Melbourne – The Hidden Panorama

Walking Around Melbourne

While living in Melbourne for more than 1.5 years during my assignment for 4 consecutive projects, I was given one of the unprecedented opportunities while working abroad. What kind of opportunity was it that I am talking about? An opportunity to see another country which is Australia, to see another state which is Victoria and to see another city which is Melbourne.

Melbourne is one of the major city that always included in the list of most livable city in the world. Before, I know nothing about the said city but after I got a chance to lived in Melbourne for sometime, I realized and understood the truthfulness why the city is one of the most livable place on earth.

If I will be given another chance to go back in Melbourne I will come back and if I will be given a chance to live there, I wholeheartedly accept it.

Living in one place for a while does not mean you already see everything. I live in my country since birth but I haven’t even got a chance to see quarter of it. While living in Melbourne, I tried my best to see more of the city. To appreciate Melbourne or any other places, I always think that walking is the best way to see it specially if times allows it. I prefer to walk even there’s a tour available, not only because it’s cheaper but because walking in the city or walking in places gives me a chance not only to see it but to experience it.

I did some walks in Melbourne together with my camera following the walking tour maps that I got from Visitor Center at Federation Square and other interesting walks available near or within the metropolis.

Here are some of the posts portraying Melbourne with European atmosphere city down under.

1. On The Waterfront

Walking Around Melbourne

2. A Walk In The Park

3. Elegant Enclave

4. Shine of Remembrance

5. St Kilda Road

6. Yarra River And Sports Precinct

7. Carlton

8. Block Arcade and Royal Arcade

9. State Library

State Library of Victoria – One of the First Free Public Libraries in the World – Melbourne Walking Tour Part 2

10. Open House Melbourne

Note:

The list above may not be the complete list yet but will be updated if necessary. The link for each post may or may not yet available as you found this post. The article maybe still under its way. I wrote this post a bit later after I published the post for my first walk done in Melbourne – “On The Water Front – Melbourne Walking Tour Part 1“.

Name Of The Place : St Kilda Marina

Name Of The Place (Post#24) : St Kilda Marina

One of the walks that I did while living in Melbourne for a while was walks near the shore. Since I lived in St. Kilda that time, I had a chance to see some part of the suburb and one of the things that St Kilda is famous is because of its beach or marina. I can say that its marina is one of the nearest from city center of Melbourne. The photo above that I captured was taken when I was passing St. Kilda Marina where boats and yachts do their parking and offers other marina services. Photo captured last December 2013.

Twilight : White Night Melbourne – Flinders Street Station

Twilight (Post#3) : White Night Melbourne – Flinders Street Station

Photo above was captured during light shows at Flinders Street Station building in the midst of White Night celebration in Melbourne held last February 2014.

Arts and Craft : “Silence” By Adrian Mauriks

Arts and Craft (Post#1) : “Silence” By Adrian Mauriks

After I sailed along Yarra River in Docklands, within Victoria Harbour in Melbourne one of the public art display noticeable when I passed NewQuay Promenade is the art display with the title “Silence” which made by sculpture Adrian Mauriks. The art display become a playground for the kids strayed in the area. I as searched more information about the art public display, below is what I found.

Sculptor Adrian Mauriks has described this work as “a series of forms arousing to the mind, appealing to memory, reminding you of natural things – clouds, a tree, a forest – questioning and gesturing, and at the same time promoting sustainability in all things.” The work has a quiet presence, suggesting gentleness and an opposing view of the chaotic world outside.

For me public art display makes the place or the surrounding more alive because of a unique and genius craft that adds spices to unadorned spaces. Photos captured after my sailing adventure last March 2013.

Interior : The Block Arcade – Elizabeth St Interior Walkway

Interior (Post#2) : The Block Arcade – Elizabeth St Interior Walkway

One of the things that I really enjoyed in Australia while strolling around in its different cities are its century old arcades and one of them is “The Block Arcade” or simply “The Block”. The said arcade is located almost at the center of Melbourne CBD. When I got a chance to enter in this European touched arcade I was really amazed. Looking at its interior design, you will really feel the building’s history and culture. Photo captured last July 2013 while walking around the city.

Blissful Second : Killara Estate (Yarra Valley) – Feast Time

Blissful Second (Post#3) : Killara Estate (Yarra Valley) – Feast Time

We went to Killara Estate in Yarra Valley as part of wine itinerary tour. Aside from tasting wine we had our lunch here. The photo above was some people enjoying the lunch at the time we were in the restaurant. Photo captured last February 2013.

Structure : Royal Exhibition Building

Structure (Post#3) : Royal Exhibition Building

Royal Exhibition Building is one of the building on my list that I wanted to visit while I was in Melbourne. But it was only happened when Motorclassica (showcasing classic cars) event happened last October 2013.. Visiting the building requires reservation and most of the time, it is fully booked for events and exhibitions. This building based on history was the first in Australia to be awarded as UNESCO World Heritage status, being one of the last remaining 19th-century exhibition building. The building also hosted the opening of the first Parliament of Australia in 1901.

Chromatic Outlook : 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster

Chromatic Outlook (Post #22) : 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster

This post is related to the first photo I published under “Theme” which featured a classic car with a model of 1923 Chenard et Walcker 3L Roadster. This time I am featuring one of the super luxurious sports car – 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster. This model of Lamborghini was displayed in the Motorclassica event that I attended in Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne last October 2013. The event gave me a chance to glimpse the car from a distance. It was so close yet so far as it has some distance to the spectators.

Interior : State Library Victoria – La Trobe Reading Room Ceiling

Interior (Post#1) : State Library Victoria – La Trobe Reading Room Ceiling

The photo above is the interior design of the dome ceiling in La Trobe Reading Room inside State Library Victoria in Melbourne CBD. The photo above was just a sneak shot that I had while wandering inside the library. At first, I tried to search books to read inside this room, but to be honest my intention is to take a snapshot of this magnificent domed reading room not to be obvious to other people, that I was inside the library just to be amazed and appreciate its interior design. I sneaked this shot last July 2013. So keep quiet…shhh.

Edible : Yarra Valley Chocolaterie – Chocolates

Edible (Post#1) : Yarra Valley Chocolaterie – Chocolates

It was second time for me to explore Yarra Valley while I was still in Melbourne. And to my surprise, I am not aware that in the vast middle of the valley we will find a chocolate factory named Yarra Valley Chocolaterie with a bright and colourful one storey building. I was amazed because I never expected to see such factory quite far from the city. And to be honest, I enjoyed the visit because of overflowing sweets such as chocolates. Photo snapshot captured last October 2013.

Theme : Classic Car – 1923 Chenard et Walcker 3L Roadster

Theme (Post#2) : Classic Car – 1923 Chenard et Walcker 3L Roadster

I am not really a car enthusiast since I never know how to drive, but when it comes to classic cars I have this great curiosity what they really look like since I was born at the time where these classic vehicles are now seldom to see in the road and if I will see it, it is definitely a great luck. As per the information near the vintage car, the name of the car was came from a railway engineer and maker of bicycles with a factory in Asnieres-sur-Seine named Ernest Chenard whom joined with mining engineer Henri Walcker in 1898 to make motor vehicles. They formally founded Chenard, Walcker Compagnie in 1900 with Chenard in charge of design and Walcker sales and finance. Photo captured during Motorclassica event at Royal Exhibition Building held last October 2013.

National Rhododendron Garden and Grant Picnic Ground

It was almost a month after I returned to Melbourne last October 2014, it was my first day to really go out again to explore some places that I haven’t seen yet. The place we were targeting was somewhere near the city which was Dandenong Ranges National Park. On this trip, I discovered and learned that this National Park has a lot to offer to anyone.

As my friends got a map of the national park, when they were discussing places visit near the city, they selected a garden. At first I really don’t understand the name of the garden because I was somewhat unfamiliar with the term. The name of the garden became clear to me when we arrived at the place. The day we went out was still Spring season and since we were technically inside the mountain, it was really cold and it felt like it was winter.

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The name of the garden we visited is National Rhododendron Garden. I honestly not familiar with that flower family. I felt that I never heard it before or I forgot it from my secondary school years.

We had lunch first at the parking area as the garden does not have a facility such as picnic area where we can eat. After lunch, we went inside the National Rhododendron Garden through the store beside the closed main gate and stopped for a while to look around inside the store. In the store I found out what Rhododendron flower family look like. After spending sometime at the store I left my friends and took my chances to walk inside the garden. I remembered one funny thing happened to me inside the garden. At the time I was there and following the path walk, I was a fool looking around and taking photos using my DSLR and yet I never immediately noticed that I am taking photos without knowing that my camera does not have memory card. Yes, I was crazy taking photos without checking the screen of my camera after takings shots where some messages that my memory card slot was empty, because of the situation I never able to save all my shots. Since I already spent time walking in the garden, I was quite sensitive with the time and I knew that my friends were waiting at the store. I tried to return to the garden using my iPhone and all I was able to do was to have a couple of shots as my souvenir to the garden. Most of the memories of Rhododendron garden were all in my memory.

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–Some photos that I quickly captured with my iPhone before leaving the garden

I returned to the store and in few minutes we left the garden. When we were back on the road, my friends checked again the map of Dandenong Ranges and then they agreed to visit a picnic ground which became our next stop that day. We went at Grant Picnic Ground. I honestly had no idea what to expect in the place until we saw a lot of visitors looking around at the bird feeding area. Since we had limited time in the place as it will close at 5PM, my friends bought seeds so they can enter in the fenced feeding area and to have a moment with the birds such as Rosella, native and wild birds.

I let my friends feed the bird while I take in charge of photo shoot. There still birds in the feeding area but when my friends entered in the fenced area, birds started to flock together and slowly approached my friends as they saw the food/seeds. We started to laugh as we heard screaming. It was fun-filled sight as my mates felt a little bit nervous when birds were so close to them physically, some birds flew to their heads, some stepped on their arms or feet, birds comes wherever the food was. My friends were screaming as they felt the bird’s claws and its pointed toes. All of us were enjoying what we were seeing inside the feeding area.

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–Crimson Rosella

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–King Parrot (the one that I tried to chase with my camera as its colour is really striking)

Last thing I did was I went inside the souvenir shop just to look around and just check if I can find post cards that will leave memories of Grant Picnic Ground. Then after few more minutes had been passed, we decided to leave the place as it closed the feeding area and the shop since the business day is over for the day. This how we ended our adventure.

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–Cockatoo

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–Cockatoo

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–Cockatoo Flying

Panoramic View : Melbourne Central Business District

Panoramic View (Post#20) : Melbourne Central Business District

One of the things that I really like when I live abroad is to walk around in the place with my camera. As there are lot of places to explore in Melbourne and its surrounding area, I did some research until I found something about Bayside. It is a city at the southern Melbourne which scopes the suburbs beside the coastal area such as Beaumaris, Black Rock, Brighton, Brighton East, Cheltenham, Hampton, Hampton East, Highett and Sandringham. When I was about to leave Melbourne last December 2013, I grabbed a chance to walk along the coastal of these suburbs. I took the photo above of Melbourne CBD almost near in Royal Brighton Yacht Club.

This post has been updated to add the link of and to participate in the following:
Blue Monday – Jun 13, 2016
Through My Lens – Jun 13, 2016
Our World Tuesday – Jun 14, 2016
Travel Tuesday – Jun 14, 2016
Outdoor Wednesday – Jun 15, 2016
Wednesday Around The World – Jun 15, 2016
Skywatch Friday – Jun 17, 2016
Scenic Weekends – Jun 17, 2016
In Heaven – Jun 18, 2016

Name Of The Place : Flinders Street

Name Of The Place (Post#19) : Flinders Street

Flinders Street is one of the famous train station in Melbourne not only because of its history but because this is station that serves the entire metro train network as anyone can commute from this station to any station. And the location of the station is strategic as it is within the city center. When I captured this photo, it was during Melbourne Cup last November 2013. Recently, there was design competition happened to rejuvenate the historical and landmark station in Melbourne.

Australian Rainbow Trout Farm

Since I was back in Melbourne last October 2014, I got another chance to see more of Victoria in Australia. It was Melbourne Cup that day again, and the people who close to me or let say my friends in Melbourne planned to go somewhere so we can spent the holiday in a worthwhile trip. The plan was fishing. I never joined nor engaged fishing activities before. Though even I was hesitant to confirm that I will be going, I decided to go.

While we were on our way to the trout farm, I checked my phone’s GPS, I was curious which road we took and where we were heading. The trout farm is located in Dandenong Ranges specifically in Macclesfield. I was picked up at my place along St Kilda Road around 8AM. Then we picked up another friend in Malvern. After that we hit the road again and from the city we took Monash Freeway. Then we turned left and took Wellington Rd, we followed the road as is, when we reached Clematis we turned right and took Belgrave-Gembrook Rd. We turned left again when we reached Macclesfield Rd and in few minutes we turned left and took a little rough road of Paton Rd until we reach the destination. Well every time I traveled I like looking at the GPS apps when data is available because at least I was able to recognize the place that I passed and the place where I had been. Seeing the places and knowing its names made a sense to me.

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When we reached the trout farm almost 10am, we were the first group visitors arrived in the place and first batch in our group. I helped out in taking stuff from the car of my friend and we went to the kiosk inside the farm to pay our entrance. Then we went to the selected tables we chose as our group were quite big. I helped out to stuff the table and took some time in frying sausages. These kind of activities in the farm were really nice for group of people or families because these were really nice way to have friends bonding or family bonding.

Then, one by one each batch in our group were coming and since it’s holiday in Victoria, a lot of people took the opportunity to go to the same farm we were to have some break. I thought at first that I was not going to enjoy the activity but I made mistake. I was really happy when we were there because the whole group were there, chatting, laughing and eating.

Since most in the group brought foods, there were many menus, deserts and finger foods. My eyes were popping out and my mind confused as I really don’t know what to choose, all menus in the tables were all Filipino foods which I really love.

After lunch, we went to the fishing area where we spent most of our time in the afternoon. Most of us took the fishing rods and tried to catch a fish. The activity was so enjoyable because most of us were surprised once someone from us were able to catch a fish. I did not tried to catch a fish, I just posed so that I will look like I was catching a fish. Everybody were laughing when someone scream because of surprised reaction as their fishing rod caught a fish.

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–Fish Pond

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–Fishes

One of the great feature of the farm was it has fish pond where you can do a guaranteed fishing and it is guaranteed that you will be able to catch one. And most of us tried to control catching a fish because every fish that will be caught must be paid and the payment is based on the weight. We were smiling and joking that this was the kind of fishing activity that you did not worry if there will be fish to catch, you will worried for how much you were going to pay after you finished catching fish.

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–Fishing Time

After fishing time, we spent talking and eating again, until I left the group for sometime and walk around the farm so I can find some scenic spot for photo shots as my souvenir in the place.

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–Photo shots inside the farm

I returned to my group and helped out for packing all the stuff we used. After half-an hour we left the trout farm and we hit the road to the city, same route we took when we were on our way to the farm. I was dropped off first at my place.

I had a great time again with friends in Melbourne. I’m thankful again for a wonderful place, lots of memories and I will surely treasure all of them. Until next adventure.

Chromatic Outlook : Shrine of Remembrance

Chromatic Outlook (Post#16) : Shrine of Remembrance

I used to see this building on my back and forth travel from work and to the place where I live while I was in Melbourne. Coming from the city, this structure looks in the middle of St Kilda Road as it turned out that the road turns curve which is a good visual effect and become a charm in the area. Even this building is near and walkable from my place, I haven’t got a chance to see it immediately until I put some time to walk around Melbourne. Shrine of Remembrance was built to remember Victorian people who fought World War I and now it is shrine to all Australians who fought wars. After I visited Canberra, I just thought that it was like a branch of Australian Memorial as it showcase the bravery of people who for the peace we enjoy right now. Photo capture last July 2013.

View At My Window : MotorClassica At Royal Exhibition Building

View At My Window (Post#15) : MotorClassica At Royal Exhibition Building

Car Motor Show was one of the unique event that I attended while in Melbourne. When I heard about MotorClassica I was curious as I am not really a car enthusiast since I don’t know how to drive and I don’t have my own car. But a showcase of classical cars was the main reason of my curiosity to attend. I went to Royal Exhibition Building to see different historical and branded cars which considered a treasure to people who own it. I honestly enjoyed the said exhibit. Photo captured last October 2013.

Name Of The Place : Puffing Billy Railway

Name Of The Place (Post#15) : Puffing Billy Railway

This photo is part of my Puffing Billy collection when I visited together with the family of my friends in Melbourne. The historical and century old steam railway which still running in our time is now called as Australia’s Premier Preserved Steam Railway. Photo captured last June 2013.

View At My Window : Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ

View At My Window (Post#12) : Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ

The reason why I like Open House event in any city is because of the freedom to enter in a building whether its public or private for free. Melbourne Town Hall was one of the building that I got a chance to visit during the event. And here one of the best feature of the Town Hall is its majestic Main Hall where one of the most beautiful pipe organ in the world can be found, it is the original wood-carved Grand Organ which built-in 1929. The said organ has been refurbished and relaunched last 2001. The photo captured during Open House Melbourne event held last July 2013.

Chromatic Outlook : Melbourne City Town Hall

Chromatic Outlook (Post#10) : Melbourne City Town Hall

When I stayed in Australia, specifically in Melbourne, most of my travel plans were outside Melbourne or outside Victoria state as the city itself and nearby suburbs or towns will be easier to plan than traveling outside. And when Melbourne Open House event had been scheduled, I grabbed the opportunity to see the city because I have freedom to enter different buildings for free. One of the historic building I visited was the Melbourne City Town Hall which captured last July 2013. Melbourne City Town Hall as per Wikipedia is a municipal building of Melbourne City where the office of local government area is located.

This post has been updated to add the link of and to participate in the following:
Black and White View – May 30, 2016
Black and White Wednesday – Jun 1, 2016
The Weekend in Black and White – Jun 3, 2016