Day 6 - Central Business District

We woke up at 6.00am this morning and our plan for today is CBD. After all the brushing up and breakfast we jumped into Uncle Martin car and headed north towards the city. At about 8.00am we reached Royal Botanical Garden. The weather was extremelty cold that day. I have to get myself dressed like a penguin. :P

One look, It’s obvious that Melbourne is a planned city: a tidy, balanced grid of neatly angled streets. Trees are everywhere and there are so leavy. Hanging up gracefully on the tree the, it is like a wall to wall carpet of golden leaves. Excellent view of the autumn along the road of Royal Botanical Garden.

We have some photo taking session around but we didnt go into the Royal Botanical Garden as it will need at least a day in order to visit this place.

After that, we headed north of St Kilda Road towards NGV International and the Arts center. The building in Melbourne as a unique blend of style and technology. It brings out a classy feel. Bravo!

North of NGV will be the Southbank Promenade. Overlooking beyond the Yarra River along the Southbank Promenade is the CBD and the famous yellow builing of Flinders Station is majestically sitting over there!


We took a stroll along the South Bank Promenade..





We can see the Eureka Skydeck - The tallest building in Melbourne alongside southbank as well as the famous Crown Casino.


Overlooking from Southbank, we saw the famous Melbourne Aquarium. We didn't visit the aquarium as time is limited. Save it for next time folks!




After that we crossed Yarra River by using the Queens Bridge and we are now on the other side of Yarra River or more specifically is we are at CBD. From here looking back towards the Southbank would be another excellent view.


We headed straight into the city and our first stop is Flinders Station. Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban rail network of Melbourne, Australia. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city blocks. Normally this is the place where the people of Melbourne meet. When they say, " I will meet you under the clocks ". This refers to this Flinders Station.

45 degree opposite of Flinders is the St Paul Cathedral.

Opposite of St Paul Cathedral would be the Federation Square and the Visitor Information Center. However, today our plan is to catch the free tourist shuttle. Guides for backpackers, this shuttle bus is free and more importantly, it goes around and inside of CBD. Great saving for all backpackers!

We boarded our bus at station No.2 - Federation Square. The bus took us along the flinders street and headed towards the Melbourne Cricket Ground. After that we go throught the Exhibition Street which is right inside the city towards Lygon Street. It would be too much for me to name one street by another. So, take the Free Tourist Shuttle bus to explore! Check on this if you want to know more about the Free Tourist Shuttle bus.

The bus brought us towards Victoria Street where the famous Queen Victoria Market is located. Following the route of the bus, we stopped at station no.9 which is Waterfront City, Docklands.

Got off the bus and we hanged around the Waterfront City. According to my Aunt, this place is new. There is a flyer - Southern Star Observation Wheel, a shopping arcade, dining area. Good area for couples to "paktor".

We bought our souveniers from one of the souveniers shop over here. The price is quite reasonable and the varieties are alot too.


It's Graham Kennedy, one of the famous australian television, radio artist of all time. He is called "The King" of australian television.


One of the the artwork on the walls of the building.

We strolled along Waterfront Promenade and there is a Dairy Bell Icecream store along. The temptation is so big that I wouldn't care how cold the weather is and I grabbed a cup of Dairy Bell Ice cream from them.

No words could describe this Ice Cream. Is far better than Baskin n Robins or the Gelato. It is so creamy that I wanted to get another cup for myself. :P The price is cheap as well. At AUD 5.80 you can get 4 big scoops of classy ice cream!

Enough of Ice Cream, I wouldnt want to saliva dropping from the mouth of the readers. Haha. We haeded along the Victoria Harbour and towards the Central Pier. There is alot of luxury sailing boat or ship embarking at the Pier.





On the left it is the 1010 customs office and infront of it is the City Circle Tram. This tram goes along the CBD in a circle and most importantly it is free! Running along Flinders Street, Harbour Esplanade, La Trobe Street and Spring Street, the journey takes nearly 50 minutes, although it can be used as a hop on, hop off service.

Alongside the central Pier would be the Channel 7 - Australia biggest broadcaster.

The Etihad Stadium - The rugby ground of Melbourne. We visited the visitors center of Etihad's as well.


It is almost lunch time, we boarded the free shuttle bus at point 10 - Docklands Stadium and Victoria Harbour and we stopped at point 12 - Southbank and Yarra River.



We are back to Southbank yet again. We headed into Crown Casino to have our buffet lunch at Sante. Great food, multiple varieties and most importantly it comes with a cheap price at 15.50 AUD.


After the great food we think we need to have some exercise. Hence, we use our foot and we started to walk eastward of Southbank to visit the Shrine of Remembrance. We went pass Queen Victoria Garden as well as the King's Domain. We didnt spent much time visit both of the garden but we did manage to capture some very unique picture of us. Enjoy!

Australians love to enjoy and relax under the sunshine.

Our love made up of maple leaves.


After about 1 hour of walking and stopping, finally we reached The Shrine of Remembrance.



The Shrine of Remembrance, located in St Kilda Road, Melbourne, is one of the largest war memorials in Australia, and resides in Kings Domain.

It was built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I. It now serves as a memorial for all Australians who served in war and it is the site of annual observances of ANZAC Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November).


We took some photos around and inside of the Shrine.




It is about 530pm and the sky is getting dark. We headed back to Queen Victoria Garden where Uncle Martin will picked us up when he is back from work.

Today has been a great day for us and we are looking forward tomorrow go conquer the other part of the great CBD.