This evening the weather is as it was yesterday and the severe weather warnings are still in place in the northern parts of this state and the other two. According to the news this evening, 75% of New South Wales is either flooded or being in some way affected negatively by the rain. The winds here are strong and we have just dismantled the awning which we have had up in a semi-permanent state; sides screens included. We decided that preferable to dealing with it in the middle of the night.
It rained all last night or at least at all times when either of us woke, although the ground about the caravan was only puddled rather than flooded outright. We set off into town on the train once more, well wrapped in jackets and jeans, and made our way to the State Parliament. We had understood that we could join a free tour at 11.30 am however today parliament was sitting and this was not a goer. Instead we decided to return for Question Time early in the afternoon.
We caught the train down to Flinders Street and set off on the Arcades and Lanes Walk about the city centre. We had previously had walked up and down the main streets and through some of the “Little” streets in-between, but had neglected entirely the smaller network of lanes and arcades. This had been recommended to us a couple of days ago by the lovely woman in the Information Centre and we were well armed with an excellent little brochure and map. And so we set off on foot, starting at Federation Square, into Flinders Street, up Delgraves Street, then along Flinders Lane, Centre Way, Block Arcade, Block Place, across Little Collins Street, through Royal Arcade, Bourke Street Mall, Little Bourke Street, Niagara Lane, Lonsdale Street, Hardware lane, Galleria Plaza, Howey Place, Capitol Place, Manchester Unity Arcade, Manchester Lane, back through Flinders Lane, down Scott Alley, through Port Phillip Arcade and returning finally to Federation Square. This wonderful walk of actually only two and a half kilometres, winding our way through these fabulous narrow alleys, past tiny cafes and boutiques, past a whole different Melbourne than we had already seen, is an absolute must and cannot be seen and appreciated from the trams. Some of the restaurants were squeezed into spaces little bigger than broom cupboards. Quite amazing!
We dined on our cut lunch in the same atrium at the Square as we had a couple of days ago, and then set off up Collins Street to see a couple of buildings apparently worth a special trip.
The first was the original Commercial Bank of Australia at 333 Collins Street. It is one of the many beautiful buildings rising from the gold prosperity in the 1880s. It has undergone several reformations; the original façade of the building was refaced in 1939 and again in the 1990s, with the façade and domes being cunningly incorporated into the modern design. The building around it is a modern skyscraper occupied by many offices.
The second wonderful edifice is that occupied by the ANZ Bank almost opposite. It was built during the years 1883 through to 1887 as head office of the English, Scottish and Australian Bank, designed by William Wardell and considered the finest secular Gothic Revival building in Australia. We entered the building to take in its splendour, aware that we were interlopers; it still operates as a regular bank.
We hurried toward parliament; a combination of walking and tram travel, arriving in plenty of time to be escorted through security and bag storage. The public balcony is quite small and we were seated low in the parliament, within full view of the parliamentarians and house officers. Soon Question Time was on and quite a shock to us whose only other such experience was that in Wellington’s Parliament where there is an element of decorum. Here in the Lower House in Victoria, all hell is let loose; there is a raucous disregard for any rules or formality. Few of the members seemed to have any respect for the Speaker of the House, even when he attempted to regain control of the house, evicting four members. It really was a dreadful show, worse than any caricature of the British Parliament or indeed, any unruly school class, where the teacher becomes the victim of the pupils. At one point, the Speaker described the Labour members as ‘rat-bags” which inflamed passions and points of order were made one after another, none having any effect on the proceedings and none causing the Speaker to retract his criticism. On top of all this, the sound was very poor and we who were sitting in the back of the house had trouble making out everything that was said. Perhaps it was just as well. We left after the end of the question time having been subjected to this tirade and chaos for just over an hour. My ears were ringing from the shrill cries of the parliamentarians and while I was not impressed, I was pleased we had taken advantage of the opportunity.
We caught the free tram that circles around the city, enjoying the change of occasion and then alighted at Flagstaff, catching the train back to Sunshine at a slightly earlier time than yesterday, this time not having to stand for the half hour rail trip.
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