The MCG

The last train ride to Melbourne from Yass Junction (Canberra) was a short hop of 8 hours by our now easy going standards. First stop was the MCG, the mecca of cricket for Australians and also quite a popular venue for a game they call football which is nothing like it!
The tour of the stadium and sports museums is a must see, the biggest capacity in the country at 100,000.

Another must is the viewing platform of Eureka Towers, at over 300 metres, the highest in the southern hemisphere, we went up in the late afternoon for a drink before sunset. From here one can see how green and vibrant a city this is: The MCG, Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena, Sidney Myer music bowl and the Botanical Gardens all in this shot.

There is a tram and tourist bus on which you can visit most points of interest and it is free, however they get you back on water and coffee! Australia is at least if not more expensive than Europe at the moment. There are many parks and we have spent quite a lot of the time just walking in them. We have also realised from the various memorials we have seen in all the cities just how many Australians have been involved in the wars so our visit to The Shrine of Remembrance was a sobering one as they have just celebrated 70 years since the fall of Singapore, when this memorial was built in the 1930's in this view of the city the tallest building was the cathedral.

Our hotel at Spencer and Flinders Streets is a short walk from the Crown Center on the Southbank, where we can stroll along the river, grab a bite and people watch. This is a great city for all of the above.