6/02
The morning is gone so quickly, we use the free internet at the hotel and plan the rest of our trip to Australia: booking our diving courses in Cairns, booking planes, cars etc etc. This is time consuming and frustrating, we are impatient, and want to explore the city but this time, we have to plan to do less and relax more…
We go food shopping, have some basic lunch in a food hall, the concept can be found here too, as is the strong presence and influence in Asia, very similar to New Zealand! We go for a wander around the centre, Federation Square, a great place with interesting architecture and modern buildings. It's hot now so we decide to visit the Ian Potter Center, part of the National Gallery of Victoria. We see some 'Aboriginal art', and a fantastic exhibition of photographs of Rennie Ellis, an Australian photographer who took more than 200 000, documenting Australian life in the 60-70ies.
Then we go exploring the city, using the free tram - City Circle - which encircles the city centre: Flinders Street, Flinders Street station, main railway station and a Victorian monument typical of Melbourne, the Harbour Esplanade, the Yarra River, Spring Street etc etc. We're a bit lazy, we stay in the tram and listen to the comments on the city. This feels like an American city, the blocks, the vibe but with a strong Victorian influence. The CBD (downtown) is very small, our small backpacker hotel is well located in the centre, near Chinatown. Our first impressions are good, Melbourne is a busy, buzzing city, very bohemian, very cosmopolitan, quite trendy and relaxed at the same time. The cafe terraces, the galleries, exhibitions, small bars, well rather nice ... The evening is quiet, more Internet and planning. I watch my Australian soaps, nice to see them here and not in London!! We try to rest but there are several bars in the street and Australians are feeling festive… Everybody seems to fear tomorrow, temperatures will apparently go up 45 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Melbourne! It's hot today but it's weird to think that tomorrow will be a day of OVER heat!
7/02
After a short night, we spend the morning in the hotel to finish our bookings (we leave tomorrow morning for the desert and the red centre, so we must organise the rest of the trip), do laundry ... the temperature seems to rise but the fan in the room somehow reduces heat. It is getting late, we want to go to St Kilda beach, an area of Melbourne that is reputed to be very lively with cafes, bars and restaurants everywhere. We leave the hotel around 1 pm and it is the big shock: it is extremely hot, the wind blows and is hot! It feels like walking in the breath of a giant hair dryer and hot! We hide in the shade, we can walk but after two minutes, it is a real effort, crazy! After half an hour of tram, we arrive in St Kilda, nice neighborhood, we are fighting against the heat but visit the city, nice shopping streets, lively cafes, people go for some air in the restaurants and bars.... Very bohemian but very Australian also ... after a quick lunch in a Japanese, with air conditioning (happiness), we go to the beach, it's funny, everyone wants to feel fresh and is in the water, covered with sunscreen ... the sun is very hot, very tough, the wind is burning and there is a sandstorm on the beach! Not fun ... we remember the news yesterday and the TV images of London in the snow ... a surprising contrast!
We spend time in the water, we watch the people, the beach... then we go for a mini walk to a small bar, there is a rock concert. Nice to listen to some music and chill out in the bar…but it is really too hot, we are able to return into town, take some pictures, look at the bakeries! We have never been so hot in our lives! I remember Egypt, the desert heat, but the heat here is far more overwhelming. We go back to our Japanese restaurant for a coke and wait for the storm! The sky darkens, the sky is grey, blue, beige, very special, but no rain, we go back into town with the tram, back in the city centre. The temperature drops, it is about 28 degres but we are finally feeling OK... whew! A little walk, we buy some pizza and back to the room, we will rest tonight. We are tired, Billy Elliot is on TV, and we are leaving very early tomorrow morning. The day was hot, suffocating, temperatures have reached 46.7 degrees in Melbourne, it was the hottest place on the planet today: mad! Unfortunately, many fires broke out in the bush and 14 people lost their lives, many firefighters are still mobilized, a real disaster. Temperatures are falling but the firesnwill probably take a few days before being extinguished.
The morning is gone so quickly, we use the free internet at the hotel and plan the rest of our trip to Australia: booking our diving courses in Cairns, booking planes, cars etc etc. This is time consuming and frustrating, we are impatient, and want to explore the city but this time, we have to plan to do less and relax more…
We go food shopping, have some basic lunch in a food hall, the concept can be found here too, as is the strong presence and influence in Asia, very similar to New Zealand! We go for a wander around the centre, Federation Square, a great place with interesting architecture and modern buildings. It's hot now so we decide to visit the Ian Potter Center, part of the National Gallery of Victoria. We see some 'Aboriginal art', and a fantastic exhibition of photographs of Rennie Ellis, an Australian photographer who took more than 200 000, documenting Australian life in the 60-70ies.
Then we go exploring the city, using the free tram - City Circle - which encircles the city centre: Flinders Street, Flinders Street station, main railway station and a Victorian monument typical of Melbourne, the Harbour Esplanade, the Yarra River, Spring Street etc etc. We're a bit lazy, we stay in the tram and listen to the comments on the city. This feels like an American city, the blocks, the vibe but with a strong Victorian influence. The CBD (downtown) is very small, our small backpacker hotel is well located in the centre, near Chinatown. Our first impressions are good, Melbourne is a busy, buzzing city, very bohemian, very cosmopolitan, quite trendy and relaxed at the same time. The cafe terraces, the galleries, exhibitions, small bars, well rather nice ... The evening is quiet, more Internet and planning. I watch my Australian soaps, nice to see them here and not in London!! We try to rest but there are several bars in the street and Australians are feeling festive… Everybody seems to fear tomorrow, temperatures will apparently go up 45 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Melbourne! It's hot today but it's weird to think that tomorrow will be a day of OVER heat!
7/02
After a short night, we spend the morning in the hotel to finish our bookings (we leave tomorrow morning for the desert and the red centre, so we must organise the rest of the trip), do laundry ... the temperature seems to rise but the fan in the room somehow reduces heat. It is getting late, we want to go to St Kilda beach, an area of Melbourne that is reputed to be very lively with cafes, bars and restaurants everywhere. We leave the hotel around 1 pm and it is the big shock: it is extremely hot, the wind blows and is hot! It feels like walking in the breath of a giant hair dryer and hot! We hide in the shade, we can walk but after two minutes, it is a real effort, crazy! After half an hour of tram, we arrive in St Kilda, nice neighborhood, we are fighting against the heat but visit the city, nice shopping streets, lively cafes, people go for some air in the restaurants and bars.... Very bohemian but very Australian also ... after a quick lunch in a Japanese, with air conditioning (happiness), we go to the beach, it's funny, everyone wants to feel fresh and is in the water, covered with sunscreen ... the sun is very hot, very tough, the wind is burning and there is a sandstorm on the beach! Not fun ... we remember the news yesterday and the TV images of London in the snow ... a surprising contrast!
We spend time in the water, we watch the people, the beach... then we go for a mini walk to a small bar, there is a rock concert. Nice to listen to some music and chill out in the bar…but it is really too hot, we are able to return into town, take some pictures, look at the bakeries! We have never been so hot in our lives! I remember Egypt, the desert heat, but the heat here is far more overwhelming. We go back to our Japanese restaurant for a coke and wait for the storm! The sky darkens, the sky is grey, blue, beige, very special, but no rain, we go back into town with the tram, back in the city centre. The temperature drops, it is about 28 degres but we are finally feeling OK... whew! A little walk, we buy some pizza and back to the room, we will rest tonight. We are tired, Billy Elliot is on TV, and we are leaving very early tomorrow morning. The day was hot, suffocating, temperatures have reached 46.7 degrees in Melbourne, it was the hottest place on the planet today: mad! Unfortunately, many fires broke out in the bush and 14 people lost their lives, many firefighters are still mobilized, a real disaster. Temperatures are falling but the firesnwill probably take a few days before being extinguished.
1 comments:
Stay safe there in that heat...plenty of fluids.
Glad you are having fun, your piccies are AMAZING!!!!
Love & Bisous,
Emma xxx
(&Sarah too...)
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