| |
The Melbourne Observation Deck
The 253-metre-high Rialto Towers Building is the tallest office building in the southern hemisphere and one of the most recognized icons in Melbourne. Take the high-speed lift to Level 55 for the Melbourne Observation Deck, which boasts spectacular 360-degree views of Melbourne and the surrounding area. Other facilities include a gift shop, licensed caf, function room, binoculars & Zoom City interactive cameras. Melbourne Observation Deck is located on level 55 of the famous Rialto Towers, which is the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere at the height of 232 meters. The Observation Deck is located in the city center and offers breath-taking 360-degrees views of Melbourne and surrounds.
The Melbourne Observation Deck also offers many facilities. These include:
Rialto Vision Theatre
Included with admission, this is a 20-minute film about Melbourne and Victorian tourist attractions.
Information Booth
The Information Booth is located on the Observation Deck, and opens seven days a week from 10:00am 8:00pm providing a booking and information service for all visitors.
Open every day of the year, the Deck’s facilities include visitor help center, multi-lingual staff, licensed cafe bar, souvenir outlets, Rialto Vision (a 20 minute film spectacular) and free use of high powered binoculars.
Melbourne Zoo
Opened on this site in 1862, Melbourne Zoo is the oldest zoo in Australia. It is believed to be the eleventh oldest zoo in the world. It offers more than 350 animal species from Australia and around the world are on view just 4 km from the centre of Melbourne, in a botanic garden setting of 55 acres / 22 hectares. Special attractions at the Zoo include the African Rainforest, Asian Rainforest, Great Flight Aviary, the fur seals pool and penguins pool. The Zoo is open every day from 9am to 5pm, with a Zoo Twilights program extending the viewing hours on selected evenings in January, February and March. Melbourne Zoo is an historic zoo with an innovative master plan that displays a representative sample of the world’s fauna and flora in a series of bioclimatic (or habitat) zones. Melbourne Zoo is clearly one of the world’s great zoos. Follow the Wild Clues around the Zoo & you’ll discover the many weird & wonderful animals that call Melbourne Zoo home. Visit the Wild Stops to collect your clues & puzzle pieces to help solve the identity of the mystery animal. Dont miss the new Keeper talks & the Discovery Table offered by Friends of the Zoos Guides.
Melbourne Zoo is located only minutes from the city centre, within Royal Park. Melbourne Zoo is an historic zoo with an innovative master plan that displays a representative sample of the world’s fauna and flora in a series of bioclimatic (or habitat) zones. Melbourne Zoo is clearly one of the world’s great zoos. Visitors can wander through an African and Asian rainforest displaying gorillas, pygmy hippopotamus, mandrills, tigers and otters, or see an extensive collection of Australian animals including koalas, kangaroos, wombats and platypus. Other highlights include the steamy Butterfly House (where hundreds of Australian butterflies alight upon visitors), the Wonderful New World of Bugs and regular meet-the-keeper opportunities throughout the day.
Melbourne City Centre
The city centre is a combination of modern high-rise and beautiful historical buildings. Melbournes city centre is very well laid out in a grid. Latrobe St borders the north, Flinders St the south, Spring St the east and Spencer St the west. The city centre is filled with amazing eateries, not all of them in obvious locations. The smaller city streets hide some of the best Greek, Italian and other cosmopolitan eateries.
China Town occupies two blocks of the city, starting at the corner of Swanston and Little Bourke streets. The Bourke St Mall sits between Swanston and Elizabeth streets and is one of the main shopping areas. The State Library of Victoria is across Swanston St and St Pauls Cathedral is on the corner of Swanston and Flinders St, across from the famous Flinders St Station. Parliament House is on Spring St to the east and the beautiful Fitzroy Gardens are on the northern edge.
The world famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, (MCG) lies across Wellington Parade, as does Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open Tennis Championships.
St Paul’s Cathedral
Built from 1880 to 1892 from the designs of William Butterfield, a famous English Gothic revival architect, Anglican St. Paul’s Cathedral is noteworthy for its highly decorative interior and the English organ built by T. S Lewis. Step inside to see gold mosaics on walls, Victorian tessellated tiles on the floors, intricate woodcarvings, and stained-glass windows. The cathedral sports the second highest spire (98m/321 ft.) in the Anglican Communion. A boys’ choir sings at 5:10pm Monday through Friday during school times, and on Sunday at 10:30am and 6pm. Outside is a statue of Matthew Flinders, the first sailor to navigate the Australian mainland between 1801 and 1803.
Melbourne’s social, cultural and spiritual compass points meet at Flinders and Swanston Street, with a landmark on each corner: Federation Square, Flinders Street Station, Young and Jackson’s pub, and St Paul’s Cathedral.
It looks out of time because it is one of the only major buildings in Melbourne that dates from before the 1850s gold rush. The church with its fortress mentality would look quite at home sitting amongst companions of its own age and attitude in The Rocks in Sydney. But it looks more like a lonely ancient relic in ‘modern’ (i.e. 1880s) Melbourne.
State Library
The State Library of Victoria’s Picture Collection forms a comprehensive visual record of the state and its people. The 650,000 images in the Collection constitute the oldest visual historical collection in Australia, illustrating the development of Victoria from the 1850s to the 1990s. Also included are some interstate and overseas views.
Of the Library’s Picture Collection, over 160,000 images have been digitized and made available online via the Library’s Pictures Catalogue. The Pictures Catalogue also contains some images from the Australian manuscripts, map, rare books and other special collections
The scope of the Library’s digitised content covers a diverse range of themes and collections. Content includes such subject areas as Melbourne and Victorian street scenes, buildings, ships, country views, costume, flora and fauna, portraits, Australian Aborigines, political and social events particularly of the nineteenth century, aerial views of Melbourne, factory interiors, domestic architecture, furniture, household goods and appliances, topographical, geological, botanical, agricultural and mining scenes, Federation commemorative arches and Boer War celebrations.
The State Library in Swanston Street is always worth a visit, and particularly since the refurbishment of the dome in the main reading room has been completed.
City Baths
Melbourne City Baths is a total health, fitness and wellbeing centre. A triangular piece of land on the corner of Swanston and Franklin Streets was chosen and the City Baths was opened on 9 January 1860. People flocked to the baths and it was reported that 79,096 men and 2,950 women enjoyed the facilities in the first year.
Set in a beautiful and historically significant building, the Melbourne City Baths boasts one of the largest and most diverse ranges of services, activities, equipment and programs on offer in the heart of the city.
Melbourne City Baths aims to promote an awareness of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and to provide quality opportunities to enhance the health, fitness and wellbeing of the people who work, live, study and visit the City of Melbourne.
Queen Victoria Market
If you only have time to visit one place in Melbourne, then it should be the Vic Market. But try to visit while all the produce stalls are operating (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings) because they make up the real heart of the market. This is a working market with meat, fish, bakery and delicatessen sections as well as scores of fruit and vegetable vendor’s stalls and general merchandise. The Queen Victoria Market is more than just Melbourne’s shopping mecca – it is a historic landmark, a tourist attraction and an institution for Melburnians. There are more than 1000 stalls, most of them set up outdoors under tin roofs with iron gables. The market has a separate meat hall and a delicatessen area renowned for Greek, Italian and Polish food. The area where the back open-air sheds stand used to be Melbournes first cemetery.
Over the years, the market has been a wholesale fruit and vegetable market, and has gone through various expansions and changes reflecting the shopping habits of the growing Melbourne populace. On Sundays there is a wine market. Cafes and restaurants pop up around the market. Fresh is the flavor of the market. More than fresh seafood and fresh fruits and vegetables, the market takes a fresh approach. Find clothing, baggage, toys, jewelry, new-age products and souvenirs at sinful prices. The Vic Market brings city people in touch with earthy realities. It is very clear that meat comes from dead animals; that vegetables are grown in dirt; that sweat and energy is part of commerce; and that Collingwood will win the Grand Final this year. Buy yourself sausage in a roll from the Bratwurst Shop and sit outside and watch Melbourne pass by. Particularly the children who believe that this is what life is like – only to be surprised when they move away from Melbourne.
Scots and St Michael’s churches
Located on the corner of Collins and Russell Streets, St Michael’s is a unique Christian presence in the city of Melbourne. It offers a wide variety of experiences for growth and change. It is a place which affirms and encourages the best expression of who you are and who you can be, through relevant theology, Sunday Service, numerous support programs and its commitment to counseling and psychotherapy. It is one of Melbourne’s architectural treasures Its impressive facade and splendid interior makes St Michael’s a truly magnificent venue for a wedding, baptism or other special event.
St. Michael’s Church was built in the mid-14th century, originally serving as the college chapel of Michaelhouse. Today it is used as the parish for Great St. Mary’s Church. Much of the original decorated gothic design remains. In 1908, the parish was amalgamated into that of Great St Mary’s, and the church is now used for book sales and meetings. It also houses the Harambee Centre, which promotes education and understanding about underdeveloped countries.
|
|
|
|
