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1996
Around the world (AUSTRALIA)
Bec2004-09-20 11:22:09
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MELBOURNE
As for New Zealand, there is not much culture shock to be enjoyed in Australia. Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane would no more be out of place in North America than Christchurch and Duneden in Europe. Values are similar but not the same, they speak English, but with a different accent... The day after my arrival beautiful Melbourne was full of people celebrating Australia Day.
The Australia Day celebrations were quite colourful as it should be. There were acrobats, jugglers, unicyclists. fire eaters, hucksters and all sorts of amusements. What impressed me most however was this excellent hard rock band formed by members of the Victoria State Police! They were really good but more importantly they put on their show with an a most refreshing irreverent atmosphere. It was definitely good public relations, I wish that the staid and self-important Quebec Provincial Police could do the same!.
Here, the crowd was enjoying a jazz festival sponsored by the Victoria Arts Center on St Kilda Road next to the Theaters Building and the Melbourne Concert Hall. Just across the street the Queen Victoria and Alexandra Gardens open on a succession of parks leading to the remarkable Royal Botanic Gardens. A most pleasant place to go for a stroll.
This great sculpture outside the National Gallery adds to the very arts conscious atmosphere of this part of town. Sydney has its Opera House but Melbourne has a whole arts district to bolster its claim of being "more cultured" than its sister city...
ST KILDA
Like New Zealand, Australia is very well organized to handle packpackers. In Melbourne, I stayed in one of the several hostels of the St Kilda district not far from the namesake amusement park shown here. Over seven weeks, the cost of accommodations averaged 10.40US$, slightly more than the N.Z. average of 10.10US$. From Melbourne went to Canberra to satisfy
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See photographs from:
Australia Gallery
