Parks and Gardens
- Run, walk, cycle, skate, sail
- Beachside breezes
- Park picnics
Victoria is often dubbed 'the garden state' and its capital reflects the city's long love affair with nature and a determination to integrate it by the spadeful throughout the urban precincts. Wide streets are always fringed by trees, shrubs and grasslands, rivers are protected by 'green zones' and large parks take pride of place as the outdoor focus for inner-city livers. Take a picnic and watch the world go by, get energetic and run around one, or just take a load off the legs and rest up in one. Whatever the case, you'll inevitably find a favourite park among Melbourne's many.
www.rbg.vic.gov.au
www.parkweb.vic.gov.au
www.fitzroygardens.com
www.heritage.vic.gov.au
The jewel in the city's crown of parks has to be the Royal Botanic Gardens. Established in 1846, they are home to all manner of tree, flower and bush species, both indigenous and imported. Wander around the ornamental lake, past Government House and through the National Herbarium, or take a rug and picnic basket – there's no better setting in Melbourne. If you're up for a spot of exercise, try running or walking 'the Tan' – a track circumnavigating the gardens and a favourite of urban health freaks.
St Kilda foreshore also has plenty of activity, with rollerbladers, cyclists, runners, walkers and dawdlers all enjoying the seaside paths (and the numerous ice-cream shops, cafés and restaurants dotted along the beach). The 218-hectare Albert Park is another haunt for runners and cyclists as they take on the five-kilometre circuit. You can sail on the lake itself – boats are available for hire.
St Kilda Botanic Gardens are good for a laze in the sun or a game of chess on the gigantic board. In the city, Birrarung Marr, Flagstaff Gardens, Edinburgh Gardens and Carlton Gardens (including the Royal Exhibition Building, used for a meeting place of Federal Parliament for 27 years) all provide leafy respite from a day's pavement pounding.
The Treasury Gardens show the colonial government buildings in the best, leaf-framed light, while the Fitzroy Gardens are home to Captain Cook's (recognised as the 'discoverer' of eastern Australia) Cottage, a model Tudor village and the Conservatory.
Melbourne's main natural artery, the Yarra River, provides the setting for a long string of parks heading north-east out of the city. Even though it's only a few kilometres from the city centre, Yarra Bend Park makes you feel like you're out in the country and was historically an important Aboriginal meeting site. Further north still, Yarra Flats, Banksia, Birrarrung and Westerfolds parks are all worth exploring, on foot or by canoe/kayak.
