From: ecsgrt@latrobe.edu.au (Geoffrey Tobin)
Newsgroups: aus.students.overseas
Subject: Re: flatliner
Date: 11 Apr 92 07:02:32 GMT
Organization: La Trobe University

In article <2223@ariel.its.unimelb.EDU.AU> jlam@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au (James Lam) writes:

>By the way, please tell me a few places that a family can enjoy for a day
>around Melbourne?
>
>Someone told me that St Kilda has a nice beach, how about the Zoo? How to
>get there? 

Modulo pollution ratings (ask the EPA = Environment Protection Authority,
in the Phonebook, under "Victorian Government), Port Phillip Bay's
200 km of "coast" is almost all nice beach.  (Just my opinion.)

The Zoo is at the North end of Royal Park, NW of the City.  Royal Park
is North of Flemington Road.  There's a humid (just like SE Asia! :-)
Butterfly House, a barrel-load of monkeys, spacious walk-through
aviaries, the usual giraffes, elephants, lions, kangaroos, bison, apes,
emus, etc., plus seals, polar bears, a hard-to-spot (but big) crocodile,
platypus, and many other creatures.  You even get to like (well,
tolerate) the snakes after seeing their variety - & how safe you are
with them locked in glass cases - sad for them! :-(

There's a train & a tram to the Zoo.  Ask at the MET shop in the City
for how to travel there.  The MET shop is on the West side of Elizabeth
Street, just North of Collins Street.  (If you have a poor sense of
direction, now's the time to correct it. :-)  You can get timetables
there or at Flinders St Rly Stn during working hours (9-5 Mon-Fri).

On a warm day, the Dandenongs (the RANGES - please DON'T go to the
suburb of the same name - they're many MILES apart!) have some nice
attractions - in fact, I haven't discovered them all.  There is
Puffing Billy (a steam train), of course, which goes from Belgrave
to Emerald Lake, where there are water slides, paddle boats, & shady
walks.  The Dandenongs have Olinda Falls, the Sherbrooke Forest Park
- somewhere you might see a Lyrebird (which can imitate anything:
a buzzsaw, a crowd talking, anything).  At night, the view from the
restaurant & lookout atop Mt Dandenong (height 620 metres) looking
over Melbourne's lights is comparable to that from the airplane,
except that you have time to take it all in.

The Dandenong Ranges also have the R.J. Hamer Forest Arboretum,
and the beautiful National Rhododendron Garden.  If you're
hungry after devouring your packed lunch on seats on a slope
overlooking the Silvan Weir, you can taste Devonshire Tea
(English-style scones with cream & jam), or dine at one of the
restaurants that are spaced along the mountain roads.

Speaking of Devonshire Teas, one of the finest I've enjoyed was
at Werribee Park, on the South-West edge of the Metropolitan area.  
There are old colonial buildings - the main one is beautifully
appointed - a Safari Park, a train for children, a pleasant walk
down to the Creek (not too deep except after heavy rains) -
there's even a golf course nearby.  A little way down the road
are the red cliffs overlooking another stretch of the creek.

If you enjoy walking, there are many parks & creeks with paved
walking tracks.  There are bicycle tracks, too - examine a recent
edition of Melways Street Directory for parks & tracks.

Do you like buildings with some character?  Parliament House,
the Arts Centre's three buildings, the Windsor Hotel, the Princess
Theatre, all are worth looking at.  Parliament House & Government
House (the Governor's residence) both have open days & guided tours
from time to time.  The Governor's residence is particularly
delightful - it has a larger ballroom than Buckingham Palace
(Queen Victoria was reputedly not amused when she learnt of this!)
plus very fine furniture, fittings, drapes, paintings, and is
surrounded by spacious gardens.

Adjacent to Government House are the Botanic Gardens, established
about as long as the Zoo (well over a hundred years).  In the
Botanic Gardens you can feed the swans, see exotic & unusual native
plants & flowers, eat at the kiosk, relax on the lawns or in the seats,
walk, (sometimes can) visit the gardeners' buildings.

St Kilda has a street lined with cakeshops (perhaps better keep the
location a secret from your children) - I forget the street's name.
It also has Luna Park (it's still open, isn't it?) and to the
South-East is "Rippon Lea", a beautiful mansion (National Trust
maintained) that has gardens, fine antique furniture, and a nice
lake with tall trees bridges, and a lookout.

Talking of fine old buildings, it's worthwhile to enquire of the
National Trust about their other properties - Como House in South
Yarra comes to mind, but there are many more.

I mentioned the Arts Centre earlier.  The National Gallery houses
many of the finest paintings, clothing, pottery, and other works,
from around the world, that may be seen in Australia.  The Concert
Hall, the State Theatre, and the Performing Arts Museum, are well
worth visiting: each has its own special charm.

Almost any suburb I consider, among the hundreds in Melbourne,
brings vivid memories of many pleasant places.  There's so much
to do & see, it really depends on your interest.  But
of course you cannot know that until you ask.  If readers have
any specific requests, I'd be glad to help answer them, in so
far as I am able.

I suggest that you use email, as I've only newly stumbled across
this group, and may have trouble finding it again!  :-(

gt  (An ant peering sideways through a periscope. :-)
(Geoffrey Tobin)

Not a Travel Agent, nor a VicTour staff member,
"just" a Melbournian who enjoys his city.
Newsgroups: aus.students.overseas