Remembrance and Rain

The last time I visited Melbourne the Shrine of Remembrance was under development. In the centennial year of the battle of Gallipoli and in the month of remembrance, I decided to return.

The weather had turned too. After consecutive days of mid-thirties temperatures in the Victorian capital since my arrival, the sky was grey and the temperatures a lot cooler as I rode the train into Flinders Street. By the time I'd started walking towards the shrine, the rain had started. I nice refreshing drizzle to begin with, it soon got heavier but in spite having to don my raincoat for a while, it was most welcome. I toured the memorial galleries, which I hadn't done last time. A wealth of information on all conflicts where Australians have served, it's definitely a must see resource for anyone researching the two world wars especially. I spent a couple of hours wandering the displays, reading the information and watching the videos. There is an education block attached to the memorial and two groups of kids had visited while I was there. I returned outside to discover the rain had returned to a drizzle and so took myself around the external garden entrances. One garden commemorates the conflicts of the Pacific region and contains flowers and plants from Malaysia and Vietnam. The use of railway sleepers to the the garden represented the Thai Bruma railway and rebar trellises, uniform braiding. The red panels list the towns of birth of those recruits from World War II, Korea and Vietnam, some 1826 in total. A beautiful, peaceful place to reflect.

I wandered across the road to visit the Observatory Cafe at the Botanical Gardens where I'd feasted on some damn fine lemon meringue pie but alas it was closed and replaced by some fancy restaurant. As I continued back up into town the rain got heavier and the jacket had to be donned once more. It was a little less comfortable this time as the temperature had risen a bit and wasn't quite so fresh and by the time I got back up to Flinders I was positively pissed off. Onwards and upwards to the Exhibition Building and gardens but after another half hour of walking in the increasingly wetter rain (almost at Port Arthurian levels) and with no look of it stopping after a couple of shots and a quick wander I decided to call it a day and head back to the station.

As I approached Flinders Street once more, the rain stopped, the clouds parted and the sun began to shine <insert your preferred expletive here. I probably thought them all>. :-)