Melbourne: Australia's "Second City"

Beautiful Melbourne from Eureka Tower

With a population just under 5 million, Melbourne is Australia’s second most populous city behind Sydney.  I have always had a place in my heart for any city dubbed “The Second City” and this one was no different.  Voted the “World’s Most Liveable City” by the Economist the past view years, it combines the nostalgia of old cobbled laneways, clean modern architecture, vast open parks within the city and incredibly friendly people.  The extensive city tram covering the metropolis, walking paths along the Yarra River, diverse neighborhoods and numerous city parks add to the features of this great city.      



Aboriginal art paintings

Due to Megan having incredible family connections here in Melbourne, we were able to schedule a private viewing and lecture on Aboriginal art. During our stay in Australia, the kids (and myself) have continued to study the history and culture of the arguable the oldest group of people, the Aborogine, dating back to 60,000 years ago.  As we were presented with an eclectic collection of Aboriginal paintings from different regions across Australia, I was taken back by the intricate detail and the stories behind each of the paintings and artists.   Truly a treat to get the behind the scenes look at this extremely popular and beautiful art movement J  A stop at the stunning Indigenous art collection displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria rounded off our day of Aboriginal art—although I can confidently say it will not be the last of viewing (and hopefully purchasing) of these pieces of work unlike any other in the world. 

Eureka Tower

Our day of Melbourne sightseeing wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere, the Eureka Tower.  Not only does the spectacular view of Melbourne go on forever and ever, but the Eureka Tower offers a unique skyscraper experience for the true thrill seekers in life.  If you choose to go out on the “Edge”, as they’ve cleverly named it, you step into a frosted glass cube just big enough to fit the six of us.  After a quick briefing from an employee, the cube begins to slowly extend from the building until you are three meters removed from the building and still 300 meters above the ground.  A sudden light flashes, creaking sound affects come across the loud speakers and the glass clears up, leaving you with quite the Peter Pan sensation of flying above the ground.  Hannah and I tried our best Superman position as we sprawled out on the ground of the cube, enjoying the stunning view of the city.  Tim and Sam were more of the “death grip on the handrail” type people!  Ultimately, we survived the Edge and were given wristbands to prove it J

For many of our hours in Melbourne, you could find us in Federation Square, an ultra modern city center bustling with people, events, live music and more.  One entire afternoon was spent at the ACMI, Australian Center for the Movie Image, an interactive museum dedicated to film, television, gaming and multimedia art.  After a complete education on Walt Disney and the history of film, I quickly got sidetracked on the old school Nintendo exhibit with the original Mario game.  Although my tech savvy cousins couldn’t get over the bulkiness of the system or the game cartridges, I won some major “cool teacher” points at my ability to beat Mario levels and still remember which tunnels to go down for all the secret coin stashes!

Mornington Peninsula

Melbourne continued to live up to its prestigious awards even once you got out of the downtown area.  Just in the suburbs, Megan’s incredible family welcomed us into their homes for home cooked dinners and a massive birthday party for Sam!  The welcoming festivities continued as one relative took us on a day long journey to Mornington Peninsula, just an hour and a half out of the city, to one of Australia’s famous wine regions.  As the afternoon continued and the red wine kept coming at Red Hill Estates, Stonier and Montalto Wineries, the view just seemed to get prettier and prettier! 

Sadly it was our last full day in Melbourne; a stop along this trip that went much too fast.  If you don’t believe me or the Economist on just how fantastic Melbourne is---listen to Oprah!  The Big O seems to be following us around Australia, Melbourne being one spot we shared together.  She drew quite the crowd in Federation Square and raved about the beautiful “Second City” of Australia.  We are headed out of the city life and onto the famous Great Ocean Road J