Melbourne Day 1

Our 1st real day in Melbourne we decided to go downtown. We parked in the Federation square area and walked along the Yarra river. We stopped and had lunch at the River Land Bar which was right on the river so we had a nice breeze and were right on the water. I am up for trying new beers so I decided to have the Lazy Yak made by Matilda Bay Brewing Company. It was pretty good!!! I think my favorite thing about it other than it tasting good was the ad on the highway billboard, it is of a yak lounging around on a pool float lol. I have to find a picture of it! After lunch we walked right down into Federation Square to check out a few exhibits. We went into the Koorie Heritage exhibit which showcased local artists depicting their aboriginal culture via different forms of art. Some of them were so interesting. There was a hide of an animal that had a detailed painting on it, a purse that was made from clay that had beautiful feathers on it, a huge clay pot that had a snake that had slithered through holes at the top all the way around. There were some really amazing paintings done by one artist, his technique of painting I have never seen, of the paintings was a portrait of an old Aboriginal man, I swore it was a photograph until you got up close to see it was meticulously painted by hand. The other paintings were done with little dots all over it, you really have to be precise in order to do this kind of paintings. Hopefully I can post some pictures to show the beauty in what I saw.

After this, we made our way over to the Australian Center for the Moving Image. This building had a few different parts to it. It had a gallery devoted to Orry Kelly who I had never heard of, but was a legendary Australian costume designer who was one of Hollywood’s more acclaimed costume designers. He was the chief costumer designer for Warner Bro’s from 1932 to 1944. He won 3 academy awards in the 1950’s for best costume design in An American in Paris, Les Girls and Some Like it Hot. He was also known for films like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, 42nd street, Jezebel, Dark Victory and Voyager.

There was also a gallery devoted to different type of file which I have no idea what it is called or who did it. Real helpful right??? I will find it and update this because it was extremely interesting.

They also had a section that allowed you to walk around and experience how film was created over time. It was very interesting to read each stop to find out how things were done. From sound to moving cinema, to color, live tv and so forth. I could of spend the whole day in this place if time had allowed.

After this we had to dodge the rain, so we went to a small place to eat called Time Out, right in Federation Square. Food was pretty good and we waited out the rain so we could head back out.

We also visited St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was massive! I paid to take photos which drives me nuts but I understand why. The ceilings were so tall and the stained windows were beautiful, the woodwork was amazing, the floors were done in mosaic all over the place and parts of the wall were done in ceramic tiles that were stunning. I wasn’t able to get pictures of everything due to some lighting issues and my lack of knowledge on how to really adjust my camera, but what I do have is amazing.

After all of this we headed back to our hotel for the rest of the evening, to head to bed so we could start the day again tomorrow.