Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Head to South Melbourne for its market, contemporary homeware shops and top cafes
(seems there's a coffee competition going on). At nearby Port Melbourne is Station Pier,
the passenger terminal for the ferry service between Melbourne and Tasmania.
MARKET
South Melbourne Market
(
www.southmelbournemarket.com.au
;
cnr Coventry & Cecil Sts, South Melbourne; 8am-4pm Wed, Sat & Sun, to
5pm Fri; 96)
The market's labyrinthine interior is packed to overflowing with an eccentric
collection of stalls ranging from old-school to boutique. It's been on this site since 1864
and is a neighbourhood institution, as are its famous dim sims (sold here since 1949).
There are plenty of atmospheric eateries and a lively night market on Thursdays from
November to mid-December. There's a cooking school here, too - see the website for de-
tails.
Albert Park Lake
(btwn Queens Rd, Fitzroy St, Aughtie Dr & Albert Rd; 96)
Elegant black swans give their inimitable
bottoms-up salute as you jog, cycle or walk the 5km perimeter of this constructed lake.
Lakeside Dr was used as an international motor-racing circuit in the 1950s, and since
1996 the revamped track has been the venue for the
Australian Formula One Grand Prix
each
March. Also on the periphery is the
Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre
, with an Olympic-size
pool and child-delighting wave machine.
LAKE
Gasworks Arts Park
( 03-8606 4200;
www.gasworks.org.au
; cnr Graham & Pickles St, Albert Park; tours $25; tours 10.30am & 2pm
Mon-Thu; 1, 109)
A taste of gritty Berlin in Melbourne, this former gas plant lay derelict
from the 1950s before being developed into an arts precinct with red-brick galleries, a
theatre company
(check website for shows) and an ultra-dog-friendly parkland. You can meet
the artists on a guided tour or come for its summer
open-air cinema
or a
farmers market
(third
Saturday of each month).
CULTURAL BUILDING
Station Pier
(
www.portofmelbourne.com
; Waterfront Pl, Port Melbourne; 109)
Melbourne's main sea passenger ter-
minal, Station Pier has great sentimental associations for many migrants who arrived by
ship in the 1950s and '60s, and for servicemen who used it during WWII. It has been in
operation since 1854, when the first major railway in Australia ran from here to the city.
It's where the
Spirit of Tasmania,
cruise ships and navy vessels dock.
LANDMARK
