Photo from flickr – mugley

We billeted a couple of young American guys for five days early in July and although they had a number of planned activities with their own group, I actually got to play the role of tourist guide a couple of times. I really enjoyed seeing how new comers to Australia and Melbourne viewed my home town.

As it was school holidays, it was also a great opportunity to have the kids experience some sights and fun of Melbourne town. Reflecting upon our time touring the city, I came up with five things about Melbourne that I had been taking for granted:

(1). Port Phillip Bay.
Now Sydney siders may scoff at this point, but when you come from a land locked part of America (or any other part of the world), Port Phillip Bay is quite beautiful. We went for a walk along St Kilda Pier and had a gorgeous scenic view of Melbourne City.

(2). Easy To Use Public Transport
I am the first to admit that Metlink is not perfect and that the privatisation of Melbourne’s public system was not a success, but we do have a system that is very easy to use. The one ticket system means that my visitors only needed to purchase the one ticket, regardless of how many trains, trams or buses they were catching for the day.

(3). Green and Beautiful
To locals Melbourne is no where near as green as it used to be, but for a capital city, Melbourne has many beautiful gardens in and close to the CBD – Royal Botanic Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens, Treasury Gardens, King’s Domain and Flagstaff Gardens to name a few. They are amazing havens of nature amongst the concrete of the city.

(4). Free and Cheap
Melbourne city offers so many free or quite cheap activities. There is always something free on offer at Federation Square. Entry to the standard exhibitions at National Gallery of Victoria Australia and National Gallery of Victoria International are free. Melbourne Musuem and the Immigration Musuem are only $6 for general admission.

Melbourne has a deep love of Festivals so it would be difficult to be in Melbourne at a time when there wasn’t some festival happening and where you could go along to their free activities.

(5). The Football Experience
Even if you know nothing at all about Australian Rules Football or are not a fan, going to the MCG and sitting amongst 60,000+ other people is quite an experience. It can provide an insight into an aspect of Australian culture that could otherwise get overlooked!

I have made Melbourne my home for the last 18 years of my life and seeing it through the eyes of a tourist, reinforced my love for this wonderful city.

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My particular session, ‘Everybody wants to hear what I’ve got to say…’ was held up on the second floor in the Yarra Room.

It was a lovely room of plush carpeting and impressive portraits hung on the wall and I deeply regret not taking my camera to take some shots, because the breakout area was on the second floor balcony, which if you looked over to the left you could get some marvellous views down St Kilda Rd towards the War Memorial, or to the right, back up Swanston towards the main shopping areas.

Then, afterwards, I had lunch at Federation Square, one of the more recent cultural and social tourist attractions built in Melbourne. Depending on who you talk to, it is either beautiful or hideous (my opinion is of the former camp).

Melbourne is my adopted city. It’s taken some years, but I think I love her now. I love the shopping, at any rate

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