Visit one of the 32 National... and other Melbourne, Australia Things to Do Tips

Visit one of the 32 National Parks in Victoria, ranging from alps and open grasslands, to desert mallee and tropical fern gullies. Twelve per cent of the state's land is devoted to conservation areas. Spring and summer are the best time to visit for wildflowers and warm-weather outdoor activities, while autumn and winter welcome the bushwalker and skier.

Leave a Comment

Address: Check out my Off the Beaten Path for more info.

The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s memorial to the men and women who have served Australia in armed conflicts throughout the Nation’s history. Built between 1928 and 1934, the Shrine was originally opened to honour the 114,000 Victorians who served, and those who felled in World War 1.

Other memorials have been added to the site to mark the service of successive generations:

The Forecourt with the Eternal Flame (lit by Queen Elizabeth II in February 1954), the Cenotaph and three flagpoles (which fly the Australian and Victorian flags and, in rotation, the flag of one of the armed services) commemorate the service of the many Victorians who enlisted in World War 2.

The Remembrance Garden, a pool beneath a long granite wall, honours those who served in armed conflicts in Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam, Kuwait, the Balkans, Cambodia, Somalia, East Timor and elsewhere.

The 13 hectare Shrine Reserve contains a number of memorials including the Gallipoli Memorial with the bronze statue of The Man with the Donkey and the Lone Pine tree grown from a seed from a pine cone collected by a Victorian Soldier at Gallipoli.

The heart of the Shrine is the Sanctuary with the Stone of Remembrance: a marble stone sunk below the pavement where no hands may touch it and where visitors must bow their heads to read the inscription Greater love hath no man. Each year on the 11th November, a ray of light shines on the Stone of Remembrance and illuminates the word love in the inscription at exactly 11am (Eastern Standard Time).

A uniformed guard provided by the Victoria Police keeps watch over the Shrine 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The Shrine is the site for the annual ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day commemorations.

Leave a Comment

Address: St Kilda Road
Directions: Can be reached by walking from the City, or take tram from Swanston Street (Numbers 3, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72) and disembark at Tram stop 19.

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.

Leave a Comment

Phone: (03) 9510 9081
Address: Cnr Queenswharf Road and King St , Melbourne
Directions: The Aquarium is located on the Yarra River just opposite to Crown Entertainment Complex

Join the Aboriginal Heritage Walk and discover the ancestral lands of the Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung people that the Royal Botanic Gardens now occupy. The Aboriginal guide will take you on a journey to explore the traditional uses of plants for food, medicine, tools and ceremony. Learn more about the Aboriginal culture, and at the same time, enjoy the peace and scenery of the Royal Botanic Garden. :)

Leave a Comment

Phone: (03) 9252 2300
Address: Royal Botanic Garden
Directions: The Walk leaves from the Visitor Centre at Observatory Gate.

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! :)

Leave a Comment

Address: Carlton and Nicholson Streets
Directions: Tram number 86 or 96 along Bourke Street to the Nicholson Street entrance

The Melbourne Observation Deck, located on level 55 of the Rialto Towers Building, provides and optimum viewing platform inside the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere. The Observation Deck offers a 360-degree view of Melbourne and the surrounding area, proving the perfect setting to discover "the world’s most livable city."

Entrance fees:
Adult $11.80
Child $6.80
Student $9.00
Concession * unemployed single parent $9.00
Pensioner (aged or disabled) $7.00
Family (2 Adults and up to 4 children between ages of 4 and 15) $33.80

Opening hours:
Daily from 10am till late

Leave a Comment

Phone: (03) 9629 8222
Address: 525 Collins Street, Melbourne
Directions: All trams on Collins Street pass the Rialto Building, stopping at King Street. To use the City Circle Tram get off at the intersection of Spencer and Collins Street.

Visit the Cape Otway Lighthouse at the northern end of The Eye of The Needle. It was the oldest operational lighthouse with unbroken service on the mainland Australian coast until it was decommissioned in January 1994.

From Melbourne take the Princes Highway to Geelong, then the Great Ocean Road through Lorne and Apollo Bay. 16km west of Apollo Bay turn left onto Lighthouse Road. The lightstation is 13km from the Great Ocean Road turnoff (Melway 526 J10).

Leave a Comment

Phone: 13 1963

Come visit the oldest dental school in Australia, yes, it is very old, especially the building. It is so old and delapidated that it's faster to walk up to the 4th floor than to take the lift (good exercise :)). This is the place where I spent almost half of my day from Mon to Fri.

If you would like to experience a day in the life of a dental student, let me know and I'll bring you on an adventure tour around the hospital. However, you'll have to sign a consent form stating that you agree on the tour and will not sue me for any psychological trauma that you might experience in the hospital. Alright, I was just kidding, but not everyone can tolerate the sight of someone's upper jaw being split away from the skull and manipulate around.

Pic was taken one fine morning before our 8am lecture. Those guys had dragged me out of my bed at 6am to go for Aikido class with them. After the first session, they decided that Slumberland is more fun than kicking, punching and making weird sounds .

Leave a Comment

Phone: 9341 0275
Address: 711 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Directions: Catch No. 19 tram from Elizabeth Street
Website: http://www.dent.unimelb.edu.au/

Experience the many aspects of the history and development of Australian art and culture at the newly opened (28 November 2002) Ian Potter Centre: National Gallery of Victoria. The NGV is made up of 3 levels of galleries which hold an impressive collection of indigenous and non-indigenous art.

Personally, I don't like the Fieldwork: Australian Art 1968-2002 on Level 3. They look more like the products of psychiatry patients, but then again, the psychiatry patients' works at the Royal Melbourne Hospital are much better.

The pic shows one of my fav in the NGV, The Pioneer by Frederick McCubbin showing that the Australian pioneering history were bound up with the clearing of the bush. Each panel is "read" to link the progress of the toil of this land across time.

Opening hour

Monday to Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 9pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am - 6pm

Admission is free but there may be an entrance fees for special exhibitions.

Leave a Comment

Phone: +61 3 86621555
Address: Corner of Russell St and Flinders St
Directions: Federation Square
Website: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au
Other Contact: Fax: +61 3 92080245

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.

Leave a Comment

Phone: 03 9655 1900
Address: Corner of Swanston and Flinders Street
Directions: Right opposite to the Flinders Street Station
Website: http://www.federationsquare.com.au/