Melbourne City is a lot like Wellington in so much as the climate is not too hot and not too cold. It has a funny moist thing that falls from the sky called rain, which does not often feature some of the more arid outback towns of Australia (where the soil is a sprightly red).
Another major difference that makes Melbourne unique is that trams are still in existence and frequently used as a major form of public transportation. I like trams. They are quieter than busses and can get around the city with little fuss because the tram tracks are in the middle of the road, allowing traffic to flow without having to be stuck behind stupid busses that take all day to get no- where.
Since both trams and other traffic share the same roads, except for a few streets reserved for trams only (and some, which allow other traffic at specific times) special laws have been included in the road code dealing associated with cars and trams. One of the most unusual is the Hook Turn A procedure for crossing the tram tracks if you are turning right (to do this you first have to get in the left lane- click on Hook Turn for further details.
I found this maneuver a little confusing and weird at the beginning but after awhile it seemed to make some sort of sense. From what I can see, Hook Turns seem to allow the traffic to flow a little faster.
Despite the trams and an amazing abundance of yellow taxis, which seem to swarm all over the place traffic on a whole still seems constantly congested, as do pedestrian all-day rush hour.
One of the hassles I encountered during my stay there was the fact that most streets did not give the option of being able to make some sort of U-Turn, or at least without a great deal of effort. If you make an error it is not always that easy to correct it. Some of streets do not allow traffic to cross the tram tracks so you are forced to travel some distance before being able to return in the opposite direction to amend an error.
For example…
After picking up my cellphone from AAT Kings I had time so I went for a walk around and happened upon a fairly nice looking hotel called the Victoria Hotel. I decided it would be a nice place to stay for my final night in Melbourne. It had a parking building a few hundred meters up the road from it.
I checked in then went back to the car, which was parked near Lincoln Square, toward the top of Swanson Street (north of Flinders Street Station- you may need a map). The Victoria Hotel is situated about halfway down Little Collins Street, which is one way.
The streets of Melbourne CBD are set in a grin like pattern 9 streets heading East-West intercepting the 9 streets heading North-South so at times it can be a little tricky to remain coordinated as to which direction you are travelling.
Now the idea was to find a way back to Little Collins Street and arrive at a junction that would lead to the Carpark, which as I say was on a one way road. If I picked the wrong intersection I would end up down from the car park with no way of going back up again. Just to complicate things the section of Swanson Street I needed to bring me onto the Russel/ little Collins intersection was set aside for trams only. Vehicles were not allowed to enter.
Things just seemed to go from bad to worse and soon I found myself lost. Being on my own I did not have the luxury of being able to consult the map whilst driving and there were not all that many places to pull over. Most parking spots were either occupied or had “No Stopping” signs on them. By the time I had found one I was usually miles off course. The constant slow of traffic did not help.
Finally I gave up and went for a bit of a walkabout, giving me a better understanding of the optimum route. Anyhow I got back there in the end and enjoyed my stay at the Victoria.
There are plenty of restaurants and cafés selling a variety of local and ethic-food. Then of course as with most cities there is a wide choice of fast food outlets such as McDonalds, Red Rooster and Wendys.
It is great place for a holiday and I’ll probably go back there either sometime so watch this space. Who knows what the next few years may bring?
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