Melbourne Odyssey: Day 6 Last day in Melbourne

By the numbers

 14.53kms

19,223 steps

My last day in Melbourne and I had to do something that would always come around. The washing, which means less to do when I get home. It was something I didn’t see when I booked the hotel in Melbourne and was kinda cheaper than the YHA around the corner, although that is open 24/7. I had to wait until 9am to be able to use the laundry and I was there bang on time as I wanted to be before anyone else even thought about doing theirs. Luckily I did as there was only one washer and dryer available the other two were out of order. I was lucky as the machine finished a guy was right on my heels wanting to do the same thing. I always make sure I am there for when it finishes as I know others would want to do theirs too. My voice is croaky from sneezing and you don’t want that when going on a flight the next day

 

I was ready to leave once I folded my clothes and got my bag ready to leave for tomorrow morning as there is nothing like wanting to rush once I return from watching the band. I like to be organised as I will be getting up early enough to catch a bus to the airport for one of my morning flights that I love so much. I had limited time in what I wanted to do as I wanted to have a rest before I went out later that night. The last few nights I have been worn out and partially due to having the sniffles. I jumped onto a tram that would take me to Flinders street station where I knew I would be seeing the band next to Hosier Lane at the venue known as Forum, which used to be the State Theatre. I was a little head achy as I think it was due to the sun from the day before so I would see how I go before heading back to the room for a lie down. What I was looking for was a laneway with the name ACDC Lane. It was dedicated to ACDC obviously and there were some dedication to Malcolm Young and Bon Scott though I thought there would be more. I headed further on to another lane that was to another artist, but there wasn’t anything there apart from the name of the lane and a little art.

 

I walked back to Flinders Street station, and just jumped on the first tram (I mean it was sitting there) heading towards the Shrine of Remembrance as I wanted to have a look at the Botanic garden. Crossing the road I had a quick look at the Victoria Barracks as I thought there might be something interesting. There were two guns from WW1 that were captured and another two that had been captured around 1854 from the Battle of Crimea.  I was chatting to some people online and it was suggested there was a good coffee shop nearby at the observatory. That was right on the back of the Botanic gardens. I headed for coffee and chips. The funny thing about the coffee was that I ended up feeling quite a bit better. Maybe I cant really drink instant coffee and get away with it for too long. I had chips as well and sat for half hour reading before moving off. I had to check if the Botanic gardens shop had any books that might be of interest. I had noticed that the day was warmer than it had been throughout the week as it was meant to be pretty hot on the Sunday when I leave. I planned to wander part of the gardens before returning to the hotel. Once I wandered in I came across something interesting and that was the Herbarium building, which was where you go to identify plants and fungi. I found there is a cost involved and they even use DNA on plants to make sure they are what they think they are especially rare plants that hadn’t been seen in nearly 100 or so years. I had a quick wander around the gardens and noticed a sign near the Bamboo saying they are looking into doing something with the space as the plant can live from 3 to 150 years, flower and then they die.

 

Wandering out of the Botanic gardens there was more people streaming in as it had to be popular on sunny days. I had seen people picnicking and even sunbathing on the grass. I walked across the grass and it was mushy. I wanted to walk along the waterfront to Crown casino before returning to my destination. I found the floral clock at Queen Victoria park and a boar war memorial. I found the area was busy with people walking to the Flinders train station, and I headed to the stairs at the bridge for a view of the Yarra river. The restaurants and everything else all the way along to Spence Street was crowded with people and some riding their scooters along without a care in the world. It was a nice walk and I came across a car accident with the firies already there taking care of the person. I was back at the room by mid afternoon and made sure I had most of my packing sorted as there would only be a few things to organise before going to bed for the night. I don’t want to get caught out with something missed on the rush out the door.

 

The time came that I had to leave for the show and I was wanting to be there for when the doors opened, although it didn’t really matter since it was standing only. I wasn’t even sure what to expect when I arrived. What I found was the line went from the front of the theatre through a laneway and back around to to the side of the building it was impressive, although at least it started moving quickly once the doors opened. There were people dressed like Vikings and other such people and with dark eye shadow, in kilts, some people as I found out were Re-enactors of the medieval fair types where they went into battles. I have nothing against them as it was impressive and people had to be in the 60s that were doing that sort of stuff. The music started pretty much on time and as the group, Heilung call it, their ritual. The whole crowd was silent when it began as the people on stage were being blessed and whatnot. That is the most unusual part about the group as no one uttered a sound until they finished. They never really introduced themselves either. The other thing was everyone was standing there not really dancing apart from swaying to the music. The vocals were totally different to what I was used to as it was chanting to basically a Viking type theme using vocals, drums and other instruments. They played right until it was time for them to finish and it was very energetic.

 

Leaving the concert hall afterwards was pretty easy, although I managed to jump on a tram, but it terminated right as soon as we got to Flinders street station. Some charged up people were getting silly until they got off and the tram was getting steamy. I ended up walking the rest of the way back to where I am staying though it wasn’t that bad really as it wasn’t a hot night and there were people everywhere. At least it wasn’t raining and I was able to get back to where I was staying without any problems and I was staying pretty close.