Day 24: The 3 Cathedrals of Melbourne

Our last day in Melbourne! I woke up this morning and did the usual routine of shower and breakfast before heading downstairs around mid-morning to meet the group for a full day of activities! First off, we would be visiting the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground. Only Anoop could really appreciate this stadium and its global significance (Anoop is an avid cricket follower), though he helped us understand its importance by likening it to the traditions of baseball at Wrigley Field or Fenway Park. Basically, this stadium has been around for some time, opening back in 1854. It has been renovated many times since then, but is currently the 10^th largest stadium in the world (largest for playing cricket) and has the highest light poles for any sporting venue. It seats 95,000 and has standing room for 5,000. The MCG was home to the opening ceremonies and games of the 1956 Olympics and 2006 Commonwealth Games and is also home to the prestigious Melbourne Cricket Club. Several Melbourne teams across different sports call the MCG home, but (as we would find out during our tour) the stadium is designed to adapt to the colors and mascots of the different teams as needed.

We were lucky enough to have a tour guide, Robert, who has been coming to the MCG since 1946 and is a current member of the MCC. He was an excellent tour guide – the more stories he told, the more he remembered. Robert was delighted to learn about our interest in construction and architecture and so he attempted to remember as many stories pertaining to the development and architectural elements of the stadium. He would be in the middle of a fascinating story about renovating the stadium to include more women’s toilets when he would go “Oh, oh! That reminds me of another story, right-o!" He took much longer on our tour than usual, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the fine details he would sporadically remember. No doubt this stadium is the pride and heart of Melbourne. Robert evidences this, too, as he provides tours for the stadium on a volunteer basis. Here’s a look inside the MCG:

MCG Field and Stands

From the top!

Prestigious MCC Recognition

Robert also enjoyed telling many jokes, but one in particular I thought was pretty funny. We were touring around the outer limits of the stadium on the top floor when he remembered the joke, but told us “Oh, let’s wait. There’s a better spot to tell that one. Right-o!” A few minutes later we were standing on a balcony with an awesome view of the Melbourne skyline. Here he told us that this was the only place in the city you could see all 3 cathedrals in Melbourne. He pointed over the edge to a tall spire on the left and another spire towards the middle of the skyline. He then turned away from the balcony and remarked in an off-hand manner, “You’re standing in the third.”

Robert took us through a good portion of the stadium – the grass edge, several spots in the stands, several bars, the library, the locker rooms, head trainer rooms (Robert called them psychologists), and some of the private rooms that only Melbourne Cricket Club members had access to. Apparently some 200,000 people are on the waiting list to join the MCC, of which 38% are women.

The tour ended after a couple of hours and we said our farewells to Robert. The group took a tram ride (My favorite!) back into the downtown area at which time Anoop told us we were free for the afternoon, but that we had plans for the evening. Professor Hein, Jay, Reel, and I took this time to go check out the Council House 2 - a 6 star building with a plethora of information available online. We hoped to be able to get a tour of the place, but unfortunately only the third floor was open to the public. 


We found CH2 relatively easy on Little Collins Street and proceeded inside. The building was completed in 2006 and honestly it wasn't exactly the most picturesque building. Nevertheless we checked in at the front the desk and received name badges to go up to the third floor. The four of us took the elevator there and enjoyed some time looking around at the vaulted concrete ceilings and wooden shutters that open and close as needed to shield the building from sunlight. The inside of the building was interesting, but we wanted to see some of the building's energy and water systems. We were completely unsupervised, so we took the liberty of continuing up to the top floor in the elevator. Nobody seemed to mind, so we ventured over to the nearby staircase that would take us up to the roof. From online research, I knew the building had solar hot water panels, wind bowls, and also a water treatment plant - all housed on the roof.


There was no security access to get on the roof, which we though was odd until we realized that the roof had been utilized as a lunch break area for tenants of the building. A variety of plants had been planted (they looked wilted and pitiful), but there were also benches and places to sit amongst the the cogeneration plant and wind bowls. Nevertheless, it was fairly pleasant and we enjoyed ourselves for few minutes. We took several pictures of what we could see, but most of the systems were hidden inside a large metal clad room that required a key for entry. Here's a look at CH2:

Council House 2

Vaulted Concrete Ceilings with Chilled Beam System

Roof - Wind Bowls (They weren't turning and it was windy...)

House for cogeneration plant. Solar panels on roof.

Satisfied with our wanderings, we returned to the first floor to give back our name tags before heading back to the Village. The trip had been about as successful as possible given the circumstances, but the upshot is that Professor Hein was able to secure a contact with someone who is knowledgeable about CH2 and will be able to answer any questions we might have while we write our theses back in Auburn.

Safely back at the Village, I decided I needed a good afternoon power nap (traveling can really wear you out!). This "power nap" got out of hand quickly and turned into a solid 3 hour slumber. I woke up around 5:30pm and decided I should head out and try and find a temporary structure to use as a case study since this was pretty much my last day to find a structure to analyze in Melbourne (nothing like the last minute). I was successful in finding two temporary structures, but my favorite was a 3-story structural steel frame that had been engineered to hold up an existing historic facade while demolition and new construction occurred behind the facade. Here is a look at the behemoth:

Left side view of the Structural Steel Framework

Right side view depicting the framework and facade with demolition

Before I went back to the village to get ready for the evening group plans, I ran inside a particular bakery that was THE MOST unique place in all of Australia. Unlike the rest of the entire country that has sold their rights to Coke, this small bakery managed to have several massive coolers of only one drink: Dr. Pepper. There were only 6 cokes available for purchase (As you can count in the picture below) and the only other drinks available were water, a couple of juices (unfortunately bottled by Coca-Cola), and coffee. I had seen this glorious establishment in passing a couple of times, but I absolutely had to pay them a visit before I left Melbourne. I bought a couple of Dr. Peppers and a donut (breakfast for tomorrow!). Here is a picture of the Dr. Pepper fridge (The cooler behind the counter is not pictured, but was 3 shelves high and ran about 12 feet - solid Dr. Pepper cans!)

A taste of home! Bottled in Plano, TX

 I walked back to the Village and proceeded to get ready for the evening activity. Anoop had arranged for the group to go and see a live Australian play entitled, "Summer of the Seventeenth Doll" performed by the Melbourne Theatre Company. The play started at 8:00pm, so we headed out around 7:00pm to get there early. We ended up getting there in about 15 minutes (a little too early) and so we had a few minutes to roam around the area near Federation Square. As we wandered down the street, we came across a Krispy Kreme (They actually have a lot of stores here!). Steele decided to buy the group a dozen glazed and refused to take any donations to cover the cost. So, naturally, most everyone tried until they were successful in reverse pick-pocketing Steele. The donuts here are made in a factory nearby, not in the shop, but they were still relatively fresh and quite tasty!

Steel was so proud of his purchase!

We enjoyed the treat and then headed down to the Arts Center to catch the show. We had seats in the balcony, which turned out to not be too bad. The balcony was not completely full (the lower section was though), so most everyone took the advantage of finding an even better seat at the edge of the balcony. Here's a look at the stage from my vantage point:

 

 

 

Stage where all the action took place!

I did not take any pictures during the tragedy set in 1950's Melbourne. This is due mostly to the fact that my camera has a bad habit of making a noise to celebrate the creation of each new picture. The play consisted of 3 Acts that lasted around 3 hours total. I enjoyed the first two acts the most (lots of action which climaxed with the shattering of a ceramic vase thrown vigorously into a wall). However, the third act was terribly mundane and sorrowful - not really my flavor for life. I might also make note here that I did not have foreknowledge that the play was a tragedy. Knowing this going in (I somehow missed the memo) might have helped prepare me for the despair. Anyway, all in all I am totally glad we got to see some Melbourne culture up close and personal.

The play ended just after 11:00pm, so most everyone headed back to the Village to get ready for the flight to Auckland in the morning. I spent quite some time picking up my things and cleaning up a bit, but most of my time was spent figuring out a better way to pack my belongings. Since I had purchased extra weight in my checked baggage, I needed to get my carry-on down from 14.7kg to under 10kg (JetStar's limit for a carry-on) - just in case JetStar wanted to weigh my carry-on. I finally managed a suitable arrangement of items between my bags and called it a day. Today had been filled with tons of fun activities, but I would need plenty of sleep to take on not only a new city, but a new country - New Zealand!