Melbourne Trip - Sights of the City and A Walk through the Gardens

Before I write the last chapter to my Melbourne trip.....heheh...like as if I am writing a book! LOL! *wink*, I thought I would write a little about the beautiful botanical gardens that can be found everywhere around Melbourne as we make our daily trips to town via the trains or trams, and when my hubby went for his jogging near our apartment. Also, I am putting up photos which wouldn't fit into my other postings, but are worth putting up here to showcase the beautiful sights around Melbourne.

These are photos of the lane leading to the back portion of our apartment that houses more apartment blocks and parking lots.

Views of the Yarra River taken when we went to the aquarium on the day after we arrived. I wished that we had taken the cruise along the river. It totally slipped our minds to take the cruise because when we went to Sydney, Aiman did not enjoy the cruise much maybe because he was younger than and did not know how to appreciate the cruise. But, when we came back home to Malaysia, Aiman has been asking us when we could go on a cruise.

My hubby was impressed with the way the river front has been developed in Melbourne; this development has created a lot of places for people to stroll and appreaciate the Yarra River which gives character to the city. Something that we, in Malaysia, can learn to emulate.

Photos below are of the Art Center Sunday Market taken from the nearby bridge over the Yarra River. The market is located over two levels, along St Kilda Road between Hamer Hall and Theatres building as well as in the Undercroft of Hamer Hall, beside the Yarra River.

We noticed that wherever we are in Melbourne, we are never far from an open public park. Alexandra Gardens, located across the road from the Art Center, is a good example of a well planned urban landscaped garden which provide a relief from the fast pace of the city.

The Royal Botanic Gardens is located about 2km away from our apartment. My hubby went jogging around the park on one of the evenings that we were there. He has always said that we would like to jog around the parks of the cities that we visit.

He started jogging from our apartment, and for the 1st kilometer or so, he was jogging along the wide sidewalks alongside the trams, buses and cars, accompanies by the other sights and sounds of a tyoical urban city. According to my hubby, the moment that he stepped into the Royal Botanic Gardens, all the hustle and bustle of the city disappeared. He slowed down to take in all the views, taking photos as he went along, at one point even sitting down on a bench for a few minutes to enjoy the serenity.

On the way back from the Royal Botanic Gardens, my hubby took another route and came across the Shrine of Remembrance , which was built to commemorate Australia's fallen soldiers in the service of the country.

Below is a picture of what normal people would usually not take, but which we would, and which my SIL, Eina, will always comment with annoyance. "Architects!". *grin* Yup, it's a photo of the drain cover found around Federation Square. Nobody would have thought that there is a drain underneath it or bothered about it, except us, who cannot help, but get drawn to something as detailed as a drain cover! LOL! *wink*

Melbourne is surely a beautiful city, but I wouldn't highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go there for a holiday, as it does not have that many tourist spots to go to, unless you want to travel to the outskirts of the city, unlike Sydney, where there are many places to see within and around the city.

However, I would strongly recommend it to anyone to wishes to go there to further their studies, or parents who wants to accompany their children who are attending university there, or if you simply want to settle down in a foreign country, that is not too far away from your country of origin. Even though it is a city, yet, it is quite laid back, and not so busy as Sydney.