So, this edition will speak of ACCA, MRC, Koorie, and of course, Australia’s royal family. On another beautiful morning in Melbourne, a fully recovered Steve and I decided we would visit the Australian Center for Contemporary Art (or ACCA). This had proved to be a tough place to get to and find open for various reasons but, at last we made it! It is housed in an interesting building.

This is how ACCA describes its current exhibition: “Data Relations brings together artist-led projects that lyrically wrestle with some of the key issues and challenges of our contemporary data-driven society. The exhibition includes major new commissions and site-specific installations by Australian and international artists and collectives who critically and speculatively engage with the ways in which the data economy and related technological developments manifest in inter-personal and wider social relationships.”

This is how I describe it— it blew my mind! Looking at these installations through my perspective of how the digital world has grown from infancy during the beginning of my professional career to where it is the subject of philosophical musings that covered topics including surrogacy, how data is being misused, using data as a memorialization of people whose lives are disappeared or destroyed by totalitarian regimes, to data retraining our ways of using words and feelings. I had a few moments to discuss my reactions with one of the young staff members who seemed genuinely interested and excited at my reaction to the exhibition.

On our way back toward the Central Business District (CBD) we noticed several interesting buildings (yes that greenish thing in the middle of the center photo is a building), see below. I particularly liked the Melbourne Recital Center and a couple of skyscrapers that were in the Melbourne Arts Precinct.

Our next stop was at the edge of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens. We had noticed a lovely floral clock on our way out to the ACCA and wanted to get a picture of it on our way back. I noticed a statue behind the clock, of and we soon found that it was King George VI, the son of Queen Victoria.

Below, a small island in the garden, a folly, and some roses.

And finally, for this session, this interesting piece of public sculpture called the Genie. It reminded me of my dear friend Jeanne Green. Melbourne, like every city we have visited in this wonderful country has a wealth of public art in its streets, plazas and public gardens. I have one or two more posts to do, but it is now time to close for today.

As we continued our unsuccessful battles with our rotten, no-good host over the non-working A/C, a day out seemed a good idea. Melbourne, like London, is a great city for walking about and exploring. After wandering down a few small streets and byways, I found myself across from Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral.

By now, you know me and a good cathedral, so in I went. Needless to say, it is a lovely place, and I enjoyed my visit. I do regret not taking a picture of the full immersion baptismal pool at the back of the church. This looked like “the real deal, at first glance, I thought it might have been the top of a stairway to a crypt or something. Getting closer, I realized, it was, indeed a baptismal (or christening) pool. Below are a few pictures I did take.

Above, two traditional and one modern stained-glass windows, plus a look at the lovely floor tiles in the cathedral.

What better way to balance the day than a quick tram ride to the Australian Sports Museum, located at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. The approach to the grounds and museum is through lovely, landscaped grounds, including this tree canopied walkway.

The museum is surrounded by statues of Australian sports heroes.

Above are two exhibits and photos typical in the museum. It also contains plenty of interactive games for “kids” of all ages. Like most of the museums I have been to in Australia, this one definitely caters to young folks and would be the kind of place that children would want to return to.

These three photos represent, for me, the whimsical side of the museum and made the visit fun, as well as educational. The little cricket figure on the right will be remembered because just after I took his picture, a little girl with blonde curls was so excited to see him she ran up and hugged him–Another magic Aussie moment for me,

As we drove into the city and got into downtown traffic, the first thought that struck me was, ‘ok, this is a BIG city.’ It reminded me of Chicago. The beautiful old buildings next to stunning new buildings just had that feel. Then we saw the trams, beautiful modern, noisy trams. There were so many people in the streets. I knew I was going to like this place. Then we got to our flat. I have to say it folks. I am not blaming VRBO, but there is a certain lemony taste in my mouth about this one. Steve and I are having a battle of wills with the “host” right now over whether or not the air conditioner works. His agent who did not meet us but had visited the apartment before we arrived and left the balcony door open claims the A/C was working. (We assume that was because the little yellow button on the old-fashioned thermostat was on, rather than the red button for the heat. They did not respond to our phone calls and messages until late this afternoon when they asked us to send a video demonstrating that the A/C was not working. Don’t worry, no video of my fat self, sweating like a porker was sent. We responded that, while that little yellow lite shone, no air was coming out of the vents in the ceiling. Time will tell what happens next.

My first solo excursion was a trip on the Melbourne tram system up to the Queen Victoria Markets. If you have been to any of the big old markets in London, this was like two or three of them together on steroids. It had a fish market, a meat market, and little shops that were bakeries, Italian, Greek, Polish and other nationality delicatessens, wine shops, spirits shops, spice stalls and more. This was in the enclosed building. Then there were outside stalls, food trucks and vendors under tents with souvenirs, art, hats, tee shirts, the works! What a fun and interesting first morning this was.

Above, just a couple of glimpses inside the market hall. The Market was the last stop in the “free zone” on the tram system, by the way. You can basically ride for free around the Central Business District or CBD on the trams for no charge every day. There is an easy downloadable app. so you can “tap in” if you are going outside the zone to pay for those rides. It is a great system.

Steve and I met up “on the waterfront” in the afternoon. It was a gorgeous sunny Sunday afternoon, and the Southgate section of the Waterfront was hopping. It is just across one of the several bridges that cross the river. The one I crossed is a modern beauty that is behind the beautiful Victorian landmark, the Flinders Street Railway Station.

That’s the station, going all the way down Flinders Street! In the middle of the block, just before that distant clock tower, there is a passageway that takes you to the back of the station and to the pedestrian bridge across the river.

Folks walking over the pedestrian bridge toward Southgate and a quirky piece of public art waiting to greet them on the other side.

Two views of the riverfront and the beautiful skyline of Melbourne that we admired on our first full day in this incredible city filled with culture, commerce, sport and wonderful Aussie spirit. Note that I am having data issues, so I am going to try to get this published tonight, fingers crossed. More Melbourne adventures await.

With Steve still in “sick bay,” I took a day trip up into the mountains that make up much of the Island. Our tour guide took about 30 of us out of Hobart, the fairly cosmopolitan capital of Tasmania up into the incredibly beautiful mountains. We passed through the outer suburbs of picture box Victorian style homes and then on to mid-20th century style architecture in developments that must have grown up as the city became more popular as a home for people who enjoyed the outdoors life and for retirees from other parts of Australia.

Our first stop of the day was at The Salmon Ponds Heritage Hatchery and Gardens which calls itself oldest fish hatchery in the Southern Hemisphere.

This little piece of heaven in Plenty, overlooking the Derwent Valley. The ponds where the fish are fed and grow are layed out among formal gardens and are surrounded by mountains and ancient trees, many brought from Europe as well as native species. It is a beautiful place, the peace only broken by the fish when they surface to eat the pellets the tourists can purchase to feed them and the raucous calls of the birds overhead. Below, two more photos of the natural beauty of this place.

From here we returned to our bus and set off to visit the breathtaking Tasmanian rainforest that I mentioned to some of you in an earlier Facebook post. I will post those pictures below. The trees, the huge ferns, the canopy, the cycle of life of living and dead trees, the streams, and brooks. It was overwhelming, affirming, stunning and simply amazing to see. I have had a tiny taste of this in the Greenway that has been created in Naples, Florida, but it cannot compare to what I witnessed here on such a grand scale.

The second picture above shows you how tall these trees become. The first shows you some of the many varieties lf ferns growing alongside the trees.

Just one more picture below of a resident of this part of the rain forest, a padymelon, sort of a short, compact kangaroo.

Leaving our little friend behind, we stopped at the entrance to Mount Fields National Parks for a lunch break and then headed on a pleasant well-maintained path toward Russell Falls, one of the many waterfalls that can be found on the Island of Tasmania. Again, you can get a hint of the biodiversity found in the rainforest. It was like being in another world, not just another continent.

Here are some pictures of the falls.

Seeing the falls and a lovely walk back through the forest path was a lovely way to end the day.

I have a few more photos of Hobart that I took on the last full day we had there. By, the way Steve is doing much better. I thought I would share these photos here and summarize my thoughts on Hobart and “Tassie.”

This first fellow is a piece of public art in Elizabeth Mall a partially covered outdoor mall on a pedestrializes=th part of Elizableth Street, where our flat is located. Platypus is one of the stores in the mall, one of Australia and Tasmania’s iconic and beloved creatures, as well

The Old Post Office and the State Parliament of Tasmania. Across the street from each of these are new buildings. Everywhere in Hobart there is a sense of the future meeting the past and, like all of the places I have been so far, trying to make peace with the past while moving forward.

Finally, a wooden tall ship tied up next to part of the very modern Hobart Harbor complex on the left and a figurehead from a ship on display in Hobart’s Maritime Museum, a lovely, quirky local museum that is perfect for children and for folks who love the lore of the sea. I can bet that many class trips are taken to this charming place every year.

As we end our time in Tasmania, I am sad to leave. The people are as kind and friendly as all the Australians I have met so far. There must be something in this Southern Hemisphere air. Perhaps it being so far away from all the problems we make up north. Hobart is just such a nice place. It is the kind of place one hopes against hope he will return to, when he knows the chances are slim. I will urge anybody who reads this blog, though. If you make the commitment to come to “Oz” do not miss this spectacular island. Too many people do. And while I’m at it, if you’re visiting anywhere in the Carribean, do not miss America’s paradise of Puerto Rico either, just sayin’! Now it’s off to the really big city of Melbourne!