I did like this.

Even one floor up from the ground are bars from which to people watch...

 Dark but very enticing, food, coffee, booze...

 And a European arcade from the Victorian days - full of more tony shops.

 Walking 'The Block" was a trendy thing for the right people back then.

 Today anyone can be a snob! Overpriced cake anyone?

 No easter bunnies, but easter bilbies! A rare and endangered creature that one chocolate co. donates its profits to. Well in part! Bilbies are cute.

 Dark lane with old caravan and patio lights - instant cafe!

 This is the old stock exchange, now a gothic monument to the largesse of bankers, a deluxe house upstairs for the old founder - how many colons were ripped out to pay for this you may wonder? The answer would be lots of course! It is the food of banks.

 Here we have a peculiar Melbourne trick, the left hook then right turn. Looks chaotic, but it's to avoid stopping on tram tracks.

 This ugly building has pricey apartments and the highest viewing deck in Melb. Not worth it on a day like today I am guessing.

 Looks more like Japan over the Yarra river here...

 Can you spot me on this jumbotron board? :)

 Federation Square is built above a rail station.

 This art is unique. Not wool this time, but raffeta apparently.

 And this one is unique too, looks Malaysian to me!

Well that's Tuesday's pictures - well Monday for most of you I guess! :) Not sure what to think of Melbourne yet, it reminds me too much of where I grew up! Since I missed the red hot weather, summer feels about the same too!

I ate cheap sushi for my dinner tonight - which actually was remarkably cheap for Australia - the prices here are just silly. That said I do have to be up really early tomorrow morning for a very long ride in a eco-tour mini-bus along the "Great Ocean Road" to visit the Twelve Apostles, I am the 13th as you already know.

I think I have a damaged left kidney or I picked up a kidney digesting parasite in Vanuatu... hopefully I just pulled something but if it persists I may have to call on my health insurance. If anyone has a left kidney to donate 1-800-HLP-DAVE. Thank you for your support.

I have met a few strange people the last few days but apart from a Korean guy who looked like the man in yellow from that Gangnam video, nothing too interesting to write home about. Oh yes, I got a late start this morning checking out the hotel I had originally booked and having to find another toute d'suite - the first place was a dump. They had a big banner swinging outside saying "Souvlaki and Beer $8" which partially sets the scene... Booking.com, the agent was horrified to hear what I told them and immediately cancelled the rest of the stay...

Not many places in the developed world would label that a hotel.

Moving right a long beddie-byes for David. Sleep well, sleep well...