Australian Sports Museum, MCG

There's more to the MCG than cricket and footy, so a while back we popped in to the Melbourne Sports Museum to see what else the iconic stadium had to offer.

                                        

We wandered around different areas, with displays dedicated to various sports, starting with the 1956 Olympic Games, held right here in our Melbourne town.

Howzat! Backyard cricket has to be one of the most popular Aussie pastimes.

I recognised a few of these faces from when I was a kid. Our country town only got decent tv signals on two stations, 9 and 2. The amount of times I turned on Channel 9 during the summer school holidays, hoping for some kid friendly viewing - only to find these guys playing matches that seemed to go on for years. 

The racing gallery was, at the time, home to Carbine's skeleton. 

Soccer  and AFL were popular exhibits with my sports loving husband and son...

... and they couldn't believe their eyes to see a legend from their beloved Tigers, Kevin Bartlett, making an appearance on the day of our visit!

I can't guarantee you'll see KB at the recently renovated Australian Sports Museum, but you can see his bronze statue outside the 'G. 

Australian Sports Museum

Gate 3, MCG

The Horse, National Gallery of Victoria

The Horse is a celebration of these magnificent animals and their relationships with man throughout history.

 

From Ancient Greece to modern day thoroughbreds, I was taken on a journey through the ages, as each room offered a different aspect of the horses impact on our lives.

Sculptures and oil paintings, photos and costumes filled the galleries. From dragon slaying, to chariot rides to the heavens, unicorns, and a 20 metre panorama of a funeral procession, the horse is portrayed in every way possible.

The racing room displayed racing photos, costumes and even a Melbourne Cup.

A ghostly drover reminded me of the huge part that horses play in Australia's history...

...his spirit steed watched over by Nolan's Ned Kelly.

What:  NGV International

Where: Ground Level, St Kilda Rd

When:  Daily 10:00am-5:00pm until 8th Nov.

Why:art

How Much: FREE

Cruising to Williamstown

There's something very therapeutic about being near water and we're incredibly lucky in Melbourne to have both the Yarra River and Port Phillip Bay on our doorstep.

We jump on a local cruise every chance we get, it's a great way to see Melbourne from a different perspective.

We boarded the Melbourne River Cruise boat at Southbank and headed up the Yarra on our Williamstown cruise, past the Polly Woodside, Victoria Harbour and under the Bolte Bridge.

The massive container ships that chug up and down the channel to Swanson Dock are unbelievably huge up close. Those giant containers look like little colourful Lego blocks stacked on top of each other.

Under the West Gate Bridge...

 ...where the ships created a bookend frame for the city skyline.

Past Scienceworks...

 ...and into the beautiful port of Williamstown, where we explored the area around Gem Pier for an hour or so, before hopping back on board for our return journey.

The one hour cruise in each direction was calm, comfy and a very relaxing way to spend a few hours.

What: Melbourne River Cruises

Where: Southgate Promenade, Berth 5

When:  Daily 10:30 am - 2:30pm

Why:Cruise, sightseeing

How Much:$29 Adult Return (Entertainment Book has a 2-for-1 voucher)

Related post: Gem Pier

 

Supreme Court of Victoria

Once a month, the Supreme Court of Victoria holds a free guided tour of the building, including the courtrooms and the Law Library. I went along recently and was in awe of the architecture and stature of the place. 
No photos allowed inside, so you'll just have to take my word for how amazing this place is.

The bronze statue of Justice greets you from the rooftop, as you arrive in the law precinct of Melbourne, William St. Unlike most other similar Justice figures, she sits with the scales of justice resting on her knee and gazes down upon the city, blindfold free...watching...

 

Her home since 1884 is this Heritage Listed building - the highest court in the state of Victoria. Malmsbury bluestone and Tasmanian freestone were used to construct the grand building during the goldrush era. 

Inside, a spiral staircase, carved out of bluestone, snakes its way behind one of - if not the - first public telephone boxes in Melbourne.
That phone would have been running hot back in the day, when journalists would call back to their editors with verdicts from high profile cases, such as the Gangland killings. If these walls could talk...

Some courtrooms were in session as we wandered around the corridors inside. We did get to see in one of the rooms and our tour guides gave us an indepth, interesting and sometimes funny talk about the goings on within a court setting. The rooms are elaborately decorated, with a mixture of original fittings and modern technology.

My favourite room was the Supreme Court Law Library, a double storey, fake dome ceiling nestled under the real dome roof, packed to the rafters treasury of legal resources, with over 120,000 books stacked from floor to ceiling. With those ladders that slide along the shelves! I wanted to just move right in and live here forever, reading books by the light of a gasolier. That's right, a gasolier.

Out in the courtyard, we stood in the paved driveway, next to a nondescript door leading inside. This is the view that I have seen so many times on the news, as well-known criminals step out of the police vehicle and the media crews on the other side of the red gate, try and get the best photos.

The enclosed walkways above are the Judge's corridors, enabling them access between chambers and courtrooms. We also saw traditional court dress - robes, gowns, wigs and learnt of the history behind the attire.

The tours can be booked via free registration. You can also sit in the public gallery of a courtroom during a session - the daily hearing list is on the website.

What: Supreme Court of Victoria

Where: 210 William St

When: Once a month guided tour

Why: History, Law

How Much: FREE

NGV Australia, Federation Square

With a very short amount of time before my allocated session of Bowie Is, I decided to have a quick walk through the NGV Australia, next door.

 

I was thrilled to see many of my favourite Victorian towns and regions, painted by some of Australia's finest artists, such as Isa Rielly's  Waterfall at Mount Macedon and William Ford's At the Hanging Rock.

The forests of Mount Macedon always reminded me of the Frederick McCubbin paintings I had seen in books, but I had never seen the fantastic triptych, The Pioneer, in real life before.

Yosl Bergner's Walhalla is dark and dramatic, a stark contrast to the town in my mind's eye, where we spent the day a few months ago.

*note to self - must write that blog post. The place is STUNNING!

The Sidney Nolan wall lit up the entire room of the gallery - his bright reds, blues, yellows and greens bursting out of the frames, depicting scenes from regional Victoria, like the Grampians and Ballarat.

Melbourne's Oldest Chef by Arnold Shore 1934. I wonder who the Chef was...

John Brack's Collins St 5pm could have been painted yesterday, it looks so much like a regular peak hour evening in Wintry Melbourne.

So much more to see here, I must come back soon for a more relaxed visit.

p.s. Give a wave to the furry Maneki Neko (waving cat) at the bottom of the escalator.

What: NGV Australia, Ian Potter Centre

Where: Federation Square, City

When: Tues - Sun. 10:00am-5:00pm

Why: Australian art

How Much: FREE
Nearby: David Bowie Is

David Bowie Is, ACMI, Federation Square

David Bowie Is....a fantastic trip down memory lane.

I grew up in the 70's, with the albums, Diamond Dogs, Aladdin Sane, and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, on high rotation on the record player at home, thanks to my Mum and older sisters.

I may not have been old enough to understand what he was singing about, and I am guilty of singing "the stuff that gets in it" for many, many years, instead of the actual lyrics to Suffragette City, but hey, man - oh, leave me alone - I was just a kid. 

The hair, the makeup, the glitter, the costumes, the platform shoes; the songs about dogs, and stars, and astronauts, and genies  - that's all that mattered. Bowie Was and Bowie Is a musical idol of mine and probably always will be.

"Then the loud sound did seem to fade
Came back like a slow voice on a wave of phase
That weren't no D.J. that was hazy cosmic jive"

The interactive exhibition, complete with audio pod and headphones allows you to wander through the displays at your own pace, cranking up the volume to that hazy cosmic jive...

It was a bit crowded at the start, but the exhibition is not in chronological order, so you can meander around and avoid the busy hot spots until there is more room.

A fantastic collection of costumes had me reminiscing about watching the associated  music video clips on Countdown on a Sunday night; movie posters promoting the films Bowie starred in (still swooning over Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth); hand written lyrics to some of his most famous songs - the exhibition is packed with nostalgia and had me wanting to come back again for another look and listen.

A quick visit to the gift shop resulted in the purchase of this cool print and a totally Bowie-esque bag to carry it back to the car. 
Now, to find somewhere to hang it...

Special thanks to the friendly staff on the door, for suggesting we cloak our jackets, as it was very warm in the gallery.

What: David Bowie Is

Where: ACMI, Federation Square

When: Daily from 10:00am. 16 July - 1 Nov

Why: David Bowie

How Much: $25 (membership deal available)

Nearby: Street Art, Hosier Lane