Melbourne Things to Do Tips by eviltooth

Victorian Arts Centre Victorian Arts Centre Review

If you've ever sat in a theatre watching a show wondering what actually goes on behind the scenes, then the Victorian Arts Centre is the place for you. Located in the heart of Melbourne's leisure and entertainment precinct, the Victorian Arts Centre is home to Australia's premier perfoming arts companies.

Crowned by an enormous spire that towers more than 160 metres above St Kilda Road, the main building houses the State Theatre as well as a number of smaller studio and gallery spaces, including the Playhouse and George Fairfax Studio. The centre also includes the Melbourne Concert Hall, Black Box, and the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in the nearby Kings Domain gardens.

The Centre offers guided tours on all matters artistic from Front-of-House tours to the Backstage Tour taking you behind the scenes to places only cast and crew normally get to see.

If you are there on Sunday, don't miss the market featuring the finest art and craft from around the state, including handmade ceramics, photography jewelry and textiles.

Address: 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC 3000

Phone: 03 9281 8000

Melbourne Cricket Ground Cricket Ground Review

Home to major sporting events, the MCG has traditionally thrilled millions around the world with events such as the Olympic Games, Test Cricket and Australian Football's incomparable Grand Final on the last Saturday in September. Take the MCG tour to learn the sporting history of Melbourne, departing regularly from 10a.m. to 3p.m.

I'm not a fan of Footy and the only time I went to the MCG was for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Couldn't afford to go to Sydney then, but the football semi-final (Cameroon vs. Chile) was held in Melbourne. I still remember the crowd and throngs of Chilean supporters flown in all the way from South America cheering their team and I was the only one around supporting the Cameroon team, which went on to grab the gold in the final in Sydney. Great game.

Address: MCG Yarra Park, East Melbourne VIC 3002

Phone: 03 9657 8858

Website: http://www.mcg.org.au

The Forum Theatre (former State Theatre) Theatres Review

Originally the Old State Theatre "Picture Palace".

The State Theatre, opened in February 1929, was a creation of fantasy both inside and out and one of only a few cinemas in Australia to indulge in an exotic exterior as well as interior.

Topped by a jeweled copper dome, the Forum Theatre is a fantastic and perhaps exaggerated arabic inspired building complete with clock tower, oriel windows, and cupola. The interiors of the forum are just as spectacular as the exteriors, and almost identical to the interiors of the Capitol theatre in Sydney.

The downstairs Forum room at the 'Old State Theatre' has been converted to a Cabaret space and upstairs is a comfortable auditorium available for film and live performances. The Forum is also a venue for the Melbourne International Film Festival hold in July-August every year.

Address: 150 - 162 Flinders St (cnr. Russel Street)

Directions: Opposite Federation Square

Phone: 03 9299 9700

Primary School No. 2605 Historical Buildings Review

You'll never miss this Italian Gothic style building built in 1884 if you walk down Rathdowne Street from the Melbourne Museum. Look like a haunted place at night, this building is a beauty in the day.

The hipped roof central pavillion buttressed either end by slightly projecting gables. The roof now finished with terracotta tiles was most probably originally slate. The walls are polychromatic brick with limestone panels, quatrefoils to the gables, dressings, keystones and reveals as well as basalt columns and mouldings used on the main entry design elements.

After more than a century of service, this building still functions as a school but has been renamed Carlton Garden Primary School.

Address: 215 Rathdowne Street, Carlton

Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Places of Worship Review

Built in 1910, this Baroque flavoured church with twin temple-like double domed tower and central classical pedimented facade was designed by Reed, Smart and Tappin during the Edwardian period in classical style.

Address: 199 Rathdowne Street, Carlton

Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre Southbank & Southgate Review

Being named one of the world's top ten convention centres by the AIPC - Association Internationale des Palais de Congres at their Annual Congress, the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre is full of interesting, and usually free, events (e.g. the Melbourne Travel and Holiday Expo). Check out the website for event calendar.

Address: 2 Clarendon Street, Southbank

Directions: On foot: South over the Princess Bridge or pedestrian footbridge across the Yarra River

Train: Flinders Street Station, then across the Princess Bridge or pedestrian footbridge.

Phone: 03 9205 6400

Website: http://www.mecc.com.au

Polly Woodside Melbourne Maritime Museum Southbank & Southgate Review

A must for maritime lovers. The restored iron barque Polly Woodside is afloat in Melbourne's original wooden walled dry dock. Built in 1885 in Belfast, it was named after the wife of the original owner and had made 16 voyages around Cape Horn.

Walk on her deck and marvel at the complexity of her rigging; see how the crew lived; smell the tar and rope in the Forepeak store and listen to the ship creaking and heaving on her mooring ropes. The historically listed 1930’s cargo sheds house a rich collection of displays, artifacts, models and photographs.

Open daily from 10a.m. to 4p.m.

Address: East Lorimer St , Southbank

Directions: Take tram 109 or 112 West from Collins or 96 from Bourke Streets to the new Exhibition Centre

Phone: 03 9699 9760

Website: http://www.nattrust.com.au

Federation Square Federation Square Review

When I first came to Melbourne in 1998 construction of the Fed Square had already begun. Everytime when I passed by the place I would wonder what it would be like, and after patiently waited for 5 years it's finally completed in 2002, and after 150 years, Melbourne finally got the city square it has wanted.

People either love it or hate it but can’t ignore it. We can't stop staring because its structures are so surprising and confronting.

Fed Square embraces all the city's inner tensions:between old and new, between artistic freedom and the constraints of funding and politics. Sitting opposite a cathedral,a pub and a railway station,it is a gathering place for our diverse cultures. Its grounds,according to one historian, are both sacred and secular.

The whole site props on a concrete and steel deck over 12 rail lines. When you're at the cobblestone plaza, don't be alarmed when the ground quavers, it's only the forklift. ;)

What's at Fed Square?

- Ian Potter Centre: the National Gallery of Victoria Australia (see my tip)

- Australian Centre for the Moving Image

- Australian Racing Museum (yes, racing is big in Victoria, we even get a day off for that)

- Television station SBS

- Melbourne Visitors Centre (Don't miss the green-tinted grass "fish tank" building, the Visitors Centre is undergroun)

- Dinning and drinking (e.g. Paul Mathis' Transport pub)

- Shopping (e.g. Kirra Gallery which sells interesting sculptures and glasswares)

Check out the website to see what's install for you at the Fed Square. :)

Pic was taken on the 14th February 2003 during the anti-war protest. Yes, I am anti-war, very.

Address: Corner of Swanston and Flinders Street

Directions: Right opposite to the Flinders Street Station

Phone: 03 9655 1900

Website: http://www.federationsquare.com.au/

Carlton Garden and the Royal Exhibition Building Carlton Garden and Royal Exhibition Building Review

The Royal Exhibition Building was built in 1879-1880 to house the International Exhibition of 1880. It is the only major existing nineteeth century exhibition building in Australia and one of the only handful remaining worl-wide.

It has been a stage for highly significant and historical national events, e.g. the Centennial Exhibition (1888), the opening of the Federal Government (1901), and as the venue for the Victorian State Parliament from 1901 until 1927.

Many exhibitions are still held in the Royal Exhibition Building, including the International Flower and Garden Show in March. A popular picnic and barbecue area, the gardens are also home to an array of wildlife, including possums. Tree-lined avenues, Josef Hochugurtel's Exhibition Fountain (largest fountain in Australia, incorporatig frolicking putti, fish-taled Atlantes, goannas, platypus and ferns), formal flowerbeds and miniature lakes are a feature of Carlton Gardens.

The Heritage Council Victoria has approached the Federal Government seeking support to nominate the site for World Heritage Listing.

I can't believe this, I actually had my final year written exam in this historical building! :)

Address: Carlton and Nicholson Streets

Directions: Tram number 86 or 96 along Bourke Street to the Nicholson Street entrance

Dive with the sharks at Melbourne Aquarium! Aquarium Review

Take a plunge inside Melbourne Aquarium’s 2.2 million-litre Oceanarium and come face to face with the Grey Nurse Sharks, Seven Gill Sharks, Giant Stingrays and hundred of exotic fish. The Dive will be with a fully qualified instructor from Diving Headquarters. Booking is essential.

Diving costs
Certified divers with own equipment: AUD$124.00
Certified divers without equipment : AUD$184
Non-divers : AUD$264

Opening hours
Every day of the year: 9:30am – 6pm (last admission 5pm)
January : 9:30am – 9pm (last admission 8pm)

The Horned Sharks laid some eggs in March, which can take up to 12 months to hatch. This is the first time eggs'd been laid by this species in captive.

Address: Cnr Queenswharf Road and King St , Melbourne

Directions: The Aquarium is located on the Yarra River just opposite to Crown Entertainment Complex

Phone: (03) 9510 9081