I know this is probably old news by now, but I finally went to see the “Pink Lake” in Melbourne at Westgate Park. The salt water lake turns pink almost every summer due to the interaction of algae and halobacterium in the heat. Lots of people were there to see it before it disappears.
If you go, be warned: it’s stinky!
After living in Melbourne almost two and a half years, we finally went to the zoo! There were some particularly cheeky animals. I recommend going to the keeper talks to get good views and information. Every major exhibit has a message about conservation, such as recycling cell phones and buying products that don’t use unsustainable palm oil. A lot of renovation is going on, so we couldn’t see some things like the frog house, but I think the improvements will be really nice!
On one side of Federation Square in Melbourne sits a small museum featuring Australian art. It’s part of the National Gallery of Victoria. The temporary exhibitions change constantly and they always surprise and inspire. Everything from photography to furniture, audio/visual and interactive collections, including Indigenous art.
The best part? Free entry!
This past Sunday we stopped by the Pet & Animal Expo in Wyndham. The dogs loved seeing all kinds of animals, especially at the petting zoo. We (the humans) looked at all the booths and then learned how to perform CPR on dogs. It’s a pretty cool event if you love animals!
Now that the weather is getting nicer, we finally went for a hike. We went to Werribee Gorge (always looking for fun things to do on the west side!). The circuit walk is so good! There are definitely hard sections; parts of the trail are just piles of rocks, and there is a cable to hang on to in one part so you don’t fall in to the water. An old irrigation channel goes along part of the trail, and informational signs about plants and wildlife keep the hike interesting. It took us about 3.5 hours and we took our time.
Another touristy post!
Living in Melbourne, I have always wanted to tour Parliament. I never got the chance until recently. We only did the short tour (15 minutes), which was extremely rushed, but still really interesting. I would recommend taking one of the longer tours, because there is so much information! I got the impression that the guides prefer leading the longer tours, too.
Here are some quick photos I got of the building and details.
A cool thing about a lot of wildlife sanctuaries in Australia is that you can feed the animals. They will come right up to you, even grab your hands, and it makes for fun photo opportunities. I took these at the Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas.
Fun fact: This is one of the few places in Australia where you can hold a koala!
Australia has a very interesting and dynamic history of immigration. The Immigration Museum is full of surprising facts and amazing stories! They have an exhibition that chronicles the life of Mahatma Gandhi, and a British immigrants exhibition that closes this Sunday. I think the ‘Identity: yours, mine, ours’ exhibition should be seen by everyone. It is a wonderful opportunity to teach kids about diversity and acceptance.
We took a day trip to Mount Macedon recently. It was beautiful and everything was so well-kept. There are a lot of small walks to drive to that offer incredible scenery! The Top of the Range tea room is very cute and gives you the chance to enjoy a glass of wine with a view. We will definitely be back again!
Memorial Cross
Major Mitchell Lookout
View at Camels Hump
Sanatorium Lake
One night a year, from 7pm to 7am, the city comes alive with art, performances, and activities. We managed to stay out all night long, and saw some really amazing things.
I love Melbourne!
Just some scenes from the NGV Triennial in Melbourne.
Apparently the NGV is a great date idea.
One of the most interesting things about the Triennial was the placement of the new, modern pieces in the historical galleries.
The NGV Triennial goes on until April 18th!
Two of the most visually striking displays at the NGV Triennial are Yayoi Kusama’s Flower Obsession and Ron Mueck’s Mass. One involves an explosion of bright red flowers, and the other is a room full of giant human skulls.
When you walk in to Flower Obsession, you are given a flower sticker to place anywhere you want in a recreated living space. The flowers have now taken over, illustrating a hallucination the artist had as a child.
“They killed all those giants! How sad!” -my husband, who sometimes thinks he’s 12.
One hundred individual skulls sit in the historical collection galleries of the NGV. It is so strange and cool.
More photos of the NGV Triennial to come!
This past weekend we checked out the Melbourne Latin Summer Festival. It was a small festival set up in the Royal Botanical Gardens. We saw a lot of amazing salsa dancing and ate some great food. One band that I really liked was the Huanchaco Band (last 2 pictures). They made some beautiful music!
And now I want to learn how to salsa.
This past weekend, we went to Healesville Sanctuary for the Wine & Wildlife event. After a stressful morning navigating public transportation, we spent the day sampling wines and looking at animals! Definitely coming back to this awesome place whenever we can.
I went to the NGV last week to see the Festival of Photography, and then I just walked around admiring everything. My favourites were the William Eggleston and Ross Coulter exhibits. The former is a window to the past, while the latter is a kind of modern take on performance art.
Photography is so diverse and amazing.
My husband and I took a trip to the Great Ocean Road for our anniversary. Even though the weather wasn’t great, everything was beautiful! We even saw some koalas.
We started in Portland and drove all the way back to Melbourne in three days.
During our Tasmania road trip, my mom took a lot of pictures of me taking pictures. So here are some of hers, next to the photo I was taking. Some of them are pretty amusing 🙂
We explored Cataract Gorge in Launceston. It’s such a cool spot so close to the city. The walk goes to the historic Duck Reach Power Station.
My next post about Tasmania features Richmond and nearby wineries: Coal Valley Vineyard, Frogmore Creek, and Pooley Vineyards. Richmond is a really neat historical town with a lot to see! Including the oldest Roman Catholic church in Australia and the Richmond Bridge.
This is the third post about our Tasmania adventure. The others show Cradle Mountain and Bicheno.
Here is the next post about our Tasmania road trip! Bicheno was an adventure in itself; we climbed on the rocks by the water, saw wild penguins on a late night nature walk, and went to East Coast Natureworld to see Tasmanian Devils up close.
I recently went on a road trip through Tasmania with my family. I have so many pictures so I’m splitting them up into a few blog posts. First up: Cradle Mountain National Park! We walked around Dove Lake and then went up to Marion’s Lookout. One of the hardest but most beautiful hikes I’ve ever done!
Christina Hardcastle photography 