With school holidays beginning this weekend, we’re taking a look at the things our kids love about Melbourne. These are the places that we ourselves visited as children and our parents and sometimes grandparents when they were children before us.
Luna Park, St Kilda
Big or small, kids love amusement parks. Mr Moon at Luna Park Melbourne has been greeting generations of children from Melbourne and Victoria since the park first opened its gates on 13 December 1912. It was the first amusement park in Australia and was modelled on the original Luna Park which opened on Coney Island in New York in 1903 (and subsequently closed in 1944 and demolished in 1946). Following the success of Luna Park in Melbourne, another was opened at Glenelg, Adelaide in 1930 and then in Sydney in 1935.
Luna Park’s famous Great Scenic Railway opened with the park in 1912 and is the oldest continuously operating wooden roller coaster in the world. When the rest of the park closed during World War 1, the railway continued rolling. The railway received much needed heritage repairs and maintenance in 2016/2017, costing over $1,000,000.
The Carousel at Luna Park first operated at Sydney’s White City Amusement Park until its closure in 1918. The carousel was then moved to Melbourne where it reopened with the ‘bling’ of an additional 6,000 lights in 1923. The carousel underwent extensive restoration in the late 1990’s and 22 layers of paint were stripped back, and the 68 horses and 2 chariots were meticulously returned to their unique and original glory with a War and Peace theme. Restoration works also included the 26 oil paintings which adorn the ride and the mechanical repairs which were undertaken in Castlemaine, Victoria.
Both the Great Scenic Railway and The Carousel are heritage listed with the State and National Heritage Registers, along with the Ghost Train (the 4th oldest ‘dark rides’ in the World) and Mr Moon himself. The entire park is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and as such it is the best-preserved Luna Park in the world.
The Fairy Tree, Fitzroy Gardens
Located almost in the centre of Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne is a sanctuary for fairies and those who believe in them, the Fairies’ Tree.
Fairies as well as Australian wildlife and flora were carved into an old, deceased gum tree in the years (1931-1934) prior to our 1935 Centenary. The carvings, by artist Ola Cohn, have been delighting the children of Melbourne ever since. The artist also wrote 4 books, including one about the tree, and these make wonderful keepsake gifts for kids and fairy lovers of all ages.
Because the tree was already deceased when the carvings were completed, preserving the artwork for future generations eventually became problematic. As a result, in 1977, the tree stump was removed from the ground, the rotting timber was cut away and chemically treated to prevent further rot then the stump was replanted into the ground inside a bed of concrete.
The Tree is free to visit and with benches and plenty of lawn around the Fitzroy Gardens, it is an ideal place for a picnic and a cheap day out.
Miniature Tudor Village, Fitzroy Gardens
Directly across the footpath from The Fairy Tree you will find a model village of Tudor-style English homes and businesses. Amongst the miniature buildings you will find replicas of Shakespeare’s house, his wife’s family home which is known as Ann Hathaway’s Cottage, Pilgrim’s Rest, a toll house and many others.
The village is one of three created by retiree, Edgar Wilson, from the Borough of Lambeth in London. Each village is modelled in cement, and all were gifted to Lambeth Borough Council. Two of the model villages can be found within the Borough of Lambeth and the third is the one you’ll find in Fitzroy Gardens. It was gifted to the City of Melbourne as a thank you for food sent to Britain during the rationing of World War 2 and was officially opened on 21 May 1948.
While we can no longer walk the paths within the village itself, we can still enjoy and delight in much of it from outside its protective barriers.
Melbourne Zoo
The first Melbourne Zoological Garden opened in 1861 at a site on the banks of the Yarra River which is now known as Gosch’s Paddock. The area was quickly deemed too wet and marshy to safely keep animals and another site of 55 acres was given on the other side of our growing city.
Melbourne Zoo opened in Parkville on 6 October 1862, which makes it Australia’s oldest zoo and one of the oldest in the world. It was modelled on London Zoo and originally served as a kind of quarantine facility, allowing imported domestic animals to acclimatise and recover from the long trip to Australia.
In 1870, Albert Le Souef was appointed and he introduced more and more exotic species as well as developing the gardens and picnic areas. (NB: To learn more about the Le Souef family and their long ties with Melbourne, we recommend you visit Albert’s descendants at Lightning Ridge Opals, inside the Beehive Building on Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.
Melbourne Zoo is now one of three zoos run by Zoos Victoria, who also operate Healesville Sanctuary and the Open Range Zoo at Werribee. Over the past couple of decades, Zoos Victoria have transformed Melbourne Zoo from the depressing concrete enclosures of its origins into a world class and world leading conservation organisation and destination. As you walk around the park admiring the charges in enclosures which closely mimic their natural habitat, you feel as though you are the captive one!
Whether you or your child’s favourite animal usually resides in the jungles of Asia, the savannahs of Africa or closer to home, with over 300 species of animal on the site, you and children are bound to sight your favourite.
Puffing Billy
It is not documented where the name Puffing Billy came from, but it is known to be a nickname the locals gave the train in its early days of ‘puffing through the countryside like a boiling billy-can’. What we do know for sure is that Puffing Billy is Australia’s oldest and best-preserved steam railway.
Trains run daily (except Christmas Day) from Belgrave Station to Menzies Creek and further to Gembrook on selected days. Regardless of the destination, Puffing Billy meanders through the lush temperate rainforest of the Dandenong Ranges, making it a relaxing day out for the whole family.
For the little’uns there are the Day Out with Thomas events. These are Thomas the Tank Engine themed days out with an engine painted up like Thomas and regular sightings of The Fat Controller.
For the fur-babies, over the Winter months of July and August, there are weekly trips catered specifically for our canine friends with a frolic in the dog-friendly parks at either end of the trip (Lakeside to Gembrook).
And for the kid in all of us, there are the weekly 1920’s themed dinner trips “Murder on the Puffing Billy Express.
Australian Sports Museum
In the heart of Melbourne’s sports capital, tucked away under the MCG is a state of the art, interactive sports museum, filled with hands-on activities and Australia’s largest collection of sporting memorabilia. The newest of the attractions we’ve included, it originally opened in 1986 as the Australian Gallery of Sport and Olympic Museum in front of the former MCC Members Stand before moving to it’s current underground location.
The museum has exhibits for many sports including Australian Rules Football, Cricket, Tennis, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Golf, Soccer, Basketball and Netball and both the summer and winter Olympic Games.
The museum has had a recent upgrade and reopened at the beginning of last year, bigger and better than ever! As you enter past the giant kangaroo and emu, Die-hard sports fans can see some truly iconic artefacts like Donald Bradman’s baggy green cap or Betty Cuthbert’s 1960 Olympic team blazer. Use the wrist-band you get with your entry to electronically share your guesses or opinions on a range of sporting topics. Watch the holographic images of sports stars share their stories. And kids of all ages can burn off some energy by testing their skills against elite athletes in a variety of sports.
With these school holidays being the coldest and wettest of the year, this is the perfect place for active kids when the weather is not so co-operative!
The Australian Sports Museum is an option on all Show Me Melbourne’s Sports Lovers Tours. See the range at Melbourne Sports Lovers Tours.
