Queen Victoria with sub-statues depicting 4 stages of her
life.
Rowers skimmed across the river's surface.
We liked this large 2-headed creature on the other side of
the river.
The black swans were pretty tame.
Picturesque boathouses for the rowing clubs lined this section
of the river's edge.
As we headed up toward the bus routes, we stopped to talk
to this guy who was working with his diabolos. You can see
them in the top of this photo.
These inflated octopus tentacles sticking from the top of
the parking garage made us laugh. There were buses and trolleys.
We used them both throughout our stay.
Some city buildings had good character.
We thought that this might be an Apple store with its apple
core graphics on the side, but no, Mac's is a restaurant/inn
founded in 1853. There is lots of pedestrian traffic between
the train station and the buses and trams.
Our next stop was at the beach at the end of the trolley line.
A World War I memorial and an array of green shirts used for
paddle boarding lessons.
What surprised us was that we could clearly see both our ship
and The Spirit of Tasmania Ferry from here. This telephoto
shot makes them look closer than they are, but they were several
miles away.
This woman was in a trance-like state with her swinging ball
routine. This exercise has developed from a Maori tribal ritual.
Across the street from the beach is another Luna Park, where
you enter through the mouth to get into the amusement park.
This one was a bit seedier than the one in Sydney.
A catholic church.
We headed through a very nice neighborhood on our way from
a bus stop to the botanical garden here.
This was a very nice garden with interesting and educational
displays and signage.
William Guilfoyle, the original designer of the garden in
1876, had created a "volcano," which was a mound
planted with a wide variety of plants and a pond in the "crater"
that has now been reconstructed with funding from various
sources.
The plants on the side of the volcano were mostly cacti and
other suculents.
Then the pond in the "crater" had floating island
gardens that are used to clean the water and to reduce evaporation.
Now the volcano is an attraction in the gardens and is a major
stop for the tours. We liked the solar-powered carts that
were used for the tours.
The views from the garden back to the city remind us that
we are not far from the hustle & bustle.
A stone grotto covered with suculents bids us adieu as we
leave the gardens. We love that gas fired cooktops are available
in many of the parks in Australia. The fried onions made our
mouths water...
We like the fancy light poles on this bridge.
We watched the skateboarders for a while. Note the cast on
this guy's left arm/wrist.
A pedestrian bridge across the river with a bar built on a
lower level around one of the supports.
Looking down on that bar under the pedestrian bridge where
you could purchase PonyFish Lager. A Picasso-like head sculpture.
