11 March 2012 - Sundowner Rockbank Caravan Park, Victoria

Thursday announced itself with the unwelcome buzz of the alarm, a kind of torture these days. We were up and on the road before eight, battling traffic jams, taking three quarters of an hour to travel to the Sunshine station, and then the train was held up for a time “until further notice” at Parliament station. We finally alighted at the suggestion of the frustrated train driver, but then jumped back on when he announced with a sigh of relief that we would be on our way in a few minutes. We never did learn what the holdup was and for us it was not really a problem. We still connected fairly promptly with another train on the Frankston line, and travelled as far as the Caulfield Racecourse.

The 2012 Victorian Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow is being held there over the six day weekend, and we were there at the gate just half an hour after opening, having taken two and a quarter hours to get there.

We have attended many shows of a similar nature in both Auckland and Hamilton in New Zealand, but none at huge as this. In fact it is touted to be the largest show of its kind in the southern hemisphere, and while we are learning to take these superlatives with a grain of salt, this one is most likely true. Most of Australian made caravans and motorhomes are manufactured in Victoria so it makes sense that the show here in Melbourne would be the mother of them all.

We certainly enjoyed it, although in six hours it was impossible to see everything, and unlike other similar shows we have attended, the entry fee is for one day only and tickets for all six days do not exist. We tried to pick the eyes out of the show, however as we made our way to the gate, we saw exhibits which would have interested us greatly, had we the time. We escaped with only bags of pamphlets, travel magazines and a new mat for the awning. Had we taken the landcruiser through rather than relying on public transport, we may have spent much more. Perhaps a generator? Perhaps even a new motorhome?

It was so good to relax on Friday morning, with no urgency to rise and be ready for a tightly scheduled day out. But despite the lack of need, we were still awake and breakfasted at a very decent hour, with the day’s exploration planned and lunch packed in the backpack.

We alighted at Flagstaff and walked the short distance to the Victoria Markets, and then traipsed up and down the aisles in search of the stall selling hats. Finally tracked down, Chris satisfied himself with an excellent replacement for his disintegrating Aussie hat.

After lunch we walked down Swanston Street to the Melbourne Town Hall to view the special exhibition titled “An Incident in Swanston Street”. There are 7,000 items in the Council’s Art and Heritage Collection and the curator has chosen to pull out a painting by William Rowsell, “An Incident in Sturt’s Trip Down the Murray River in 1831”. This has hung once before in the Town Hall but long ago before modernity had the courage or opportunity to reconstruct or redefine history. The painting depicts the famous explorer, Sturt, and his crew in a small boat encountering a group of aboriginals on the river, some in a more hospitable manner and the rest rather threateningly. Needless to say the curator’s comments and those of others who have been selectively chosen, paint another interesting slant on the scene.

Chris was not particularly taken with the exhibition while I thought it interesting that the municipal authority should give opportunity for such open discussion. Is this the role of the Council? Should rate payers’ money be used for this purpose?

Our next destination was the Immigration Museum housed in the old Customs House, a building with its own rich history. Many of the exhibitions are repetitions or confirmation of history we have gleaned from the Museum of Melbourne and other museums all over the state. Melbourne is a little unique in that it has been the destination to more varied immigration than other parts of the country. Today, according to one spiel, the languages spoken at home in Melbourne after English, are Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, more or less in that order, followed by Sudanese, Korean and a variety of middle European languages. We spent more than a couple of hours enjoying the museum, or should I say, being in the museum. Much of the first hour was spent competing with scores of primary school children, however once they had been shepherded and exiled, we were able to enjoy the star exhibit of the museum: On Their Own – Britain’s Child Migrants, which explains in great detail the child migration schemes covering the years from the 1860s through to the 1960s. Children as young as eight through to sixteen were sent to the other side of the world by charitable and religious organisations, with government support, and always with the best intentions, but often with the most tragic of consequences. Personal stories from those brought out to Australia, Canada and New Zealand under these schemes are well documented.

It was another long day, but without the public transport holdups of the previous day. The good thing about weekends, even when you are a travelling retiree, is that you don’t have to fight your way through the workers on public transport and on the street. The crowds are still the same but more relaxed. Saturday was the last live day on my rail pass and the second to last on Chris’s, due to the bureaucratic stuff up a week ago. No more of that!

We caught the train at Sunshine and soon found ourselves discussing whales and tadpoles with three little boys who settled opposite us in the carriage. They and their parents were off into the city to the Moomba Festival, which started on Friday night and will continue until the end of the long weekend; long because of Labour Day falling on Monday.

Once more into the city centre, bidding farewell to our new little friends, we caught a second train to Victoria Park, on the Epping Line. From there we walked for some distance along Johnston Road, crossed the Yarra River and walked up Studley Road, entering the Yarra Bend National Park, then up over the hill and down to the Studley Park Boatshed complex. Dozens of leisure seekers had preceded us and were enjoying the river bank; in the café, picnicking, playing a rather abbreviated game of soccer, walking their dogs and/or kids, or just sitting taking in the peace and quiet of the scene. We did the latter while enjoying our lunch and then set off across on the footbridge and down along the river following the many bends that give the park its name. We paused to watch a club cricket game, again to listen to the chime of the wonderful bell miners, and to view the Dights Falls which are currently in the midst of a construction zone; a replacement weir being built. 

The path along the river is well utilised by those who enjoy the outdoors as we. We passed under the bridge which we had walked over an hour before, marvelled at the graffiti art on the supporting structures and then made our way up to the Collingwood Children’s Farm and the Abbotsford Convent. We emerged onto the street outside these two attractions and were surprised at how any cars were parked about. We poked our nose inside the convent walls to find that this is now a precinct of cafes, art studios and entertainment venues. One can do tours of the convent on Sundays, and had we not been on the point of leaving Melbourne, I would have insisted it be added to our To-do list, however, as we seem to say nearly every day, you can’t see everything.

Checking out a couple of interpretive boards there, I saw there was an area called the Magdelen Laundry . This of course reminded me of the movie I saw not that long ago about unmarried mothers sent here to complete their pregnancies and pass their babies over for adoption. Further investigation throws up a whole heap of interesting facts about this place, far too many to record here. But mention should be made of "The Sisters of the Good Shepherd” who took care of poor and vulnerable women and girls for over a hundred years from the 1860s, able to house up to one thousand at any one time, to save them from immorality or even a hint of the same. There was also an asylum in the grounds, no doubt housing some of the thousand immoral women. The whole operation was self-sufficient with its farming, Industrial Schools and Laundry. Perhaps one could say this place was infamous rather than famous, but that is all a matter of opinion. This convent should be placed on the list of Things-to-do in Melbourne.

We found our way back to Johnston Road, and jumped on a passing bus marked “City”, alighted at Swanston Street and made our way down through the crowds, pausing from time to time to view the art work for sale on the pavement side.

Both sides of the Yarra River up from the Swan Bridge were lined heavily with tents, food stalls, sideshows and stages, all well patronised by Melburnian families. We walked up through the colourful activity and settled at the Cultural Quarter to listen to a band called The Fujiyama Mamas. The Mama came on in a kimono and cowboy boots, introduced her band, including a one armed drummer and started to rock at far too many decibels for us deaf-eggs or anyone else within half a kilometre. We put our fingers in our ears and stayed for two numbers but decided that the sound mix, even filtered through our fingers was just impossible and moved on.

A water-skiing competition was taking place on the Yarra River, with international competitors including one from Hungary and another from Utah. Given the river is such an unattractive brown, it did seem a rather strange venue for such a world class event.

We wandered on upriver, crossed over and returned on the other side lined with the same business as the other. We watched boys scooting about on the skate park and listened to The Paper Kites on the main stage. I suspect this group is popular with the youth of the day, and they probably sound great on disc, but not so great in a big top with bad sound mixing. We left the young’uns to it and made our way back to the Flinders station, caught the train and headed home.

The day which was forecasted to be fine and just the ticket for a picnic at Yarra Bend, had been bleak for all the morning. By early afternoon, as so often happens, the sun had come out and the day was the best of the week.

Today we have enjoyed a beautiful autumn day after a very cold night, and so it is a shame that we have spent it undertaking household chores in preparation for our departure tomorrow. The cupboards are full, the caravan and landcruiser are cleaner than they have been for a while, the diesel tanks are full and we are looking forward to being on the road once more. As I type this, we have yet to sit down and draw up a draft plan of where we will be heading, however it will be generally north and east and no longer than ten days. That latter comment could mean all sorts of things to fellow travellers; friends of ours think nothing of heading south from the Sunshine Coast to parts south of Sydney for a brief trip, we on the other hand would take a month or three to do the same.

We have caught up with two of the kids on Skype this afternoon, and are still hopeful that my parents and the third “child” will pop up yet. I am ready to leave this camp here at Rockbank even though it has proved to be convenient, clean and very economical, but I do long for opportunity to pull up somewhere under the gums and to be alone but for the birds (and the ants if they must).

7 March 2012 - Sundowner Rockbank Caravan Park, Victoria

The rain had stayed away overnight and Tuesday dawned dry but with autumn pressing in. It seems that the endless summers of Australia are a thing of the past, or at least in this part of the continent. We headed back into the city with great throngs of commuters all wrapped up against the weather as we were, and once there, headed off on foot for Olympic Park along the Yarra River.

Next weekend looks as if it will be busy with festivals and shows; there were hordes of workers on both sides of the river setting up side shows and amusement structures and much of the wide walkways were barricaded off for safety or convenience.

An outdoor court with the city in the background

We were early for the first tour of the day, which is normal for us who are always either dead on time or early. Old habits die hard. At 11.30 am about two dozen other tourists joined us and we started off on the Tennis World Guided Tour. The young woman who acted as guide was excellent, clearly spoken, inclusive and well informed. The tour took place in the Rod Laver Arena, named after Australia’s world tennis legend. We were led through the players changing rooms, the Corridor of Fame, the Media Conference Room, the lounges, the gymnasium, the corporate boxes, the stadium which was looking somewhat different from when the Open final was played, having recently hosted a concert. Much of the seating was curtained off however we were able to peek behind and see the extent of the stadium. The guide also explained in detail the attendance fees, the prizes, the services offered the players, the penalties charged for dodging interviews, the habits and quirks of the players and everything you could possibly want to know about the tennis park and the Australian Open. We were delivered back to the start point well after an hour and felt the tour had been good value.

We lunched in the Garden Square which is actually circular, and then headed back to Flinders Street station to catch an earlier train home in preparation for our big night out. Read “big night out” as “any night out”. We drove northwards across the rural landscape to Sunbury where we were the guests of our friends Bob and Janet at one of the local Thai restaurants, Sunanta’s. After an excellent meal, we adjoined to their home where we consumed coffee and biscuits before driving back to the camp. I kept a lookout for night creatures on the road; there were none.

This morning we woke late as one would expect after such excitement, then spent the rest of the morning at the Burnside Medical Centre successfully organising ‘flu vaccinations. The Centre is staffed by softly spoken Chinese doctors and nurses and the desk staff from middle European countries while the patients were a motley lot from all over the world, us included. This, just like the time spent on the trains in the western suburbs most days, was an interesting cultural experience, part of Australia that the average tourist misses out on.

Brighton's Beach Boxes

Eventually we made our way on to Sunshine, caught the train through to Flinders Street, then another to Brighton Beach on the Sandringham line, a distance of about eight kilometres. There we alighted and made our way northwards along the sea shore, passing the famous Brighton Beach Boxes, bright with their coloured stripes; deserted but for several Chinese tourists who were doing as we were. The Esplanade is frontage to many very luxurious homes, but not quite as smart as those along Beaconsfield Parade at St Kilda. We walked out the Brighton pier, much less impressive than its namesake or that at St Kilda, but providing shelter to the marina. From there we headed inland through tree lined streets littered with fallen leaves and past many beautiful old homes, until we reached Middle Brighton’s shopping centre, all rather smart and busy with the inevitable café goers. We then headed north basically following the rail line as far as North Brighton and explored the centre there, a little less classy than Middle Brighton but still impressive. We caught the train from there back into the city centre and joined the crowds of students heading westwards on the homebound train.

The wind has come up tonight and we have put the awning and all the outdoor paraphernalia away yet again. Better safe than sorry. Still this is nothing compared to the weather events that are being battled further north. Some flood waters seem to have receded and others are threatening disaster within the next twenty four hours. It seems to go on and on.

5 March 2012 - Sundowner Rockbank Caravan Park, Victoria

The floodwaters have claimed another today, this time on the Sunshine Coast. And yet from here with the rains no longer torrential overhead, it seems rather unreal. But of course this is the nature of floods here in Australia; the waters rise far away and slowly flow down through the parched lands, creeping slowly toward the sea. Those whose lives are deeply rooted in the changing landscape greet the floods with joy, understanding that it is simply the cyclical nature of this incredible country, however it seems that some of the urban dwellers have short memories and underestimate the force of nature, or more specifically of water.

The ornate interior of the Parliament Buildings

 
We made our way into the city once more, this time without event or irritation, and then walked the distance from Flinders Street to Parliament. There we joined several other tourists on a tour through both Houses, the upper and lower, known as the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. The Parliament of Victoria first met in November 1856 in the two houses then separate buildings. Five years later the library was added joining the rear of these two houses, and much later, in 1879, the Vestibule and Queen’s Hall were added bringing the whole construction together. The construction is incredibly ornate and the Parliament House is considered to be one of Australia’s oldest and most architecturally distinguished public buildings. This claim, even if yet another of the superlatives which are so liberally thrown around, is worthy. There were many other tours all going on at the same time, including a group of women who had taken over the Legislative Council chambers for the day and a class of school children who were being taken through a role play in the Legislative Assembly. Needless to say, parliament was not sitting today.


We retired to a small park near the parliament for lunch and watched others in the park doing the same. We discussed options for the afternoon, and Chris suggested that we make our way across the centre to Victoria Markets to replace his hat. We could have caught a series of trams, but instead enjoyed walking the route in the sunshine. When we finally reached the familiar market block, all was strangely deserted, and then we saw the opening hours up on a prominent sign: Closed Mondays and Wednesdays. Our timing was wrong, again.

Further debate and we decided that a return to Southbank would be in order. Our previous visit had been on a weekend, and while the crowds had added to the ambiance, they had also hidden much of the more natural and manmade features. Chris actually had another motive; to visit the Eureka Tower. This had been on our original list of must-dos but subsequently slipped off the radar, or at least mine.

Views from Eureka Tower

 
Construction of the Eureka Tower was begun in 2002 and completed and opened in 2006. Then it was the world’s highest residential building, and is still touted to be so, however Google disagrees, advising that it is the sixth tallest. It stands 300 metres in height, ninety one storeys above ground, with the Skydeck on the eighty eighth floor the highest public vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere. It is an impressive building visible from all around the city and was first pointed out to us by Bob and Janet when they drove us around the city on our first weekend in Melbourne, and then again by the driver of the free tourist bus. It was he who explained that the tower was named after the Eureka Stockade, the rebellion during the Victorian gold rush in Ballarat which I have addressed in an earlier post and the symbolism of the exterior features of the building; the gold crown representing the gold rush and the red stripe representing the blood spilt during that revolt. The blue glass cladding that covers most of the building represents the blue background of the stockade’s flag and the white lines also represent the Eureka stockade flag. The white horizontal lines represent the linear line markings on a surveyor’s staff. Further features recall the wealth on which Melbourne was built; the glass on the top ten levels is 24 carat gold plated, this appearing as the crown.

From the Skydeck the views over the city, as you can well imagine, are just wonderful. We spent well over an hour standing at various vantage points gazing out over the city and down on to the streets and pavements watching the tiny ant size people walking about and the matchbox trains, trams and cars. We did step out briefly on to the Terrace exposed to the elements, however the cool wind chased us back inside soon after.

The Eureka Tower

There is another facet to this attraction; The Edge. This is a glass cube which projects three metres out of the building with visitors in it, suspended almost 300 metres above ground. When you enter, the glass is opaque as the cube moves out over the edge of the building, but once extended over the edge, the glass suddenly becomes clear. You can well imagine how startling that would be, even knowing that this is to happen.

We were quite satisfied with the thrill of the view without paying for this extra, and finally and reluctantly descended in the lift which travels at nine metres per second. Once back on the ground, we walked along the Yarra River, across the bridge and caught the train back to Sunshine, this time securing seats despite the crush of humanity consisting mainly of students.

4 March 2012 - Sundowner Rockbank Caravan Park, Victoria

Today we were not to be deterred by the weather; in fact it looked like it might turn out to be quite obliging. After breakfast we set up the awning and our outdoor furniture once more with full confidence that the storms had passed. We then set off for Sunshine and were just in time to catch the 10.02 train into the city centre, even after an altercation with the ticket seller, giving us the wrong tickets despite much repetition. We had to accept these because the train was right there and sought to correct the situation at the main station, where again the man behind the grill, failed to satisfy, entering the payment source incorrectly. It would appear that those given the job of selling rail tickets are not hugely intelligent, at least today, and according to Chris. Fortunately those working in the kiosks on other days have been immensely and intelligently helpful. A short walk and a tram ride and we were back up at the Melbourne Museum ready to finish what we had started a few days ago.

This really is an excellent museum and has exhibits such as we have never seen before. The Body & Mind gallery has exhibits of real body parts and clear and concise explanations of anatomical, biological and medical matters; all a bit much for me who errs on the squeamish. The section on “Mind” captured my attention for the rest of the morning explaining the workings of the brain, the ailments of the same and the history of so-called cures.

At lunchtime, we sat outside in the museum’s courtyard in the sun, watching the many families who had decided to spend their day as we were, then resumed our exploration.

The Science & Life Gallery is really excellent and unlike many stuffed animals and birds we have seen in other museums, about which I have been less than complimentary, these were of the highest standard and the use of modern technology makes this a wonderful resource, covering all facets of science and life (of everything but human, but including also the geological life of the planet.)

Interestingly there is a display consisting of a series of globes starting as a ball of molten matter, then all water, then ice and so on. The second to last is the world as we know it and the last is the world as it might be in another 10 million years or so. Curator’s licence, you may say? All I can say is that I am glad that we, our children or even our great great grandchildren will not be around.

There is also an excellent section within the same gallery on bugs. Well, how could there not be in this great continent of bugs? I have visited many museums and viewed great cabinets of bugs of all types, all mounted on pins, but none that ever caught my attention as these did. There are exhibits of ant nests with live ants busy finding their way through mazes, there are flesh eating beetles cleaning carcasses in a more delicate manner than could be done otherwise, for future exhibition, and the list could go on forever. There are live tarantulas and clear exhibits of red backs and funnel web spiders so that no one can be left in any doubt as to their identity. Everything is explained simply but not in a patronising manner, and I tried to absorb the many fascinating facts, including some of the following:

• There are 30 million insect species on the planet.
• At any one time, it is estimated that there are one quintillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) insects alive on the planet.
• For every human, there are 150 million insects.
• There could be as many as 30 million insects still not known to man.
• Australia has 2,000 species of crickets.
• And has 400 native dung beetles, all of who could not cope with or were interested in the processing the dung of the cattle introduced to Australia in the 19^th century. The solution was to import a further fifty six species of dung beetles from all around the world; twenty of which happily settled into Australia working at the task set them.
• There are 1500 species of native bees.

I was not hugely surprised by these facts; they simply served to confirm that we have been hugely outnumbered on the road as we have travelled about away from the urban areas. There was one positive point that I found greatly consoling; there are fortunately enough bugs that live off other bugs and while their numbers remain in balance, we humans should not be unduly inconvenienced.

We walked all the way back to Flinders Station, down through the lanes crowded with Sunday city goers, families in from the suburbs, tourists, students and workers glad to be dressed in their Sunday dress be it casual or haute couture, and all the hoi polloi of Melbourne. We paused from time to time to sample the entertainment on offer from the many buskers. Finally when we reached the station, we found ourselves to be just in time to catch the train back west.

Despite the threatening clouds gathering to the north, there has been no rain all day. The news on the television however is not good; the floods here have claimed their first victim and there are still further evacuation orders being issued. It seems that most of the roads we are planning to travel when we leave here in just over a week are closed; we may have to review our travel plans.

3 March 2012 - Sundowner Rockbank Caravan Park, Victoria

Rain, rain and still more rain; the puddles are joining to form shallow lakes about the camp however are still manageable, unlike the roads to the north of us that are closed due to flooding. We count ourselves lucky for sure.

Patches of blue through the venetians this morning suggested there might be a break in the weather, however the reprieve was short lived. We ventured out mid-morning to Caroline Springs and wandered about the modest shopping centre, spending money on pyjamas and other necessities as one does on such aimless outings. Back in the landcruiser we drove in further aimless circles unsuccessfully searching for open homes to amuse us, and finally returned to camp to toast our sandwiches I had packed with optimism.

A telephoned invitation from Chris’s second wife came over lunch and gave shape to the plans of our day. We drove through the worsening rain along the highways and freeways, across to Spotswood to spend a pleasant couple of hours over coffee and cake with Lyn and her husband, catching up with the progress of children now all grown to adulthood with children of their own.

On our return, we  received yet another telephoned invitation out to dinner next Tuesday. For us unsociable gypsies, this abundance of social engagements is all rather overwhelming.

2 March 2012 - Sundowner Rockbank Caravan Park, Rockbank, Victoria

Sometimes it’s good to have a quiet day, to catch up with kids we seem to have missed for a while and to deal with matters raised in email correspondence; retirement is a misnomer really but it is certainly a very different life to that pursued over the preceding forty years. The expiry of our weekly rail ticket was the catalyst for the rest day and cause to reconsider where to from here.

Last night I told one of our sons that we were planning to move across the city to another camp more convenient to launch day trips in the eastern reaches of Melbourne. This morning that plan was aborted and we extended here for another four days beyond our four weeks; we will escape to the bush or somewhere similar for a week or more before returning to have the hot water heater serviced. That decision sits well this afternoon.

Chris is watching the cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka being played here in Melbourne on the television. We had seriously considered travelling into the city and being there in person, however the weather report was dodgy and the thought of leaving our vehicle in the Sunshine parking wilderness and travelling on the train into the west after dark on a Friday night was not that appealing. It seems that the game can be followed just as well in the comfort of our caravan anyway.

1 March 2012 - Sundowner Rockbank Caravan Park, Rockbank, Victoria

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.