Melbourne City day

Jan 10

Even though John slept soundly he woke around 9am ready for his city adventure. Janice said that she needed to keep working on her house as it is not yet up to her standards so she drove John to the train station at Glen Waverley and he bought his Super Sunday Saver for $3.10. The ticket would allow him unlimited access on any city trains, buses, and trams all day long. Janice loaned him a small backpack (he left me home saying I was too big!) and had very kindly put a bottle of cold water in it.

The train trip was good, the seats comfy, although there were a lot of stops. He was on the 10:30am train and was in the city by 11:10. The first thing he did was go to the Tourist Information Centre in Federation Square in the heart of the city, just outside the Flinders Street train station where Glenn and Stewart had said to get off the train. He found out that there was a free tourist bus shuttle and the first stop was the MCG, which stands for Melbourne Cricket Grounds although they play Aussie Rules football there, too.

The bus was loaded and John had to stand, hlding onto a strap. That was no problem because he was getting off at the first stop.

John bought his tour pass and joined a small group - a young guy from Ireland, two young guys from England and a young couple from India - on the tour. Their guide was a long time member of, and perhaps a player with, the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) and now retired. John and he were the only two around John's age. The guide had a passion for the game that came out easily. He showed them the seating, allowed them (against the rules) to wiggle their toes on some of the best turf in Australia, took them through the locker rooms, the training rooms, the media boxes, pointed out pictures of the former stars of both Australian cricket and Aussie Rules football, took them into special rooms for the elite of Australian sport, and showed them all the artwork inside.

One stunning piece was a huge needlepoint tapestry depicting the history of the MCC since its inception in the 1880`s. There were hundred of tiny figures playing cricket and football amongst pictures of the stands through time and everything looked so realistic that John had to go up close to check that each was, indeed, made of tiny stitches. Apparently, only Korean women can do the needlework with the precision needed and it took a large team (John cannot remember the actual number but it was huge) some 18 months to complete. It must have been 16 feet long and at least 8 feet high! The skill that the designer and the artisans obviously had, put John in awe.

The 90 minute tour took nearly two and a half hours due to the knowledge and dedication of their guide, who said that since he was a volunteer they couldn`t fire him for giving a much longer tour than we paid for. At one point, another group came up from behind and their guide said to her group to listen to our guide because he knew so much. It may have been the best tour that John has ever had of any facility anywhere, although the tour of the Hostess Potato Chip factory, with the large number of free samples he got, still rates up there for him!



After they finished John noticed the time and went back to the bus stop to pick up the tourist shuttle. It turns out that it is run by Gray Lines, is free, and takes about 90 minutes for the loop. It is like the 'hop on hop off' tours of other cities but is free! Since the loop only goes on one direction, John was able to see 13 more stops - from the Arts Centre, Chinatown, the Theatre District, Melbourne Museum, Lygon Street, U of Melbourne, Queen Victoria Market, Docklands, Waterfront City, William Street, Soutbank, the Shrine and Royal Botanic Gardens. John stayed on the bus becuase it only runs until 4:00pm or so and he didn't want to be caught miles away from the train station. It did mean that he decided he would go back anpther day. The Melbourne Museum looked especially interesting - very fun. playful, and interactive.

John and Janice had agreed that he would call her when his train was about to leave the Flinders St station so she could pick him up at Glen Waverley again. He did just that from a payphone on the platform as the 4:00pm train was about to leave, John was amazed that the $3.10 ticket was still valid for the ride back. Janice picked him up a couple of minutes after he came out of the station.

Janice said that Lynney had said I might enjoy a movie called Samson and Delilah, about two aboriginal children, and she rented it from Blockbuster. The movie was very powerful but incredibly sad. They then went grocery shopping for dinner this evening.

It had been a great day and John's spirits were very high.


TRB