Getting a Charge out of Melbourne (on an E-Bike Tour)

Beautiful city of Melbourne

On Monday, we took a 4 hour e-bike tour of Melbourne. We took an Uber from the hotel to the bicycle tour shop. Our Uber's license plate was interesting and appropriate:

The bicycle tour was a great way to see all the iconic sights of Melbourne. There were 11 of us in the group, not counting our tour guide, Leo. 

Ready to roll

Our group

Leo

One of our first stops was to view the war memorial called the Shrine of Remembrance. It began as a memorial to honor the Australians who served in World War I, but was later revised to honor all Australians who have served in any war.

Shrine of Remembrance

We saw this sign at the entrance to a park and were told that Wominjeka means welcome in one of the native aboriginal languages.

Welcome

Along the way, we had many nice views of the skyline of Melbourne. Leo pointed out that one of the buildings had an image of a man's face on it. It was not readily apparent, but if you looked for it, you could see it.

Mans' face on building to left of spire

We rode through a park where the bark of the trees that lined the road were covered in pink polka dots. Leo explained that the trees were wrapped in the pink polka dot design to celebrate the world-premiere blockbuster exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. The pink polka dot pattern was developed especially for the artist. Apparently the artist, Yayoi Kusama, feels that dots symbolize both the individual and when presented in great numbers, the cosmos.

At one point, we rode by the Australian Open tennis courts and were able to look down from a bridge overlooking the courts and see some more tennis action. Leo told us that the outer courts used in the Open are used by the public during the rest of the year. But the Rod Laver Arena, that big beautiful building, is only used two weeks out of the year for the Australian Open. It is not used for anything else.

We rode by a field where a couple of Australian Rules Football teams were practicing. Leo told us that one of these teams was the very best team in all of Australia, and it would be like us Americans watching the very best football team. On the back of the referee shirts, it said KFC. Someone asked Leo what the KFC stood for. We were all expecting an abbreviation for some Australian group. Then Leo surprised us by telling us it stood for Kentucky Fried Chicken. Apparently, they are a big sponsor of sports in Australia. 

Australian Rules Football practice

Staying with the sports theme, we also rode by the Cricket arena called the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). Cricket is really big in Australia. This stadium holds 100,024 people and according to Leo is the 11th largest stadium in the world. Although the capacity is slightly over 100,000, apparently the arena can hold more in a standing room only capacity. The largest crowd ever in the MCG was 139,000 for a Billy Graham Crusade. Also, Taylor Swift has performed here a few times. Leo told us that when Taylor Swift performs, there are some Americans that attend, because it is cheaper for them to fly to Australia and see Taylor Swift than the cost of tickets to see her in America. That seems outrageous, but who am I to question Leo?

Leo told us that the three biggest industries in Australia are coal, iron, and education. Coal and iron I can understand, but how is education an industry? Leo explained - Australia has some really good universities and their degrees are accepted internationally, so there are a lot of foreign exchange students that come here to get an education. 

Much of our ride took place along the Yarra River. We rode over pedestrian bridges that crossed the river. We also rode along a promenade with shops and green shady trees. Very nice. There were lots of pedestrians out and about, and it was challenging to ride without running someone down.

When someone asked Leo about the origin of the name of Yarra for the River, he said that when the colonial settlers came here, they pointed to the river and asked the indigenous people what do they call it. They did not understand the question, and basically said we call it a river (the word Yarra in their language.) So the settlers called it the Yarra River, which basically is saying River River. Also Melbourne was first called Batmania after John Batman who claimed to have founded the city. 

At one point in the ride I took a fall. I was rounding a sharp curve and looking back to see where Joe was at the same time as taking the curve. I lost my balance and fell over in the grass next to the bike path. I caught myself just before I hit the ground, so landed softly. But Leo apparently was concerned. I was at the back of the pack, and he came running from all the way up front, asking me if I was okay. I told him I was fine and he said, "Just for the record, you went down very gracefully" :-) Nice guy.

We stopped for lunch at a small cafe called Faraday's Cage. I think that when they started the restaurant, someone made a typo and meant to call it Faraday's Cafe - because really, why would you call a restaurant a cage? (Maybe the Unzoo people had something to do with starting the restaurant, given their propensity for desiring to see humans in cages.) Okay, seriously, I guess there is such a thing as a Faraday's Cage, something having to do with electromagnetic shields. But still, why give that name to a restaurant?

Faraday's Cage (or is it Cafe?)

After lunch, we finished up our bicycle tour by riding through some random streets, seeing more Australian buildings, passing in front of the iconic Flinders Station, and a brief ride through Chinatown.

Flinders Station

Entrance to Chinatown

When we got back to the bicycle shop where the tour ended, they gave us ice pops, which was so refreshing after riding in very hot weather. Most of the time, the temperature was in the upper 80s. The ice pops were a nice way to cool down. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Melbourne and seeing the city from a bicyclists' point of view.