Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Day 3 - Melbourne Laneways and the Law

Liam doing his best Ned Kelly impression in the Melbourne Old Gaol

After a very ambitious first day in Melbourne, we set out to explore the famous Melbourne "Laneways" and some other amazing city sights. We sure do put our kids through the ringer when it comes to city trekking! 




Melbourne is famous for its coffee shops and unique cafes. We loved the food in the big city!




The "Gog and Magog" statues have been striking the time since 1842!


We headed towards Chinatown and another unique laneway (Croft Alley). I had read that it was a science themed-alley - so we checked it out. Unfortunately, it was a cocktail bar and it was closed. Some cool artwork again though...













Ruby's Music Room is on Bennett's Lane. It is a famour live jazz club... no music today though...


We continued on to the Melbourne Old Gaol ("jail") for another chapter in our Ned Kelly experience.

The Magistrate's Court



We explored the Old Gaol and checked out many of the cells and their interesting historical facts..








Both Bryce and Liam tried on the replica Ned Kelly armour (it was heavy!)

That's Bryce hiding in there!



A tour guide explaining the history of hangings here


Some graffiti on one of the walls





We paid extra to participate in the Crime and Justice Experience. We were treated like prisoners and bossed around by a Jail Guard...it was quite a thing! The looks on our boys faces was priceless at times!


That's our warden!


Bryce, Liam and I were locked in the Love Shack and then the lights were all turned off for about a minute. Creepy! Chy was put in a cell with other girls for the same experience.



The padded room for the unstable


After springing ourselves free from jail, 
we walked to the State Library to check out the real Ned Kelly armour.



This armour weighs 44 kg and is estimated to be worth around $7 million.




There were other interesting things on display as well...





We had a lovely lunch overlooking the State Library and got out of the rain for a little while (there was even some American football on the tv)

Coop's Shot Tower (1888) in Melbourne Central Shopping Centre

With just over an hour left before closing we quickly made our way to the Melbourne Museum to speed through the exhibitions...

The Royal Exhibition Building was on our way to the Museum. 
This is a world-heritage listed building from 1880.





Now that's a red back!










Checking out the optical illusions

Phar Lap - Australia's Wonder Horse

The Australian coat-of-arms


We returned to our hotel - knowing that we had done a decent job of seeing Melbourne before leaving in the morning.


We could see the fire show for the casino from our hotel window

Next Up: Day 4 On the Great Ocean Road

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