Mali….Melbourne Zoo (2nd weekend)

Our second weekend looking for sculptures of Mali started the same way the first weekend had started: catching the train in to the city.  This time we got off at Melbourne Central to locate the two we couldn’t find last week.  I discovered they were inside the shopping centre.  From there we walked to Chinatown where we found my favourite Mali: Rusty Mali.  I love this one because it would have taken a lot of time to accumulate the rusty materials.  There were so many different materials.  There were beaters, nuts and bolts, springs and even a tap on the nose.

We walked over to a few hotels that were displaying the sculptures in their forecourts, then over to the Treasury Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens and Parliament House. The weather was a little cooler this weekend and was perfect walking weather.  We walked north, south and east covering around 14kms.

The painting on the two photos above is just amazing.

Close up detail of the design.  This sculpture is called A Pattern of Orange-bellied Parrots. 

More amazing artwork

Mali…celebrating Melbourne Zoo’s 150th anniversary

A few months ago I read that the Melbourne Zoo was going to be celebrating it’s 150th anniversary.  To celebrate the occasion they had enlisted artists to paint or decorate sculptures of Mali, the zoo’s 2 yr old elephant and one of it’s main attractions.  Even baby elephants can be cute.

Fifty sculptures were decorated and placed at different locations around the CBD. Mum and I decided to go and see them but had to wait for a weekend when we were both free.  The first weekend was September 1st.  The challenge was to find all fifty which wasn’t going to be easy considering they were at all points of the city.

On the first day we took the train into the city.  Getting off at Flinders St station we travelled to Federation Square, Birrarung Marr, up Swanston St.  There were a couple of sculptures we couldn’t find so decided we would have to come back next week.  Below are some of my favourites of the day.

http://www.zoo.org.au/melbourne

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

New Zealand….Day 19 windy Wellington lived up to its name

After arriving back at the cable car station we began a walk around town.  We wanted to see some of the famous buildings such as the Beehive (above).  The Beehive is the building where the Prime Minister and other government ministers have their offices.  The architecture is very distinctive which is something I love. 

The Beehive and Parliament House.

Next to those two buildings is the Parliamentary Library. It’s a beautiful old colonial building.

By this time the weather was becoming very uncomfortable.  It got windier and colder.  In fact on the news that night they said it had been one of the windiest days they had had for a while.  It was all part of the experience though.  I can now say that I know how windy it can be in windy Wellington.

We walked a few streets to see Old St Paul’s Cathedral.  It was built in the 19th century from local timbers and is a great example of NZ buildings from that time.  It looks quite simple from the outside but I’m told it’s magnificent inside.  Unfortunately we couldn’t go in because there was a funeral taking place.

By this time we were getting hungry so we walked back into the main part of the CBD, past the Archives New Zealand building.  We noticed they had a cafe so decided to eat there.  We then decided we’d better go to Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand) which was our destination for the afternoon and on the other side of the CBD.  We couldn’t work out how to get their on public transport so decided to do what we love: walk.  We took the waterfront route along the harbour, passing some lovely and some unusual buildings.

We could finally see our destination: Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand)

New Zealand….Day 16 Picton

The weather when we were in Picton was beautiful so the photos make it look like it was paradise. We were in Picton for one night before catching the Interislander ferry to Wellington.

Picton is one of the main towns in the Marlborough region and although small has a lot to do. We only had limited time in the town because we were going to spend the next day in Blenheim. When we arrived we checked in to our apartment then went for a walk around the town. We found a walking tour brochure at the visitor centre and decided to follow it to familiarise ourselves with the town. I love just getting out and walking wherever I go. It’s the best way to get a feel for a town. The tour took us to approximately nine different points mainly centred around the foreshore.

The first place we went past was the Edwin Fox a ship that first came to Australia carrying passengers but was soon put into service as a convict transporter to West Australia. It then carried immigrants from Australia to New Zealand. Nowadays the ship is in such a delicate state it cannot be moved. We walked past it to get back to the foreshore. While we were there we also checked how to get to the Interislander terminal which is only a few hundred metres away.

I could have sat and watched the comings and goings on the water for hours. It was warm, sunny and so relaxing. If you like adventure activities there are also plenty in the area such as walking the Queen Charlotte Track. While we were walking we could see one of the Interislander Ferries coming in from Wellington. We watched that for a while to get an idea of what we would be doing tomorrow.

After completing the walk we walked back to our apartment before going out again to Seamus’s Irish Bar. It’s a small, dark pub that has a really nice atmosphere and great menu. The owners wanted to build a true Irish bar after seeing so many that were based on an Irish concept rather than the real thing. There are cosy booths to sit in and enjoy and beer and a meal and the bar is decorated with lots of dark wood and memorabilia. It certainly gave a great atmosphere.

Walking around Albert Park Lake, Melbourne

Today I took the afternoon off work to go to the Sydney Swans shop to buy more grand final merchandise.  The shop is in the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) in Albert Park right beside the Albert Park Lake.  One of the things on my bucket list has been to walk around the lake, a distance of 4.7km.

After buying more clothes at the shop Mum (who met me at my work when I finished) and I began our walk.  It was a beautiful spring day in Melbourne today and the sun was glistening on the blue water of the lake.

There is a tower outside The Point restuarant which looked like it would give a great view of the city and surrounding area.  I climbed it to check it out and wasn’t disappointed.  You get a 360 degree view.

I love the curves of the building in the centre of this picture.

New Zealand…day 10 – Christchurch’s Red Zone

After leaving Cashel Mall we walked across to Hereford then Oxford Sts to try to see some of the damage within the red zone.  From Oxford St you can see through to the cathedral and some of the damage.  They were in the process of dismantling it with no definitive idea of its future.  I hope they can keep at least part of the building and build a new cathedral and incorporate part of the old one.

Someone hung this angel from the crane.  It was a poignant touch.

This is the one of the walls of the Bridge of Remembrance.  The bridge was closed off and we didn’t know why.  It was only when we walked down to the river that we saw the major cracks in the bridge walls.

The Bridge of Remembrance was closed off and we couldn’t see why but once we walked down to the river we could see major cracks in the bridge walls.

All buildings had to be inspected to assess what level of damage had been sustained.  These markings mean something to the assessors but not to the general public.

New Zealand Day 10….Christchurch ReStart Mall

On our first day of touring together Mum, Dad and I drove around looking at the Red Zone.  The red zone is the cordoned area of the CBD that suffered the most damage and covered nearly all of the CBD after the February 2011 quake.  The Restart Mall is a part of Cashel Mall, a well-known pedestrian shopping mall that was damaged.

The restart mall is made up of imported shipping containers that have been colourfully decorated and fitted out as banks, cafes and retail shops.  It is a great way of getting people back into the city.

 

Reflections

A few weeks ago my Mum and I began our trek around Melbourne looking for the Mali sculptures that are dotted around the city.  They have been placed in the city to celebrate Melbourne Zoo’s 150th anniversary.  I will post more about this at a later date.

While walking along Spencer St I spotted the reflection of the Rialto buildings in the nearby building.

New Zealand…day 6 – Te Anau

Sun setting over Lake Te Anau, opposite our hotel

 

We’d spent so much time sitting on the bus during the day I decided to go for a walk that night.  It was 9pm but still light enough to walk.  I would love living in an area where they have twilight.  It didn’t start to get dark until 10pm.  I was told the main part of town was about 1km so I decided to walk as far as I could before the sun set.  A lot of other people were doing the same thing despite there being a chilly breeze coming off the lake.

 

New Zealand day 5…walking around Queenstown

The photo above is one of my favourite photos of my whole tour.

When I got off the TSS Earnslaw I walked around to the Queenstown Gardens.  I started walking along the gravel path on the lake front.  You can see across to the main part of town.  It’s a popular walk; I past a lot of people. The main part of the gardens are higher than the path around the lake.  I walked up to the top and got a surprise.  Whereas the lower path was more rustic, the higher sections are very manicured.  I loved the selection of plants and the sculptures up there.  At the exit I found a metal sculpture of a silver fern.  It was beautiful.

 

By this time I was getting tired so I walked back to the cafe and bought a hot chocolate then went to bus stop outside the visitor centre.  I had to wait for what seemed like ages for the next bus.  It eventually arrived and I got back to the hotel at around 4pm.  I sat on the bed and looked out the window.   The view was so beautiful.  The water was so blue and contrasted with the dryness of the mountains.  The view was framed beautifully by the window frame.  I had about an hour or a little longer before I had to get ready for our night out.  We were going up to Bob’s Peak to the Skyline restaurant for dinner and to see the Kiwi Haka Show.  I had never seen a Haka before so was really looking forward to it.

New Zealand Day 3: Fox Glacier

Our final stop of the day before going to our hotel was Fox Glacier.  It’s not as well known as it’s neighbour Franz Josef Glacier but is more accessible from the road.  A  lot of people hike the 6km from the town of Fox Glacier to the glacier.  We drove through the town through light, misty rain. By the time we got to the glacier the conditions had worsened.  In what I was learning is one of the drawbacks of coach-touring, we were only given 20 mins to walk to the edge of the glacier and back.  As I was the last person off the coach I didn’t have as long to get there so didn’t quite reach the edge.  Visibility was quite poor so the people that did get there said they couldn’t see much. 

Many of the  people on our tour booked in to do the helicopter flight over the glaciers but due to the weather, those flights were cancelled.  Although the forecast for the next day wasn’t much better the flights were tentatively booked for the next morning, even though we were scheduled to leave the town shortly after breakfast.

I was disappointed the weather wasn’t to our advantage as I have seen pictures and tv shows about the glaciers and was really looking forward to seeing them. 

 

New Zealand Day 2: Christchurch

January 2nd, 2012

Today was a free day for me as I had arrived a full day before the tour was to start.  After being continually woke by earth tremors during the night I decided not to bother trying to sleep when the 5.5 quake happened.  That’s when I found out that it made the London news. I put the Sky news on and they were talking about it.  You know it’s big when it makes the news on the other side of the world.

After breakfast I asked for directions to Hagley Park.  My Mum had told me it was a must see.  It was further away than I thought which explained why the receptionist looked at me strangely.  It wasn’t that far though.  I love to get out and walk so it was perfect.  It was probably 1-1.5km away.  I didn’t really know what there was to do or see so I stuck to the streets beside the park.  Despite being the middle of summer it was beautiful and green unlike some of the surrounding countryside. I turned down a street and was greeted by the sight of fencing that told me I’d reached the red zone.  That’s when I realised how close I was to the Christchurch CBD.  I took quite a few photos along the way before realising I was getting a little lost.  I wished the receptionist and given me a map of the area.  I would have been more confident and kept walking.  I also realised I didn’t have my purse or any id and credit cards.  I got worried and hoped there were no earthquakes because if anything happned I would only have my hotel key as id.  It’s weird some of the things we think of isn’t it?

I made my way back to the hotel and spent the afternoon watching tv apart from walking down to Merivale Mall but most of the shops were closed.  I didn’t know they have a national holiday on January 2nd.  I got some lunch from McCafe and headed back to the hotel.  Spent a boring but relaxing afternoon watching tv.

At 6pm I went to the bar to meet my fellow travellers on the coach tour.  We enjoyed a welcome drink, meeting each other and dinner.  Another tremor hit while we were having dinner which really shook the restaurant.  You soon get used to them though and we just continued chatting while eating.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Frog Hollow..suburban Melbourne

When I was growing up in Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs, what is now named Frog Hollow was just wasteland.  The area had been set aside for a freeway to be built.  For more than 20 years it sat there unused, unloved.  Once the freeway was completed they began developing the land around it into a footy oval, lake and walking/bike paths.  From east to west there is probably about 2-3kms of path.  Dad discovered it a few months ago and has been walking there often.  He now rides his bike too.   Mum and I walked there one day so she could show me how it had changed.  It’s really nice now and very peaceful even though it has a freeway overpass built above it.  I’ll definitely be walking around there again once the weather warms up.