Remember Gulliver and the Lilliputian?
Below two glam birds, thank the lord for Kirstypops and her slinky frockage!
So I arrived in Melbourne and was picked up at the station by Matt my couch surfing hosty. What can I say about Matt? Well very handsome (sorry ladies no photo available) and the perfect gent. You will find his name and address there in the Big Oxford Dicko along with Pip's, Billy's and Kerrilee's (under hospitality if you haven't read previous bloggage). Matt had two rules; help yourself and don't ask and always use a fresh towel after showering (he knows what scuzzy backpackers are like lol.)
Day 1 in Melbourne saw me visiting the museum. I spent most of my time in the 'First Peoples' exhibition which celebrates aboriginal or 'koori' culture.
Below is the exhibition centre, it used to be the parliament building. I learnt something new, apparently Canberra was purpose built as the capital as it is equidistant from Melbourne and Sydney. Inhabitants from both cities were bitch fighting as to where the seat of power should be so Canberra was spawned to settle the dispute. 'Crazy,' says Adi lady, apparently C is the most boring place on the planet and home only to politicians and lobbyists lol.
Below is the museum...
There had been a recent school project teaching aboriginal and mixed race children how to make possum quilts, apparently it is an age old tradition. The quilt is given as a birth gift and then the owner adds to it. The hide side is decorated with key events from the owner's life.
Below is the welcome sign.
And this canoe was made by a grandfather and his 3 mixed race grandsons in 2010. Their tribe believes that the creator travelled across the universe in a canoe and so the water and canoes have spiritual significance for them.
This is a fire sculpture that a well known artist created with her children. Her tribe believes that the creator uses bushfires as a means of rebirth.
I can't remember the name of this Australian footballer but he is a cult figure. Apparently his team were in the AFL final and were total underdogs. The opposition fans were making monkey noises and hurling racial abuse at him and another player but instead of reacting negatively they totally raised their game, won hands down and both were nominated 'man of the match.' After receiving their winners' meddle this guy turned to the crowd, raised his shirt and pointed to his black skin with indignation but most of all pride. The shirt he was wearing is now housed in the museum, what a great story.
Our ancestors have a lot to answer for...
This painting represents the effect of smallpox on the indigenous people.
And below is an art installation made of light. It represents the creation story below it and I sat and watched it twice so that I could video it. Unfortunately Luddite lady can't upload it onto bloggington and when still it just looks like a rainbow coloured bra. It moved to represent the waves and changed colour to represent different parts of creation.
I spent over 2 hours in the 'First Peoples' exhibition which didn't leave me much time for the rest of the museum. They had great dinos, even better than the ones in the London museum methinks. Below is a giant armadillo and turtle, how cool are they?
After the museum I did a twiglight walk through some of Melbourne's parks, I picked the map up in the Tourism Office.
Below is the memorial to JFK.
And this is 'The Conservatory', where they grow exotic flowers. Unfortunately everything closed at 5pm and so I had to take photos through the window.
Diana with hounds.
And Captain Cooke's cottage. Brought over from Yorkshire, England brick by brick and reassembled here. Why do people do that? Obviously they have too much time on their hands.
This fairy tree was my favourite thing in the park.
And I spent ages looking for this Tudor village. I thought it was life sized and kept walking straight past it, totally under whelming lol.
Some fountains...
This is St Patrick's Catholic Cathedral at sunset.
A nice building.
And these are statues of famous premieres, I took this one because the one on the left looks like Richard Durham, a complete nobend I used to work with at Springw(h)ell.
Government buildings.
Flinders Street Station.
And the famous clocks.
At 7pm I met Matt for dinner and he wouldn't let me pay, what a great hosty! We had so much fun, mainly swapping disastrous dating stories, more of which in next bloggingtons. I'm off to the beach now but will compose Melbourne day 2 bloggage on my return. What made me happy in Melbourne? The weather (I'm enjoying being cold) and meeting Matt; he's a real sweetheart.
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