There are some sights and sites that scream Melbourne, but being located a bit further afield, those screams are only heard by us locals. Following is a handful of those sights and sites that are loved by locals and the handful of visitors who have wandered without help from guidebooks.
Skipping Girl, Abbotsford
Little Audrey has delighted Melburnians since she first appeared with her skipping rope on Victoria Street in Abbotsford in 1936. The painted metal structure, designed by local artist Jim Minogue, is lit by illuminated gas and is believed to have been Australia’s first animated neon sign. Audrey was placed above the Nycander and Co factory, which made the Skipping Girl brand of vinegar. Why Skipping Girl? It’s because children at the time would sing a rhyme while playing games with a skipping rope “Salt, vinegar, mustard, pepper. If I dare, I can do better.” This was the cue for those holding the rope to turn it faster.
The company was sold in the 1950’s and the factory was closed and sold in the mid-1960’s. The building was demolished in 1968 at which time the skipping girl sign was removed and sold to a car dealership. The ensuing public outcry led to the director of a neighbouring factory, John Benjamin, to have a smaller replica made and installed on the roof of his factory in 1970. In 2000, the sign was placed on the National Trust (Victoria) and the Victorian Heritage registers.
The neon was lit every night until 2002 when the then-owners of the building ceased paying for its upkeep and power. Cue another public outcry and in 2008 the power company AGL agreed to pay for the refurbishment, power and ongoing maintenance for the small price of being allowed to advertised beneath it. In 2012, they placed solar panels on the roof of the building, meaning Audrey now skips ‘green’ and will be able to do so for many generations to come!
Nylex Clock, Cremorne
The Nylex Clock is a prominent feature of the suburban Melbourne skyline in the suburb of Cremorne (commonly confused as a part of Richmond). Also designed by Jim Minogue, it consists of a giant digital-display clock which alternates between showing the time and the current temperature in degrees Celcius. Beneath the clock is the Nylex sign which should alternate between the words “Nylex Plastics” and “Nylex Every Time!”. The Victorian Heritage listed clock still operates but the advertisement has not been lit for a number of years.
Nylex Plastics is a brand created by Australian Moulding Corporation which was founded in Melbourne in 1927. The brand originally made plastic dinnerware and radio components then switched to crash helmets and jungle telephone wires during the second World War. These days they are known for their plastic hoses plus hose and tap fittings.
The clock appeared in 1961, atop one of 16 barley storages silos which were built in the 1950’s and 60’s. The silos are not protected by any heritage listing however 9 of the silos remain and form part of a new development which features apartments and a hotel. The development is known as the Malt District as the site housed the Cremorne Brewery in the 1850s and modified in the 1880s to concentrate on malting. It became the largest malthouse in Victoria and is one of the few remaining Victorian-era industrial buildings still located on the Yarra River. We are thrilled the Malt District development is not only preserving these historical sites and sights of Melbourne but is going out of its way to showcase them.
1000 Steps, Dandenong Ranges National Park
The 1000 Steps is popular forest walk found in the Dandenong Ranges National Park since the early 1900’s. It starts from the Ferntree Gully Picnic Ground and car park and ascends 260 metres over roughly two and half kilometres to the top of One Tree Hill. The ‘steps’ (there are actually not quite 1000) were originally tree fern trunks which were laid over the path. In 1950, the tree trunks were replaced with concrete steps and a hand rail was added, making the steep climb a little easier.
World War II veterans who fought on the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea identified this walk as exceptionally similar to the 2000 step ‘Golden Staircase’ cut by Army Engineers to facilitate a quicker path for troops. In 1998 Kokoda veterans adopted this walk and so it is also known as the Kokoda Track Memorial Walk, in honour of the Australian military men who lost their lives fighting against the Japanese.
The path is enjoyed by fitness fanatics, war history buffs and nature lovers alike. The climb through the Mountain Ash temperate rainforest is breathtaking, the rest stops with benches are beautiful and the view from the top is stunning. If you time your walk well (we recommend early on a weekday) you might get lucky enough to spot an elusive lyrebird or wombat while it is still quiet in the forest. Don’t like the idea of the steep walk back down? The Lyrebird Track offers a gentler return to the carpark.
Show Me Melbourne’s tour hosts are all professional tour guides, born and bred in Melbourne. Choose from a range of sport, history, local culture and shopping tours for small groups or customised private tours. www.showmemelbourne.com.au
The Sun Theatre, Yarraville
In an architecture style known at the time as Modernism, which we now call Art Deco, the Sun Theatre first opened on 30 April 1938. It was a single screen, 1050-seat cinema who’s first aired film was Maytime starring Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy and John Barrymore. The Sun featured a unique and innovative service called the Pram Room. Patrons could wheel their baby into the Pram Room and take a number. If their child cried during the screening, their number would flash up on the screen to alert the crying child’s parents. Genius!
Despite the Pram Room, patron numbers dwindled throughout the 1950s and 60s with the introduction of television to Australian homes in 1956. As a result, Sun Theatre was sold in 1971, with the new owners airing Greek language films for the growing number of Greek immigrants arriving in Melbourne. In 1982, the Department of Public Health deemed the toilets and carpets too unsanitary for public custom and shut the theatre down.
The Sun changed hands a few times over the next decade, but each time the new owners could not acquire permission to alter the building to their intended purpose, such as a wedding reception venue or home renovation store. As a result, the building became more and more derelict with no help from squatters and vagrants who regularly burned parts of the building to keep warm.
In 1995, cinema product manufacturers, MGS Properties, purchased the building and began the painstaking task of returning the theatre to her former beauty and purpose, recommencing the airing of films by July 1997. In 2002, they divided the cinema into four smaller cinemas, taking moulds of the ornate plasterwork to ensure symmetry in each newly created room.
Today, when the cinemas are open and operating, the sight of the golden neon sun glowing up on the roof still delights all who glimpse it. And movie goers enjoy an array of films spanning classics to the current blockbusters in one of now (thanks to an extension) 8 separate screening cinemas. Each cinema is a different size, seating from 40 to 200 people, but all are luxurious with Art Deco comfort which includes plush sofas or armchairs and plenty of legroom!
The Pink Lake at Westgate Park, Fisherman’s Bend
Westgate Park is situated almost beneath the West Gate Bridge and stretches 1.8 kilometres from the carpark at Todd Road west to the Yarra River, near its mouth into Port Phillip Bay. Visible from the eastbound lanes of the freeway/bridge above, the park features a predominantly redgum woodland and plentiful plantings of Victoria’s floral emblem (heath) and other Australian natives. The Park was created in the middle of the industrial area known as Fisherman’s Bend. It is entirely man-made and was dedicated to all Victorians in 1985 as part of the States 150th birthday celebrations.
A major feature of Westgate Park are the man-made saltwater lakes which are a major water catchment for run-off from the Yarra River and Port Phillip Bay. These lakes are a site which produces a popular sight nearly every Summer since first appearing in 2012. The sight is a natural spectacle which occurs when the conditions are just right. Low rainfall and lots of sunlight in warmer months enables the algae living in the saltwater to photosynthesise. The result of the photosynthesis is the release of a red pigment which colours the water pink. The better the algae’s progress the more vibrant is the resulting ‘pink’ lake.
While ‘pink’ lakes are common to many saltwater lakes around Australia, finding one in such an urban area is not. Normally, one would have to drive many kilometres to find such a sight. It’s no wonder this site is so popular with the local Instagram crowd.
Photo by Narelle Browne Photography and used with permission.