Mostly Marvellous Melbourne

22 July 2017

ONE place I never get tired of visiting is Melbourne.

The capital of the Australian state of Victoria, Melbourne lies on a vast natural harbour called Port Phillip Bay.

On the same latitude as Hamilton, New Zealand, Melbourne is also the southernmost and coolest of the five big cities on the Australian mainland.

So, Melbourne is mostly quite mild and pleasant. It is also a ‘garden city’. In this 3D aerial image from Google Earth, you can see how true that is.

Central Melbourne, as it might be seen seen from an aircraft over Port Phillip Bay, north at top. (Source: Google Earth. Imagery ©2017 Google, Map Data ©2017 Google.)

Here’s a closer look at the very heart of downtown:

Melbourne: Flinders Street Railway Station and St Paul’s Cathedral with Flinders Street (left to right) and tree-lined Swanston Street (at right angles in the middle) between them, as seen from over the Yarra River in the vicinity of Princes Bridge. (Imagery ©2017 Google, DigitalGlobe, Aerometrex, CNES/Airbus, Landsat/Copernicus, Map Data ©2017 Google)

Melbourne’s an intensely walkable city. The next couple of photos show the Rainbow Pedestrian Bridge over the Yarra River, with countless pedestrians crossing it at dusk. Underneath the bridge is one of the world’s smallest islands, Ponyfish Island. The island is entirely covered by an outdoor bistro bar, at which some of the pedestrians tarry!

The Rainbow Pedestrian Bridge with Ponyfish Island beneath