The Art of Sport Melbourne Walks
- An exploration of Melbourne’s sporting and creative achievements.
- Walking time 2.5 hours
- Distance 6 kilometres
Standing in the midst of FederationSquare, often referred to as ‘FedSquare’, turn full circle and take in theatmosphere of one of Melbourne’s mostsignificant meeting places. With yourback to St Kilda Road, you are facing theIan Potter Centre: NGV Australia,totally dedicated to Australian art. Toyour left is ACMI, the Australian Centrefor the Moving Image, a celebrationof the moving image in film, televisionand digital culture. Turn to your right andhead down the steps to the River Terrace,Federation Wharf and the Yarra River.The Yarra’s banks have barbecue andpicnic spots, fishing platforms andjetties, and there are trails and pathsto cycle, walk and jog. The Yarra alsohosts spectacular events and festivals.On your right – over the river – you willsee a number of rowing and boat clubs,the furthermost being the MelbourneUniversity Boat Club, established in 1859– the oldest rowing club in Australia.
Continue on towards Artplay, achildren’s art centre and gallery whichthen leads into Birrarung Marr,a beautiful 8-hectare (20-acre) urbanpublic park. In the language of theWurundjeri, the Indigenous inhabitantsof the area at the time of Europeansettlement, ‘Birrarung’ means ‘river ofmists’ and ‘Marr’ is ‘side of the river’.Other features of the park includeDeborah Halpern’s two-headed Angel sculpture and the magnificent FederationBells, a set of 39 upturned brass bellsof various sizes and sounds which playcompositions three times each day.
From the bells head to the William BarakBridge on your right. At its highestpoint, there is an expansive seating areato take in the beautiful views. Over thebridge, you are in Yarra Park, set asideas parklands in 1856, and in front of theiconic Melbourne Cricket Ground – theMCG, or just ‘the G’. One hundred yearslater, Yarra Park and the MCG were thefocal point for the 1956 MelbourneOlympic Games. Now the G is home toAustralian Rules Football and cricket’sfamous Boxing Day Test.
From the end of the William BarakBridge, go straight ahead towards Gate3 and the National Sports Museum incorporating the Australian Gallery ofSport and Olympic Museum, the SportAustralia Hall of Fame, the AustralianCricket Hall of Fame, the AustralianFootball Exhibition, Champions –Thoroughbred Racing Gallery, andtemporary exhibition areas. The Museumalso manages daily MCG Tours whichtake 75 minutes.
Around the ground, the Tattersall’s Paradeof the Champions are 10 largerthan-life-sized statues of elite sportsmen and women by Melbourne sculptorLouis Laumen. Cricket legend Sir DonaldBradman, outside Gate 5, was the first tobe unveiled in May 2002.
Back at Gate 1, with the practicenets for the Victoria cricket team, theBushrangers, in sight, head up the stepsto the left to the pedestrian bridge acrossBrunton Avenue. Over the bridge veerright down the steps – and you will seeRod Laver Arena, the 15,000 seatcentre court for the Australian OpenTennis Championships. Continue on andyou are now in the heart of Melbourne &Olympic Parks, which together cover over98 hectares. As well as hosting eventssuch as tennis, rugby, soccer, netballand basketball, and high profile musicconcerts and family shows, this area is theadministrative and training home to manysporting organisations and professionalclubs. Melbourne Park also includes themulti-purpose venue Hisense Arena and the National Tennis Centre. On theother side of Olympic Boulevard, OlympicPark features AAMI Park, with 30,050seats and a geodesic dome roof, theHolden Centre, Olympic Park Oval andGosch’s Paddock training fields.
Continue to your right and cross thehistoric 1952 Swan Street Bridge.To your left you will see a number ofbarbecue areas which are extremelypopular in the warmer months. CrossingAlexandra Avenue, you can walk up tothe Sidney Myer Music Bowl locatedwithin the King’s Domain. Inspired bythe Hollywood Bowl, this much-lovedsummertime venue was opened in 1959and is now part of Arts Centre Melbourne.
Continue along Alexandra Avenue, andveer left into Linlithgow Avenue to StKilda Road. Turn left down St Kilda Roadand then right into Grant Street. ACCA, theAustralian Centre for Contemporary Artis on your left, a leading contemporaryart space housed within a distinctive rustybuilding.
Walk back along Sturt Street towardthe CBD and you will see the westernboundary of the The Victorian Collegeof the Arts (VCA), a faculty of theUniversity of Melbourne, which hasseveral performance and exhibitionvenues.
From the VCA, continue along Sturt Streettowards the city. On the corner of SturtStreet and Southbank Boulevard is theacoustically perfect and architecturallysignificant Melbourne Recital Centre,with two world-class performance spacesfor the best musicians and ensembles.Next door, on Southbank Boulevard, isthe Southbank Theatre, home to theMelbourne Theatre Company, the oldestprofessional theatre company in Australia.
On the corner of Southbank Boulevardand St Kilda Road is the National Galleryof Victoria, established in 1861 andAustralia’s oldest public art gallery. It hasan extensive collection from Europe, Asia,America, and Oceania. Next door on StKilda Road is Arts Centre Melbourne,and its Theatres Building, over whichpresides a Melbourne landmark – the162-metre Arts Centre Spire – with itsballerina’s tutu at the base. Within thisarts precinct, take a class or a tour ofthe headquarters for one of Australia’sflagship arts companies, The AustralianBallet, founded in 1962. The ArtsCentre Melbourne Lawn features a rangeof outdoor activities and performances,as well as Inga King’s magnificent 1974sculpture, Forward Surge. Adjacent tothe Yarra is Hamer Hall, Melbourne’smain concert hall, seating almost 2,500people, with performances across allmusical styles.
From Hamer Hall cross over the 1888heritage-listed Princes Bridge.Turning right at the first set of trafficlights you are back at your starting point,Federation Square.
Federation Square - Shop, Visit, Eat and Drink
Arts and Culture
ArtPlay
Bookings essential, artplay.com.au
Telephone: 03 9664 7900
Australian Centre for theMoving Image (ACMI)
Monday to Sunday 10am to 5pm
NGV Studio
Sunday to Wednesday 10am to 5pm
Thursday to Saturday 10am to 10pm
No VacancyProject Space
Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 5pm
Sundaynoon to 5pm
The Ian Potter Centre:NGV Australia
Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm
Restaurants, Cafes and Bars
Optic Kitchen & Bar
Monday, Tuesday and Sunday 8.30am to 6pm
Wednesday to Saturday 8.30am to 10pm
Arintji
Monday to Friday 10am to late
Saturday and Sunday 9am to late
Beer Deluxe
Monday to Sunday 7am to late
Bokchoy Tang
Monday to Sunday 11.30am to late
Café Chinotto
Monday to Sunday 10am to late
Chocolate Buddha
Monday to Sunday noon to late
Feddish
Monday to Sunday noon to late
Il Pom Italian
Monday to Sunday 11am to late
In a Rush Espresso
Monday to Sunday7am to 5pm
Riverland Bar and Café
Monday to Sunday 7am to late
Time Out Café
Monday to Sunday 8am to late
Transport
Monday to Sunday 11am to late
Taxi Kitchen
Monday to Sunday noon to 3pmand 6pm to late
Transit Rooftop Bar
Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5pm
Friday to Saturday from 4pm
Monday to Tuesday closed
Shops and retail
Best of Victoria
Best of Souvenirs
Open same hoursas Melbourne VisitorCentre
Kirra Galleries
Monday to Sunday 10am to 6pm
7–Eleven
Monday to Sunday early to late
Visitor Information
Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square
Open seven days a week 9am to 6pm(excluding Christmas Day)
Melbourne Visitor Booth in theBourke Street Mall
Open seven days a week 9am to 5pm(excluding Good Friday and Christmas Day)
Fitzroy Gardens Visitor Centre
Open seven daysa week 9am to 5pm (excluding Christmas Day).This centre provides information services,touch displays, and free Wi-Fi and caféfacilities. Purchase your Cooks’ Cottage ticketsand merchandise, or take part in the freeguided garden walk which departs from thecentre every Saturday at 10am.
City Ambassadors
Keep an eye out for the CityAmbassadors dressed in their distinctive reduniforms in the central city. Monday to Saturday 10am to4pm, Sunday noon to 3pm (excluding Good Fridayand Christmas Day).
Melbourne Greeter Service
Discover from alocal what locals love about Melbourne. Englishorientations available seven days per week, other languages on request. Bookings areessential. 03 9658 9658 (Monday to Friday only).
Melbourne Visitor Shuttle
Hop on and offat any of the 13 stops along the route at keycity destinations, guided by an informativeon-board commentary. The complete trip takesapproximately an hour and a half. The bus runsevery 30 minutes with the first service leavingStop 1 at 9.30am and the last at 3.45pm dailyexcluding Christmas Day.
Useful Numbers
- Best of Victoria Booking Service 03 9928 0000
- Public transport queries 1800 800 007
- Travellers’ Aid Flinders Street Station 03 9610 2030
- Travellers’ Aid Southern Cross Station 03 9670 2072
- Airport Bus Skybus 03 9335 2811
- Ticketmaster 13 6100
- Ticketek 13 2849
- Directory Assistance 1223
- Emergency police, fire and ambulance 000
There are a number of self-guided walks in this series. These walks were developed by Federation Square and the City of Melbourne.
For more information, call the City of Melbourne Hotline 03 9658 9658, visit City of Melbourne[1]or goto the Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square.
Facebook: Melbourne Visitor Centre[2]
Twitter: @MelbVisitor
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