Home ----TRIP: Australia 2013

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Hello and welcome. This month long trip took in both Australia and New Zealand. Therefore, we have broken it into two separate parts. This album is Australia. When you have completed this portion you can return to the home page and click on New Zealand. Lets get started.
2 We were very fortunate to be able to experience a non-stop flight from LAX to Melbourne on an Airbus A380 double deck aircraft. We have wanted to fly on one of these since they were introduced. Unfortunatley in economy the seating is very cramped. Our return flight was aboard a Boeing 747-400 which offered more width and pitch and other little extras that made it more comfortable.
3 Qantas serves small meals, though tasty, on their flights and wine or spirits are complimentary.
4 Fifteen hours later, 4 excluding sleep, we approach Melbourne.
5 First stop is Melbourne Central, a large center built around the Coop's Shot Tower. It was completed in 1888 and is 50 metres high. The historic building was saved from demolition in 1973 and was incorporated into Melbourne Central complex in 1991 underneath an 84 m-high conical glass roof. We find money changers and interesting sights.
6 This interesting building is the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
7 Outside the State Library of Victoria is this sculpture called Architectural Fragment by Petrus Spronk.
8 This is the entrance to the State Library of Victoria., we will take a look around.
9 We are enjoying the beautiful sculptures and paintings.
10 Each room is beautiful and full of masterpieces.
11 Some people just like to look down their noses at you.
12 This is the Domed Reading Room part of the library built in 1913 designed to hold over a million books and up to 500 readers.
13 Please wait, movie is loading ... MOVIE ... Click next when finished. The dome was the largest of its type in the world on completion in 1913.
14 No visit to Melbourne would be complete without a visit to its infamous jail.
15 Constuction started in 1839 and was a prison between 1845 and 1924. It held and executed some of Australias most notorious criminals including Ned Kelly.
16 The complex was quite extensive.
17 It was customary to make death masks of the prisoners who were hung here.
18 This is the infamous Ned Kelly. A cold blooded killer to some and a folk hero to many others in Australia.
19 The original gallows.
20 We take a short drive to Fitzroy Gardens, in the middle of the Business District.