Melburnian Tourist Gems

I think it’s about time that I write a little about the city that I live in, Melbourne. I’ve written plenty about the differences and quirks about Australia but I do need to give this city some credit as it is a great place to live despite my gripes! Melbourne unfortunately tends to fall off the tourist radar as it’s usually living in Sydney and the barrier reef’s shadow, but it does have some cool sights! Here are 3 different tourist activities that I’ve been to and can vouch are worth seeing.

Welcome to GAOL!

The Old Melbourne Gaol (Jail) is an interesting experience which offers both historical and entertainment value. To start off, if you are visiting this gem, be sure to add the watch-house tour. For a few dollars more you can experience what it was like to be arrested in the mid 90’s just before the jail closed. You start in front of the jail where you are arrested by a Victorian police officer and brought into the station for booking. Just before you’re booked, you’re given a card with your “name” and your crime, and other details which the officer will question you on. You’re then brought in for a search and locked in a cell. While at first I was a little skeptical as to why I’d pay to be arrested, the experience is quite fun! While you CAN get the experience for free, I highly recommend paying as you’re not forced into taking the criminal record and deportation experiences as add-ons to your tour.

The deathmask of Ned Kelly (a mould of his face after he died)

The other part of the museum is visiting the Old Gaol which holds an important place in Australian history. It’s here where you’ll learn a lot about Ned Kelly and his gang. Ned Kelly is a folk hero here in Australia where he and his gang took on the government and wanted to create a breakaway republic. The only sort of comparison I can give regarding Ned to a Canadian figure (and I do so loosely) is Louis Riel. Some love the guy, some hate what he stood for. Ned Kelly was held and later hung in the Gaol. For those who are interested there’s a whole exhibit on hanging, including actual ropes and gear that were used to hang inmates. Overall the jail is a great place where you can easily spend an afternoon, and at $23 dollars for both the jail and watch-house tour, it’s a pretty good deal.

Victorian Parliament Building

Next up we have a tour that might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Being a politics major in Uni, obviously I’m going to be interested in government houses and learning how things work in the country politically. Being in Melbourne my next stop was naturally the Victorian State Parliament. This Parliament was also the original Australian Parliament before they moved the capital to Canberra. It’s a really nice building from the outside, but boy is it ever great on the inside as well. I would say that the best incentive to check this tour out is that it’s FREE. The only downside is you do have to go through security before being allowed into the building.

In the State Senate with our guide in the centre.

Our tour guide was quite fantastic and knowledgeable about the workings of government in Australia but knew a little bit about Canada as well which was quite cool. Being a tour group of varied nationalities our guide tried to get us all to describe a little bit about our countries. I got to learn about South Africa, England, Indonesia, and Austria. We got to visit the House of Commons (green chamber), the State Senate (red chamber) as well as the Parliamentary Library which is really nice. Overall this tour was well worth the cost (FREE) as well as it was a great learning experience. If you have any interest in the workings of government I do highly recommend this tour.

You have to understand that it really is hard to sum up everything in one article. On top of that, I haven’t necessarily found all the gems that Melbourne has to offer. That means that this will be an ongoing series and I will share with you all the gems as I find them. As for these two gems, if you are in town, I highly recommend you go take a peek and guarantee that you won’t regret it.