Well I haven't done too much in Melbourne (I have only been here a couple of days though). The hostel is very nice although the rooms seem to have been designed by a prison cell designer. However apart from that it's pretty much like a nice hotel and is only the second hostel I've stayed in that has a restaurant.
I spent most of my first day wandering around the city, which is quite varied in its design, there's a lot of old victorian buildings and some very old run down looking houses, equally lots of skyscrapers and very odd looking new buildings.
Today I visited the Victoria Market which is one of the oldest (110 years) markets in the world (and biggest), but I'm not a market person, so there wasn't really anything of interest there (unless you're into fresh veg and some dubious clothing). I also visited the Old Melbourne Gaol, which, as a claim to fame, is where Ned Kelly was hanged. It's a pretty interesting place (and quite cheap) with lots of tales about who was imprisoned there, how it was based on Pentonville in London as well as displaying one of the Kelly gangs armour suits and Neds gun. There's also an interesting tale of how when the prison closed the gallows (or scaffold) was moved to another prison, but the trapdoor didn't fit so an inmate who was a carpenter was tasked with fixing it to work. Then ironically the same prisoner was the first person to be hanged after it was working.
Tomorrow I'm off on a tour round 4 of the local winerys, and I'll probably go out on some other tours in the next few days (still not sure whether the Neighbours tour is worth the money though!)
Posted by Alexis at August 12, 2003 08:10 AMWe've had a vote, and Dave and Hayley think there is no question about it, you must go on the Neighbour's tour - highlight of the trip, apparently.
Posted by: Westac at August 12, 2003 11:14 AM