We Melburnians know how to
celebrate Australia Day. Melbourne city was way more crowded than expected on Australia Day (yesterday at the time of writing this) with a myriad of things to do. Everywhere you went there were crowds of people in addition to the tennis action.
Swanston Street was blocked off for a public address at Melbourne Town Hall, and the turn out was just amazing. Melbourne City has not been so crowded in a long time.
Some woodchopping was going on at Alexandra Gardens, while there were a series of meditation talks going on at the BMW theatre at Federation Square in addition to a free rock concert from 6pm. Additionally, many people loved upping the ante on the alcohol stakes at the various city based pubs. I did not know what to expect as this was my first Australia Day in Melbourne.
Last but not least, the fireworks were fantastic. In Melbourne (unlike Sydney) you can just rock up 10 minutes before the fireworks start in order to get a good view, and they did go for a good 10-15 minutes. It was a joy to see Mr Whippy at Alexandra Gardens and go for a rainbow gelati - a refreshing ice cream for the weather. Definitely great experiences along the Yarra.
