The Australian Chronicles

By Mary Ann Kerzel

Melbourne

The first hotel we stayed at was strategically located within walking distance of the things we wanted to see and major landmarks we thought could be found easily.

Across the street to the south of our hotel was Yarra Park home to the Melbourne Cricket Ground and another cricket stadium. Friday and Saturday nights are game nights. Game nights are crazy, good nights to stay off the street. Not only are the streets packed with cars but it’s human gridlock on the sidewalks as well. We watched from our table in the dinning room of the hotel during our dinner on Barby Night.

Across the street to the east of the hotel was Fitzroy Gardens where I spent a lot of time. Fitzroy Gardens is a huge park that covers about 25 city blocks. There are many things to see and photograph there. Several major walkways spoke out from the center of the park under the canopy formed by stands of huge trees on either side of the walkways. There are many smaller winding trails throughout the area. Some trail leading to fountains or formal gardens and others to several attractions.

The Conservatory and Captain Cook’s House is on one of the main trails. The Conservatory is a Spanish Mission style building that has monthly floral displays and hosts many weddings. There are little tables and a bridge with water flowing under it and fish in a tiny pond. It looked like an indoor tropical forest. Orchids and poinsettia were on display while we were there. It was a nice peaceful place to sit and warm up.

Captain Cook’s Cottage is the actual Cook family home that was dismantled and shipped to Australia from England stone by stone. Then rebuilt on that spot. Captain Cook discovered Australia and was instrumental in the settling of Australia. The cottage is furnished for the period and landscaped in the kind of plants that would have been grown then. There is a little museum and gift shop in what was the stable.

There is a Pavilion Café not far from there. We ate lunch there one afternoon. Lunch is from 11:30 – 2:30 only. Anytime after 2:30 you would be hard pressed to find anything to eat but snacks. Dinner begins at 6pm. On the grounds of the café is a miniature model Tudor village and next to that is “The Fairy Tree”. It’s a large tree stump that has carvings of elves, birds and Australian animals.

Northeast of the park I found what I was looking for, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. It is a Gothic Revival Catholic cathedral complete with, pinnacles, gargoyles and flying buttresses. I was glad I had my telephoto lens but I wished that I had brought a tripod and a bigger lens for the gargoyles. The carved motifs decorating the outside of the cathedral incorporate many native plants and animals. I recognized a few such as a wombat and several other marsupials, a goanna (a large monitor lizard), a crocodile and holly.

Too bad they didn’t allow photographs to be taken inside. It was really magnificent. There were huge carved wooden trumpet blowing angels on the tops of the pillars all the way up to the altar. The transepts were different, one with a vaulted ceiling and the other with a wooden coffered ceiling.

There were seven beautifully decorated chapels around the apse. Each chapel was uniquely decorated with mosaics, carved wood and stone and different motifs on walls, ceilings or floors. The most extraordinary was the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, which was all gold.

The stained glass windows do not go all the way up as in the cathedrals of Europe. Because of Australia’s geographical location the sun does not shine through the windows at the proper angle to illuminate stained glass windows that high.

Across the street from Saint Patrick’s was a fire station. There was a wall of huge overhead doors along one side of the building. On the front of the building was a very large mosaic. It looked like a scene from mythology with a god like figure floating in the sky. There was another figure in a chariot riding across the sky and flames all around.

I followed the wall of doors down the street to the next building which was the Fire Museum. I walked around the old building and took pictures. Then I read the sign, it was only open certain days and this was not one of them.

In this area of town it seemed like there were two or three churches on every corner. Some were stone and others were brick. They were all Victorian or Gothic looking. From there I found my way to a group of government buildings including The Treasury Building and The Department of Education and another park. There are many large and small parks and gardens throughout Melbourne and Sydney.

The next stop was The Old Treasury Building, which is now a historical museum of the gold rush days. They had a nice self-guided tour with displays and videos and old photos. Down in the lower levels you could go into the rooms where the gold was actually kept.

One wing of the building was an Aboriginal Art Gallery. I was very excited about seeing some special artwork. “Pop!” There goes my bubble. The show was not ready. The paintings had not been hung yet. I walked through the rooms to find many paintings leaning against the wall, some had the bubble wrap still on them. I did get to see some Aboriginal paintings. I found one I really liked. I’m glad I took the time to look around.

The nice ladies at the desk gave me some other bad news; the National Gallery was closed for renovations along with several other places. Melbourne and Sydney are both in the process of getting ready for the 2000 Olympics.

I was still looking for Chinatown when I found myself in front of the Windsor Hotel. It was huge and elegant and looked English. Then, I found The Parliament Building! It was a very huge regal looking building with many flights of stone steps up to the actual building. I nearly lost it when I saw the lampposts and light fixtures on and around The Parliament Building complex.

The lampposts looked like large ornate tridents with a white melon speared on each tine. The middle melon was higher than the two outside ones. This alone was not enough to make me laugh but the little red dome shaped jewel-encrusted crown atop each light globe was! I could barely keep my composure.

I finally found Chinatown. Chinatown is pretty much the same every-where I guess. A big red pagoda shaped gateway with dragons and the word Chinatown in gold letters across the top. Wall to wall restaurants and shops line the streets. Everyone is competing for your attention. The aromas of good food floating through the air make it hard to decide which restaurant to choose. The flashing neon lights are calling for your patronage. There are many little hidden treasures to be found if you spend the time to look.