Jen had a fair amount of school work to do today, plus we really needed to hit the grocery store, so we didn't wander too far afield. We did, however, take a couple of hours this afternoon to explore the Docklands, on the east side of downtown Melbourne. This is a section of the city that I just hadn't quite gotten to yet - it's a little off the beaten path from my usual haunts.Of course, first we had to get there. And once again Metlink conspired against us. I needed to purchase a Sunday Saver card (it's cheaper to ride the system on Sunday than any other day of the week), but all of the shops we usually purchase Metcards from were either sold out or not open. So we took a bit of a scenic route to find a corner store that WAS open AND selling Metcards! Then when we'd finally made it downtown, the tram we needed to catch was (a) late, (b) stupidly full of people, and (c) stopped three blocks before our stop, at which point the driver informed us that the tram would be turning at the next corner and wouldn't be going to the Docklands today. We ended up walking the last bit out of sheer frustration. Sigh.
As you can see, there were certainly some interesting things to see in the Docklands. Like Toronto, Melbourne is trying to revitalize its waterfront (and boy, does Melbourne have a lot of waterfront!). This section used to be full of warehouses etc., but the main shipping port has moved away from the city centre, leaving a space ripe for - of course - condos and big expensive yachts. Oh, and street art. The piece shown here is called - wait for it - "Cow Up A Tree". Ha ha! I love it. And there was a very helpful plaque at the base of the sculpture, explaining its history. Apparently the inspiration for this sculpture comes from real life. When it rains here in OZ, it can POUR, and that means flash floods. It is not uncommon for cattle to find themselves stranded in the tops of trees when the floodwaters recede again! There were other sculptures as well... we were puzzled by the series of white forms titled "Silence", and even after reading the accompanying poem, have no idea what the point of the piece is.
It's Chinese New Year (kung hei fat choi!), and there were dragonboat races going on at the Docklands as part of the celebrations. I think we must've shown up near the end - there weren't all that many folks watching or racing, but it was still neat. I was kinda lusting after the shirts of one of the teams... bright, blood-red, with an awesome Chinese dragon silhouetted in black on the front. AND made of quick-dry material. Mmmm! So cool.
The random nature of the things we've come across in our wanderings continues to amaze me. Topping the "random" list today - we found a skating rink! At one end of the Docklands was a structure that looked somehting like a modern version of a circus tent. As we approached, we could hear disco music pouring out of it. And when we got right up close, we realized it was a skating rink! Not just a skating rink, really - a DISCO skating rink. Inside we found rows of lawn chairs for spectators to watch, and a small (ok, make that weenie) ice surface, about the size of the stage at my school. The interior was dark and there were dance lights set up all around the room. It was crazy! You could rent skates and go play for about $10/half hour. Ha ha! I'll wait 'till I get back home, thank you very much. But living in Ottawa does that to you - once you've skated on the canal, there's no going back!
