We’d booked a river cruise for 11.00 a.m. and as we were up bright and early this gave us an opportunity to fit in a visit to the State Library of Victoria on Swanston Street first. The library was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library which makes it Australia’s oldest public building.
Since opening, the library has grown to span an entire block with its opulent reading rooms, galleries, exhibition spaces and lecture halls.
Visitors enter the magnificent building through the Welcome Zone which leads into the Ian Potter Queen’s Hall by means of a grand marble staircase lined with columns. Natural light flows through the filigree patterned skylights which were originally designed to extend reading hours before gas lighting was installed. This hall is home to one of the world’s largest collections of chess memorabilia and is equipped with chess tables, historic chess sets and related reference materials.
From there, we moved onto the La Trobe Reading Room, a stunning octagonal reading room which opened in 1913 and extends to six storeys in height.
It’s upper galleries were originally serviced by spiral metal staircases and these can still be seen in the corners of the room today.
There are 320 desks with green glass shades and original oak chairs that radiate out from the centre of the room creating a prime example of Edwardian splendour. Members of the public are welcome to take a look around and I’d recommend popping in as the library is absolutely beautiful.
It was then time to make our way along to the south bank of the river for our pleasure boat trip with Melbourne River Cruises. Boats leave from the Southbank Promenade just a few minutes walk from Flinders Street station
We’d opted to take the two hour Melbourne Highlights Cruise $62 AUD (£32.60) along the Yarra River which started off with a one hour downstream tour of the city’s parks and docklands.
This was very relaxing as the cruise boats are comfortably furnished with sliding glass windows to enjoy a gentle breeze and also useful for taking photos. We stepped out onto the rear deck several times to enjoy the uninterrupted skyline, river and park views whilst we slowly chugged beneath the city’s bridges.
The second half of the cruise then took us upstream passing Federation Square, the MCG and Rod Laver arenas in Yarra Park and then alongside the scenic Botanical Gardens before turning round and heading back to base. With a detailed commentary and complimentary hot and cold drinks on board we found the cruise to be a relaxing way to view Melbourne from the perspective of the water.
After resting our legs for a couple of hours on the boat we decided to up the pace in the afternoon with a seaside stroll along Brighton Beach. Getting there was quick and easy as there is a frequent rail service from the historic Flinders Street station on the Sandringham line taking just 25 minutes.
As we were taking a journey outside the free tram zone we obtained Victoria Transport Myki Cards which cost $6 AUD (£3.19) and topped these up with some credit for our return journey. As daily fares within zones 1 and 2 cap out at €10.60 AUD (£5.60) travelling by public transport around Melbourne is very affordable, just remember that you need to both tap in and out on public transport.
The 7 km seaside path from Brighton Beach Railway Station along to St. Kilda is approximately a leisurely two hour stroll and is clearly signposted. It was a sunny afternoon accompanied by quite a strong breeze.
Our walk took us through the Brighton Beach Gardens which offer good views of Port Philip Bay and Melbourne’s skyline in the distance.
Part way along the seafront on the Denby Street Beach we came across the famous Brighton Bathing Boxes that were originally built as changing huts in the 1880’s. The 82 bathing boxes all retain classic features with timber frames, weatherboards and corrugated iron roofs.
Aside from their brightly painted exterior designs, they remain just as they did in Victorian times without service utilities such as electricity or water connected. The Brighton bathing boxes are the only remaining structures of their kind close to Melbourne and so iconic that many people flock to the beach just to take photos of them.
Moving on a little further, we spotted the lovely North Point Cafe which we discovered had only been open a few months but I’m certain will do well as it was really cosy and it was hard to choose between its delicious selection of cakes.
Feeling refreshed, we continued along the Esplanade before joining the Bay Trail which is home to Middle Brighton Pier and the art-deco Middle Brighton Sea Baths.
The current Middle Brighton Sea Baths date from 1936 after a devastating storm in 1934 destroyed the original 1880’s structure. The Baths are now the only remaining caged open water sea baths in Australia.
There was still much of interest to see along the Bay Trail with picnic benches along the Foreshore Reserve and a viewpoint on top of Point Ormond. It was so windy up there that it was difficult holding the camera still whilst trying to capture the stunning view.
Soon afterwards, we reached the seaside resort of St. Kilda where we enjoyed a wander through the town glancing in the shops before catching Tram 96 from along the main street back into the city centre.
We’d spent another lovely day exploring more of Melbourne followed by a bracing seaside walk from Brighton to St. Kilda.
After a rest back at our hotel we dined nearby in a newly opened Korean restaurant which brought back fond memories of our holiday to South Korea back in 2018.
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