As part of our 3-hour long walking tour of Melbourne, we were introduced to the story of Chloe (right bottom). Chloé was painted in 1875 by a French painter, and was displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria. Chloé grew controversial when the painting started being exhibited on Sundays, when a local minister condemned it. The painting was then purchased by the owner of the bar at Young and Jackson Hotel, where it still hangs today.
During WW1, WW2, the Korean War and Vietnam War, soldiers wrote letters promising to return to her, and American soldiers even had a plot to abduct her. Chloé was then adopted as the mascot of the Royal Navy frigate HMAS Melbourne. It is one of the most popular paintings in the city, valued at $5M, and considered an icon of the city. Of course, we had to go see it (lower right). Melbourne is filled with beautiful and diverse architecture (top). And, there are lots of food choices in Melbourne including crocodile and kangaroo burgers, which we sampled (lower center).
We spent a few hours reviewing the art work from the NGV National Gallery of Victoria near the Royal Botanic Gardens (above). On display were paintings by Mark Rothko, Picasso (upper-left), and many others. A little boy was so enthralled with a display of High Fashion that he fell down (lower right). Our guide from Depot Adventures highly recommended seeing this gallery. The tour guides generally show us what and where, with their goal being to get us to come back and explore on our own, and we did come back to see this gallery.
Our walking tour took us to Federation Square, Collins Street shopping areas, street art lanes, old shopping districts, Chinatown, Flinders Street Railway Station, the sports stadiums (where they play the Australian Open), Symphony Halls, parks, and libraries. Flinders Railway Station is a well known meeting point to get together with others. It was even fascinating watching the window washers (lower right). We highly recommend taking a walking tour with locals whenever you’re in any new city.
We made a stop at San Remo for fish & chips enroute to Phillips Island. The fishing boats were quite intriguing. I have no clue how the lights are used and, I have never seen such colorful nets.
Phillip Island is 90 minutes from Melbourne and is where the Penguin Parade is located. Phillip Island is 14 miles long and 6 miles at its widest. The island is teeming with different kinds of wildlife, including the nesting ground of seagulls (bottom), fur seals, short tail shearwaters, wallabies, wombats, and possums, in addition to Little Penguins (shown yesterday). Echidnas (top right) are strange-looking animals that resemble anteaters, but look like a cross between a porcupine and a hedgehog.
Our hotel, the Lancemore Crossley St., is tucked between the theater district and Chinatown. We saw a live performance of Miss Saigon, just a block from our boutique hotel. There were several other theaters that had live performances at the same time. This is one of the few musicals we had not seen, and the lead characters were quite charismatic.
In the elevator of our hotel is a dramatic video art display designed by Roynae Mayers. It’s a real showstopper, causing us to actually miss our floor as we watched in fascination. The entire hotel was designed with local artists to create unexpected moments of delight. You find art, sculptures, dramatic lighting, grit and paintings in every room. We kept returning to the Chinese restaurant next door for its salt and pepper squid.