And that isn’t all: go kangaroo-photographing at the Melbourne Zoo (and don’t miss out a walk through the Butterfly House here: it’s spectacular); spend some time shopping at Victoria Market , or get a ticket to an Aussie Rules football match- great fun to watch. And further afield: see the sun set over Melbourne from Dandenong , take a wildlife walk through the delightful Healesville Sanctuary , or check out the Dame Nelly Melba Museum in Lillydale.

Melbourne, as you’ll see, is definitely not a place you’ll find yourself running short of things to see and do!

Quick Tips:

And yes, even if you aren’t very fond of walking, do spend at least some time roaming around Melbourne- this city merits it!

Best Way To Get Around:

All of Melbourne’s metropolitan area is divided into 3 concentric zones, and when you buy a ticket, it’ll be issued for a particular zone(s) and for a specified time period, during which you can travel in any train, bus or tram within that zone. If you plan to be travelling a lot, a day-long ticket can be bought in the first bus or tram you get into- really helps save a lot of money and bother.

The other option is to walk or cycle- and that is a good way to see Melbourne: some of the city’s best sights are within easy walking distance of each other- like the Royal Botanic Gardens-the Shrine of Remembrance-Cook’s Cottage-Government House, or Victoria Market-Collins’ Street- Chinatown.

To get to the Shrine, you walk up the broad paved pathway of Anzac Avenue ; at the end of it is a flight of broad stone steps. Climb up it, and you’ll enter the main hall, its walls decorated with beautifully carved stone friezes depicting scenes of battle. All around the periphery of the main hall are Ionic columns of black marble- very old marble at that, with fossils imbedded in places.

The focal point of the Shrine is the Stone of Remembrance - a polished slab in the centre of the hall on which are inscribed the words "Greater love hath no man". Above the Stone is a carefully-positioned aperture in the roof of the hall, through which a single ray of light shines, only on November 11, at 11am every year, to light up the word `love’ in the verse engraved below. November 11, for those who missed the significance, is the anniversary of the Armistice; the complete verse reads: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13) .

It does give you gooseflesh, even if you aren’t Aussie; and for the benefit of tourists who can’t make it on November 11, a ray of artificial light does a dry run every day at 11 am.

The Shrine’s open every day of the year (except on Good Friday and Christmas) from 10 am to 5 pm.

The Royal Botanic Gardens spread over an expanse of 39 hectares of grassy lawns, flowerbeds, shrubs, trees and ornamental lakes. There were laid out in 1846, and are divided into a number of sections: the Flagstaff Gardens , the Treasury Gardens , the Alexandra Gardens (check out the lovely floral clock here!) and the Fitzroy Gardens among them. In all, there are about 13 hectares of lawn- cool, green and perfect for an afternoon nap or a picnic- through which bitumen-tarred paths meander, past stands of banksia, wattle, bottle-brush palms, willow, box and azalea trees- and flowers in every colour imaginable. The gardens boast of an almost unbelievable 12,000 species of plants, some of which are pretty rare. Many of them bloom in the flowerbeds along the paths, while some of the more delicate ones are in special shrubberies and in a special conservatory. The conservatory, in particular, has an excellent collection of cinerarias, cyclamens and hydrangeas.

Scattered across the gardens are some other important sights- Government House (the white tower-topped residence of the Victorian Premier) and the Shrine of Remembrance in the area known as King’s Domain; the Sidney Myer Music Bowl (a popular venue for summer concerts), and Captain Cook’s Cottage , which was actually dismantled brick-by-brick in England and brought to Melbourne. There’s plenty here to keep you occupied!

We visited the gardens on a wonderfully balmy spring day, beginning at the Shrine of Remembrance (where we parked the car and walked down through the gardens), past Myer Music Bowl and along the Yarra River. It took us all of half a day- from the morning till after lunch- to do our tour of the gardens, but those hours were amongst the most rewarding I spent in Melbourne!

Entry to the gardens is free.

Victoria Market dates back officially to 1878, when it was formally inaugurated, although certain sections of the market are older- the meat market, for instance, opened in 1869. Many of the sections are classified as Historic Buildings, so there’s more to this market than just shopping. But if, like thousands of other visitors, you’re here for shopping, you’ll find plenty to choose from- DVDs, video cassettes, music CDs, T-shirts, sweaters and other clothing, food, electronic equipment, souvenirs- and more. There’s plenty here to keep you occupied for a few hours, and you pick up some great bargains.

We’ve been shown the sights of Melbourne- from the seclusion of Mathew’s somewhat decrepit old jalopy. The Victorian Parliament, a staid building in beige stone with very classic lines (Mathew, who doesn’t seem to have planned this circuit too well, goes past Parliament three times in the space of half an hour); the majestic Shrine of Remembrance; the Royal Botanic Gardens and Myer Music Bowl, and the Yarra River.

Mathew calmly admits that the Yarra looks nicest at night, when you can’t see all the mud. But he admits that the stream isn’t too bad during the day either- as long as you plonk a clothespin onto your nose. "This city isn’t called `Smell-bourne’ for nothing".

Well, maybe Mathew’s prejudiced. He’s a Ballarat boy, and people from Ballarat tend to think no place is better than Ballarat. But, really- jokes apart. Melbourne is not smelly. And the Yarra, even though it’s muddy, is actually a rather nice river. Melbourne’s a rather nice city. Period. Addictive, even. I’ve spent a few days here, and I, like thousands of tourists, never want to leave.

The people with whom I’m staying are, fortunately for me, more or less a 5/5 guide match- they rate history, nature and culture as high as I do, so deciding on where we should go is not too much a battle of wills. This is the first week of September, and the lovely Royal Botanic Gardens are at their best- already ablaze with azaleas, wattle, flowering peach and tulips. We begin with a short walk up to the majestic Shrine of Remembrance , then stroll down the low hill on which it stands, into the Gardens below. We wander around, admire the flowers, eat cucumber-and-cheese sandwiches, watch black swans floating on shimmering ponds and get a taste of paradise…

A walk along the river (the Yarra- yes, muddy is the word for it), and we step across Princes’ Bridge , down the road and into China Town , where a beautifully-cooked Oriental meal is really the best way to end the day.

That isn’t, of course, the end to the trip; other days follow, with more discoveries: the type of discoveries you can make only in Australia. A gnarled old tree with a huge gash in its side is pointed out as a `canoe tree’- a tree from whose wood the aborigines had once carved out a canoe. A drive down from the City into the suburbs, and we pass car after car with gold-and-chocolate scarves: fans returning from a major aerial pingpong (a.k.a. Aussie Rules Football) game, sporting the colours of the team they’ve been supporting. Above, on an electric wire, sit two yellow-crested cockatoos, and on a fence is perched a plump kookaburra, looking for all the world like a somewhat cheeky bandit.

Another day is devoted to a tour of the City: to a leisurely saunter past the wonderfully old-fashioned Banana Alley Vaults . The vaults, on the bank of the Yarra, were once used to store ripening bananas which had been shipped down from Queensland; today they’re minus the fruit, but the shops here are interesting enough. We meander down the street, admiring a prettily crafted silver koala pendant in one shop, a large oil painting of the Outback in another.

One evening, after a ride out to the tree-fern and gum-tree environs of Healesville Sanctuary , we go up to the top of Dandenong , the nearest of the Blue Mountain Ranges. More by chance than by design, we reach Dandenong at sunset, when nightfall turns Melbourne into a shimmering sea of lights. Melbourne harbour, beyond the city, adds its own lights to the panorama. It’s gorgeous; the setting sun as a background, the city lights in the foreground. And the Yarra, sparkling, romantic- and too dark to look muddy.

This, feel many, is the best view there is of Melbourne. Other diehard fans of the Garden City- including my pal Mathew- have an alternative to offer: the men’s toilet on the 35th floor of the Regent Hotel. The view, say those who’ve been in this celebrated lavatory, is stupendous. Ladies: the women’s is right next door, and photos taken from either of the two toilets are exactly the same. So much for the men’s.

But on one point few disagree: that Melbourne’s a lovely city. A warm, friendly city- a completely Aussie city.