Recently, I went to Melbourne for a long weekend for work. Usually, up north in Queensland, we do not get to experience the seasonal change as those who live down there do. I was really inspired by the possibility of a walk along the streets, where I could spot the falling leaves of the front gardens and experience the coming winter in Australia.
Sometimes that is the only touristy thing a person who is travelling for work can expect to experience. There might not be time for going to museums or visiting the cultural monuments or events or anything else that might be recommended. While enjoying the services of a good hotel or a wonderful restaurant, it still could feel like there might be very little time to getting to know the place.
Taking an inspired stroll from the place of your conference, hotel or work could well be the only option available to you. So, instead of taking a taxi, why not walk. It cannot really be put down as exercise if it is leisurely but it could be said to be a touristy thing to do. Besides you get to know the location for when you go there again.
If you are from the northern hemisphere where you are used to Birch, Oak and Mable trees, walking the streets of Melbourne is a treat. They are everywhere. It is even possible to spot trees like in the Lapland tundra as some are grown in a very peculiar way. The other things to watch for are the roses in bloom. The whole walk will remind you of Europe, UK in particular with the small fenced off front gardens and flowerbeds.
While walking you can marvel of how much effort, compassion and dedication the ardent gardeners put into their small front gardens. It is a pleasure to find gardens are so dear to us and that often we try to replicate of what we have liked or know even tough living on the other side of the word to our original country of birth.
In Australia, it is a real effort to grow a tree that drinks so much from the ground where there is not so much water around. So, it is a pleasure to travel to Melbourne to see that clearly the trees we wouldn’t be able to grow up north thrive and the leaves fall just like on the other side of the world. Maybe just when it is spring in my birth country, but who cares anyway. This is the seasonal change in Australia we are talking about.
So, do it. It will be jolly good fun and healthy, besides. It is highly recommended!
