Mood:
a-okThe next morning, we left for Melbourne around 8:00a, for what would be a three hour drive. We got to Melbourne around 11:00a, which was way too early to check in, so Kimberly stepped in with the suggestion of going to see St Kilda beach, another area she read about. It was a nice beach and very near was the small shops and bistros you might expect. We grabbed lunch, walked the beach for a while, then headed to the hotel.
Now I have to tell you about some of the differences between Australia and the U.S. The Australian states enjoy much greater autonomy than the American states. They have their own driving rules and common practices, for instance. Some states, you have to stop before entering a traffic circle. Others, you get run over for doing that. Sometimes pedestrians have the right of way, others not so much. One of these rules in Melbourne is that if you want to turn right, you do so from the left-most lane. No joke. Keep in mind the left-hand driving rules throughout Australia. At an intersection, if I want to turn right, I pull into the far left lane and sort of merge with the traffic waiting for their light to turn green, although I am perpendicular to them, just waiting to be t-boned. I’ve just become first in their line. My light turns red, their light turns green, I now finish my turn and continue to drive.
I didn’t know this. I just about got us killed a half-dozen times on the way to the motel-suggested parking area. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong! Why can I not turn right?!? It seems to be upsetting people and I don’t know why! At one point, a guy in a van yelled at me, “What the hell are you doing, Mate!” I was relieved! I thought it was OBVIOUS that I had NO IDEA!
Finally, I said forget this and headed back to the motel and just parked at the closest available lot, which ending up costing $76 to park for less than 24hrs.
After parking, we walked up to the motel, dropped off our stuff, and armed with a few maps, went out to see Melbourne! We had two venues here, as well. We wanted to see the Night Market, which takes place at the Queen Victoria market grounds, although the night market is completely different, and we had tickets to see the Old Melbourne Gaol (old way of spelling “Jail”). The market would start at 5:30p. The Gaol tour would start at 8:30p. Until then, we just toured around using both the free Tourist Bus, which drove around an hour loop that basically gave you the lay of the land, and the free City Circle Tram which looped around the main downtown area of Melbourne. Both were cool. The bus was good because of the history and commentary it provided with each of the districts. The tram was good because the windows rolled down and you could take pictures from it.
Chinatown
On the Tram
The market was packed at 5:30p and stayed that way until 7:00p, when we left. They had all manner of shops, though it was mostly clothes. We walked back to the hotel (5 blocks) and dropped off our loot, and then headed for the Gaol.
The Gaol Tour
We arrived at the Gaol at 8:00p and joined the other people already waiting for the doors to open. This is one of the oldest jails in Australia, built in stages, starting in the 1850’s. It stayed open and used until 1975. A vast majority (something like 90%) of the executions that took place in Australia, took place at its gallows. This included, of course, Ned Kelly, an Australian folk hero something like Robin Hood or Jesse James. I’m sure you can find his story on the internet somewhere, if you are interested. As for us, I just announced to this group of people that I had no idea who he was and a very nice Australian man told me the whole story! It was told to me again once we got inside.
Great tour! It was at night, lit by candles, with a tour guide in character as one of the inmates, and also the executioner, which was apparently common. He took us from cell to cell telling us about the most famous inmates. He talked about life in the prison. He showed us the gallows and explained how they worked. It was really well done and it was a lot of gruesome sort of fun.
Original Cell Block
Prisoner Artifacts
Jacoby, Dressed in Ned Kelly's Armor (Costume)
The Gallows
Were you really, REALLY don't want to stand. This is the trap door to the Gallows, bottom view.
All in all, it was well worth the time and money and we all had fun.
Then it was back to the room to sleep it all off and begin the long journey home. I’m not going to write about that, simply because nothing of interest happened. It was long, hot, and uneventful.
