A day in Melbourne

I still have a few blogs to write about New Zealand but before I forget I need to write one on Melbourne.  Otherwise this brief interlude will be forgotten or seem so unreal I will think that I just dreamed about being in Melbourne.

The temperature reached 34 degrees today, and certainly hotter than the warmest days in New Zealand.  We appreciated being in the airconditioned buildings.

We started the day, with a small breakfast at our airport motel, then set off.  We first caught a bus outside the motel, which took us on a free but fast and whizzy ride to Broadmeadows, where we caught our train to Melbourne.  First we had to buy a Myki card, with some money on it, in order to use the train and buses. 

Walter standing on the platform, looking cool and ready for the day.

We arrived at Melbourne Central Station, and decided to take a free tram down Swanston Street.  Unfortunately we were a little brain addled and went the opposite way, outside the free zone, which meant we had to use our Myki cards.  This meant we did not have enough credit on our cards to get the bus back to the motel.

The stunning ceiling at Melbourne Central Station.

Our destination was a cafe, anywhere which sold good coffee. And we found one in City Square, which also sold excellent Italian cakes.

The outdoor cafe came with pigeons and sparrows who fought over every little crumb that was dropped.  Probably not very hygenic.  But interesting all the same.

A busy Swanston Street.  Not like the streets of Invercargill, New Zealand.

Melbourne is such a cosmopolitan city, with excellent venues.  A very prosperous city.  We were especially impressed with the number of interesting restaurants and food outlets.  A real foodie city.

A street of tables and small restaurants.

Our first destination was the Immigration Museum on Flinders Street, in order to see if we could find Walter's name.  And amazingly we did too, although it took a bit of searching through the lists of people who came out on the Fairsea in March 1953.

 The people who wrote the lists were not always familiar with writing foreign names.   And when the family went through immigration in Australia they were put under the name of van Dam to make it easier, and then they were sent by train to a dreadful migrant camp in Bonagilla.  What a shock it must have been for Walter's mother and stepfather.

Walter standing on the steps of the Immigration museum.  The building was once the Customs House.

I tried to photocopy the printout but it was too fuzzy, but the list is as follows:  Van Dam, Cornelis H, den Boer (Walter's mother's maiden name), Jeremina P, Van Halderen, Rudolf, foster child (of Cornelis), Van Halderen, Walter, foster child (of Cornelis), Van Dam, Adrianus W.

The room where we used the computer to search the shipping lists.

The building was beautiful.  One of the long corridors.

A replica of bunk accommodation underneath the deck of a sailing ship that bought people to Australia.  There was one bunk per family, no matter how large the family.  It was dark, damp and very smelly.  Before 1850 they were called Coffin Ships due to the high number of deaths among the passengers.

The bunk accommodation on ships during the 20th century was much improved although Walter thought the display looked to be luxury accommodation compared to what he remembered on the Fairsea.  Men and women were put into separate accommodation.  He spent the voyage in a large male dormitory with Rudolf and his stepfather.  His mother's female dormitory was even larger.

After the museum we walked along Flinders Street, up Spencer Street, and onto Collins Street, where we found an upmarket food court.  Walter ordered pizza and I ordered beef stew with roast vegetables.  Excellent food.  We then found a little boutique cafe where we happily drank our strong espressos.  A contented couple of people.

A narrow building on the north of Flinders Street.

We backtracked to Spencer Street so that we could cross over to the North Bank, where there had been a massive building programme.  A very new project.

Looking south across the Yarra River.  A very different skyline to what Walter remembers when he worked in Melbourne in the 1960s.

The old railway bridge, now a walkway over the river.

We caught the free tram, number 35, which does a circular trip around the city.  The old trams are used for this purpose, and there is a recorded commentary which highlights the points of interest.  The trams are not airconditioned so it was a very warm trip.  However it was a fascinating journey, and certainly much easier than walking.  We were pleased that we had not walked around the renovated Docklands area, as it was huge.

When in Europe we are always fascinated by the couples who travel to all the main landmarks in a country so that they can get their photographs taken in their wedding finery.  And it would appear that Australia and New Zealand are also popular destinations for the wedding photos.  The best one we saw on this trip was the couple in New Zealand, standing on hay bales, with a back drop of mountains.

A couple standing on the steps of parliament in Melbourne.

Finally back to Flinders Railway Station in order to catch the train back to Broadmeadows.

Luckily there was enough credit on our Myki cards to catch the train but we ignored the 'top up your card' message when we used it on the bus home.  Luckily there were no bus inspectors about.

Although a very unreal day, it was still a fascinating experience.

Bill Richardson's Transport World

While we were staying with Shona, we went into Invercargill to visit the Bill Richardson's Transport World. 

Bill Richardson, a Southland man, built up a trucking business, as well as various other businesses, in New Zealand.  He also amassed a private collection of over 170 trucks.  When Bill Richardson died in 2005 his daughter continued to develop his collection of trucks and cars.  

We first called into see Eric and Ngaire for morning tea and spent a lovely couple of hours sitting in the sunshine, talking and admiring their beautiful garden.  Sadly I did not take any photographs of them or their garden.

We said a reluctant goodbye, and Walter drove Shona, Margaret and me around the corner to the large building which holds the collection of vehicles, plus a magnificent cafe.  Transport World opened in 2015.

The view when we entered the large hall was breathtaking;  high ceilings, shiny floors and highly polished cars parked diagonally in very straight rows.  Talk about paying attention to detail.

A Texaco 1940 Dodge Airflow petrol tanker

Bill Richardson's wish was printed on the wall, 'One day I hope someone loves it enough to carry it on'.

The collection of vehicles in the museum, is one of the best we have ever seen.  Quite an amazing collection.

A few vehicles took me down memory lane, such as the bus in the photo below.  It was almost identical to some of the old school buses that took us to secondary school in Invercargill.

The VW Kombi vans.

The collection was housed in at least three large halls.  We lost count as the halls seemed to go on forever.  Many of the halls were old workshops.  Our brother Eric used to work here when he was young, when they were full of machinery.

As well as vehicles, there were also many old petrol pumps, an activity room for children, plus a movie theatre.

Margaret caught behind bars.  She is still smiling though.

The toilets have themes. I forgot to go into the ones at the front of the building, which Walter said had oil pumps for taps.   Apparently there are one way mirrors which look out into the museum.

The toilets at the side had a lego theme.

A face on the lid to remind people to put the lid down.

On a mezzanine floor there was a Wearable Arts Collection.

Each item was made out of waste materials, or unusual fabrics.  They were very creative.  All of the clothes had been worn in a parade.

The dress on the right in the photograph below had been made with bread bag closures.

We also ate a delicious lunch in the busy cafe.

A great day out together.

Lovely old buildings in Invercargill.

Invercargill has some beautiful old buildings, a fact that I had heard people talk about, but one that I had not taken too much notice of, until now.  Due to the new earthquake regulations for buildings, many old buildings in Invercargill and elsewhere in New Zealand have become vacant.   Buildings have to be strengthened to meet the new regulations.  This is a very costly process.  

On a very cold and windy day, Margaret, Walter and I went for a long walk, to look at the old buildings.  We walked on the nearly pedestrianised and sheltered Esk Street, along one side of the exposed and wide Dee Street, back along the other side and then around the old bank corner, where the wind whipped our faces, into Tay Street.  

We parked the car in a covered carpark opposite H and J Smith, one of two department stores remaining in Invercargill.   We walked across the covered walkway into the shop, where we looked at the merchandise for sale, and ate lunch in the restaurant.  

The view of Esk Street, which is slowly being filled in with paved areas.   At the moment it is one way, with angle parking for cars, short term parking only.   When I mention to people that the street should be pedestrianised I am told that people want to park outside the shop that they intend to shop in. A bit short sighted I think.

I used to work in an insurance company at the other end of Esk Street, behind the clock tower, just visible in the photograph below.  My first job.  It was a very boring one too, typing out policies and trying to decipher my shorthand notes after the manager dictated letters to me every Friday afternoon.  

We noticed that many of the old buildings were Venetian in style.

Once we entered Dee Street, we hardly passed a person. Many shops were
empty. This street used to be bustling with people, with every shop filled with stock.  Friday's were always busy, as this was the day the farmers and their wives came into town.  The front of Woolworths was an especially popular meeting place.

A colourful mural on the wall of a building.

A beautiful Venetian style building, badly in need of restoration

The entrance to the Grand Hotel, once a smart and expensive hotel, which sadly became student accommodation.  Luckily it is currently being restored, and boosts accommodation for all travellers, from thrifty backpackers to people wishing luxury accommodation.   The foyer smelt very musty

I remember when Queen Elizabeth, in 1954, stood on the balcony to wave to the people of Invercargill.

Walter and Margaret, walking on their own along the street.  The verandah roof needs some urgent repairs.

Dee street, which was very wide, and with garden beds separating the two sides of the road.  There were plenty of cars but no pedestrians.

E. Hayes and Sons, Hardware, Homeware, Giftware and Engineering Supply Store, with its display of very old motorcycles, including Burt Munro's motorbike.

Burt Munro, on his Indian Scout, set the under 1000cc world record at Bonneville, USA, on the 26th August, 1967.  He was 68 years old and his motorbike was a modified 47 year old bike.   A movie was made about Burt Munro, called 'The World's Fastest Indian'(2005).

The tools displayed meticulously on the wall of the store at Hayes.  This is a store where one can still buy single nails, bolts and screws.  They are stored in drawers.

The problem in Invercargill, is that huge store chains, have taken the trade away from the centre of the town.  Behind E. Hayes and Sons, which is at the far end of Dee Street, there are huge stores which have equally large carparks, without parking meters.  People can park and walk directly into the store of their choice.

More magnificent buildings.

The old Post Office, now apartments.  I remember when this Post Office was extremely busy.

The corner of Dee and Tay Street, where there used to be banks on three of the corners.  One of the buildings is now a church.

The War Memorial in the centre made it an effective roundabout.   This was a corner where everyone scurried around, holding onto their hats and clasping their coats tightly.  It felt like that the wind always whistled around this corner. Yet there was often a photographer standing there, to take photos of people.

On the day Margaret, Walter and I ran around the corner, the place lived up to its name.  Cold, bleak and very windy.

An old department store, Thompson and Beattie Ltd where Margaret once worked.  Now a motorcycle museum.

We walked back to H and J Smith, looked at the merchandise again and warmed up, before driving back home.

A very interesting day, with plenty of reminiscing.

I must add that the weather did improve in Invercargill, and we had some lovely sunny and warm days before we left there.

Family Get Together

We spent a lovely few days at David and Catherine's new house in Invercargill.  

On the first day we went for a walk through Donovan Park, a large rural landscaped area linking Bainfield and McIvor Roads.  

I think the area was the farm for the Anderson Park Manor House, which is a magnificent stately home, with the most beautiful gardens, and in late spring has an amazing show of rhododendrons. 

The duck pond; a very peaceful setting.

The meadow flowers.

A beautiful bright green tree set in a lush lawn.

We walked back on a path through dark pines.  I think the cold Southland winds must roar through these trees.  The leaning trees are due to the strong winds and not my poor photography.

Two well fed and fluffy donkeys grazing on the lush grass.

We detoured through the new houses in the area. I loved this house with the two garages, the low one for the cars and the high one for the motorhome.

Brightly coloured toadstools.

David and Catherine's sunny front lawn.  The house faces north, and has large windows so captures the sunshine.

David and Catherine's family came for dinner and it was lovely to catch up with them all.

An assortment of delicious desserts.

The grandchildren, minus Eden.  The children have grown so much during the past fifteen months.  A very happy bunch.

We sat around the table, eating superbly cooked roasts and vegetables.  So much news to catch up on as well.  The evening passed by very quickly.

My apologies to Catherine, Phil, James, Mark and Mel as there are no photographs of you.  I slipped up a bit there.