Day 17: Australia Day Jan 26; travel day to Melbourne

Today is Australia Day, the anniversary of the 1788 landing of the first immigrants in Australia. There is also a First Peoples oriented parade commemorating Invasion Day. We saw a kid wearing a hat with the First Peoples flag in the airport.

Coming at the end of the Australian summer holidays, Australia Day seems to be roughly a combination of July 4th and Labor Day in the USA.  We are hoping to get fireworks tonight! 

We say goodbye to our lovely, tiny Airbnb in Glebe neighborhood of Sydney.

Easy 90-minute flight to Melbourne with a reasonable departure time -- so nice not to have a 4:30am wake-up for travel day.

Thinking ahead to or Melbourne itinerary, we have very little time in the city. Two nights, only one full day. And that day is booked with travel to Philip Island to see wildlife. What about the acclaimed avocado toast of Melbourne? What's a foodie to do?

We get an Uber straight from the airport to the brunch restaurant Expressionist near our Dockside apartment. (Traveling with 4 the economics of Uber work out vs mass transit so much better than for single fare.) Kathy gets her avocado toast, I get a sambal scrambled egg on toast with mushrooms. Nice vertical presentation, excellent flavor. 

From the restaurant it's a modest walk along the totally empty waterfront in the Docklands area to our hotel. 

After check-in we are looking to take the free tram to the other side of downtown where we can follow a self guided First Peoples tour. Turns out there is a tram that terminates a block from our Airbnb, so we hop on that. (I ask the attendant how to buy the ticket etc and he explains the free fare zone. We converse in English. It is so so so easy compared to using another language. OMG. Remind me to become vastly more capable in Italian, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, etc.). 

Riding the tram a mile is an easy way to view a slice of Melbourne.  The city goes from empty to bustling as we travel east on Collins Ave. We hop off at Parliament and start our Aboriginal tour.

Nice gardens, memorials to key people, interesting art, references to the art and cultural heritage. And always the reference to original owners of the land -- ownership that was never ceded only stolen.

PARLIAMENT GARDENS

PASTOR SIR DOUGLAS AND LADY GLADYS NICHOLLS MEMORIAL

River People who turned the tide of history and injustice to progress the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

DUN DUNGULA WAMAYIRR (River People)

This is the first memorial statue in Melbourne dedicated to two Aboriginal community leaders, Pastor Sir Doug and Lady Gladys Nicholls. They vigorously fought for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across this country and are an eternal symbol of our ongoing history and commitment to human rights in Australia.

PASTOR SIR DOUGLAS Ralph NICHOLLS, 1906-1988

Traditional Owner and Aboriginal Elder of the Yorta Yorta, Baraparupa, Dja Dja Wurrung, Jupagalk and Werkgaia peoples from the Murray, Loddon, Richardson and Wimmera Rivers-theAND LADY GLADYS lands of the Emu, Long Neck Turtle, Platypus, Crow and Pelican.

Church of Christ Pastor, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Knight, Governor of South Australia, justice of the Peace, Footballer, Sprinter, Bazer, Soldier, Statesman, Freemason. A man of the people from Cummeroogunja Mission in Yorta Yorta country, a devout spiritual leader and man of God, Aboriginal community leader, brilliant sportsman, and a fighter for equality and human rights.

LADY GLADYS MURIEL NABY NICHOLLS (nee Bux), 1906-1981

Traditional Owner and Aboriginal Elder of the Baraparapa and Dja Dja Wurrung peoples from the Murray and Loddon Rivers-the lands of the Platypus and Crou

Wife, Moth Grandmother, Aboriginal Community Leader, Business Woman, Charity Worker, Women's Activist. A woman of courage and strength, and a fighter for equality and human rights

There's a wedding at the Parliament building with classic cars at the curb.

Signs of a protest. We see more First Peoples signs. The schools for indigenous people were a crime, like Indian boarding schools in USA.

The NY Times says there were protests and vandalism here and in Sydney in last couple days.

We drove by this on the way to Sydney airport. 

A few stops into the walk we get to NGV the National Gallery of Victoria. Wer have only 20 minutes to do into the free, permanent exhibit. Awesome! We must return Tuesday on the way to the airport. 

Start of the aboriginal walk. 

Along the walk to the museum we see AC/DC Lane. That's a local band gone on to worldwide mega stardom. Not bad. Nice graffiti. 

Entrance to the NGV.

Painting in the First Peoples style. 

Bark paintings. 

Detail

After the museum we walk along the Yarra River. Remind us of Cambridge along the Charles. It really feels as if Harvard must be just around the corner. 

Totem pole like carving. It looks like an enlarged version of the message stick carried by First Peoples messengers from one area to another. 

Mosaic along the way. 

Walkway design that looks like native painting and story telling. 

As we walk along the crowd thickens. Pretty soon it is a full on line four wide. Oh, it is the last day of the Australian Open tennis tournament. We watch one match finish on the jumbotron with a smash shot and then a pickleball worthy dink shot.

On the way home we stop for northern India cuisine. Oh the spices taste great! I have the Amritsari Chole which is delicious. 

As we go to sleep I notice that tomorrow's weather is going to be very very hot. Where does a 40° heat wave come from for just one day??

We read that there may be fireworks. So we head down to the dock where they will shoot them off. No fireworks. We learn the next day there is a total fire ban due to heat -- maybe that is it.

Night time view.