After going to the Melbourne Aquarium, we decided (spontaneously) to go to the Eureka Skydeck - for some night views of the city. The Eureka Tower (where the skydeck is) is the tallest building in Melbourne, and the skydeck itself is on the 88th storey. The Eureka Tower's named after the Eureka Stockade in the 1850s during the Gold Rush, and its design was based on the flag used in the Eureka Stockade as well. Anyway...this was my very first time up the Eureka Tower (even after living in Melbourne for a while!)...so yay - another place conquered!
Walked across the river to get to the Eureka Tower. Just for comparison - here's the city in broad daylight...
And here's the city at night. We passed by Hamer Hall and the Arts Centre as well...
And ended up at the Eureka Tower!
Tickets weren't expensive at all...and I bought a couple of keychains for myself. :)
King Kong the musical was on...and there was a green screen with a giant plastic gorilla hand in the skydeck. We went to take pictures of course...and bought the pictures. Green screens are awesome...the picture turned out as if we were flying above the Melbourne skyline in King Kong's hand.
There were lots of places to relax in, and there was also a cafe/bar. Bought myself a hot chocolate. The lights on the floor are actually moving words, to point us towards significant landmarks in Melbourne. For example - the Shrine of Remembrance, Flinders Street Station, Federation Square.....and many more.
And here we go! Check out the glittering city lights from the Skydeck! All shot through the window...for now...
Lots of skyscrapers indeed! Even at night, Melbourne looks so vibrant and gorgeous.
Zoomed in a bit to get some more pictures of Flinders Street station and Federation Square.
We wanted to go into The Edge - a glass cube that protrudes around 3 metres out of the building. It's fully transparent - when fully extended. A really cool experience...as it meant standing 88 storeys above ground. But the queue was long, so we didn't get to go.
Instead, we went to an open air viewing deck - also on the same floor. It was much easier to take pics of the city skyline from there, since there wasn't reflections from glass.
A footy match was on - and we could literally see the entire match through one of the binoculars. So my friend took over and did commentaries for people around us. We could even see the scoreboard! How cool is that?
One of the last pics I took - of the Arts Centre. It looks really beautiful at night.
At that point in time, the staff announced that they were going to close, so we had to leave.
Headed back down to Southbank...where I took some more night shots. It's quite a good opportunity for me! Though I wish I had a tripod...and more time.
Some more pics on the bridge. This is quite a popular spot for photographers.
And we also got quite good views of the Eureka Tower from the bridge.
Some locks hanging on the bridge. Check out the "HDs for life" lock! I'm gonna use that for inspiration. "High Distinctions for life!"
Spotted a busker dressed in a Cookie Monster costume, playing a trumpet. We gave him some cash :)
Back in Flinders Street station. The trains were really slow...and so I had some time to spare...so out came the camera! The battery was going flat anyway.
Went back to my friend's place, where we were greeted with cute little squeaks.
Presenting...my friend's handsome little man - Marco! Here he is - in his new publicity shot, exercising his Puss in Boots eyes. He's a sleek, ginger-coloured cat who loves attention and affection.
Will put up more pics of Marco in the next post! Do stay tuned!