I arrived at the South Yarra station and made my way to Chapel St, the main street in South Yarra. The (long) street is filled with all sorts of shops, restaurants and cafes. I simply walked up and down the street - stopping along the way in a few shops. I went in a few sports apparel stores. It was interesting to compare their selection to what you would find in the U.S. (at a store like Dick's or Academy, etc.). One thing I have noticed is that all of the sports shops in Melbourne have a wide selection of wetsuits and surfboards. It seems to be a very common thing and so I guess there must be a lot of surfing that goes on down at the beaches that are south of the city. Anyhow, I also saw a lot of jerseys for Australian sports teams (cricket, rugby, soccer, etc.). I saw just a few NBA jerseys. The tennis section was far more extensive than anything you would see in a general sports store back home. I saw some scarves that featured sports team logos. It made me think of the quidditch match scenes from the Harry Potter movies. My feeling is that you could probably buy a scarf for sports teams in the U.S., but something about these just seemed very British - I can't really describe it any better than that...
So, I made my way through a few other stores, including a collectables store that had all sorts of strange/old/random things for sale. It was interesting to look through the very odd collection of stuff. I finally reached the end of the street (about a 2.5 km one-way trip) and turned around to head back toward the train station.
On the way back, I stopped off at Cafe Sienna for a late lunch. I had an excellent chicken salad with avocado, bacon, tomato, and walnut served with a vinaigrette dressing. Along with that, I had a coffee flavored milkshake - all was very tasty! While I was waiting for lunch, I got the chance to pick up the newspaper and read for a little while. The writing style that is used here is certainly different than what is used in the U.S. I often get a kick out of some of the language that they use in their articles here.
After lunch, I walked back up to the train station, but instead of taking the train back to the city, I hoped on a tram that would take me past the collection of gardens and parks that are located just south of the Yarra River and the center of the city. The parks and gardens are quite extensive and it was nice to be able to just walk around and enjoy the scenery and experience of being there. I took many pictures as the grounds are well kept and feature good variety of plants and ornamentation. 
While walking through the gardens, I came to an Australian Veteran's memorial. The rather large monument was built up on a hill and featured a solemn shrine dedicated to the veterans. An inscription upon reaching the area read "Let all know that they walk on holy ground". The main monument had a balcony area that afforded exellent views of the city. I stayed up on the balcony for a while and I took several pictures. The weather really couldn't have been better for enjoying the day and being able to take good photos. The grounds were dotted with several smaller monuments including an eternal flame lit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1954. While passing by a statue of a soldier holding a rifle with a bayonet, I heard a kid (who was 
probably no more than 7 or 8 years old) ask his dad "why do they need to stab people if they can just shoot them?" I believe the kid was essentially asking why a soldier would need to have a bayonet if he already had a gun. The question was posed with a complete sense of innocence. I didn’t stick around to hear how the kid’s dad was going to answer the question. But the innocence of the question struck me. Sadly, there are some parts of the world where children wouldn’t find it necessary to ask such an innocent question as that…
Following that moment of reflection, I made my way over toward the Royal Botanical Gardens. I walked through an area known as Kings Domain. The foot paths were lined with flowers and trees and the walk was very pleasant. I managed to get a few pictures along the way. I came across a type of flowering plant that stood about 7 or 8 feet tall. I am almost certain that these were the same plants that Lilo would plant in gigantic planters around the B.S. Pool back when I was a lifeguard in high school and college. I never learned what they are called, but they always looked very nice. The only problem is that, to plant them in a pot, you need a really big pot with a lot of (heavy) dirt. One night (during my tenure at the B.S. Pool) some kids broke in and dropped one of these potted plants into the 8 foot deep section of the pool. I was one of the first lifeguards to get in for the day and so I helped Tom and a State Trooper pull the plant and pot (which landed perfectly upright on the bottom of the pool) out of the water. I was able to pick it up under water and get it to the surface (thanks to buoyancy effects) where Tom and the state trooper held it until I could hop out of the pool. It took all 3 of us to actually get the water laden plant and pot out of the pool. We flushed the soil with fresh water as much as we could and, somehow, the plant actually survived the whole ordeal. 
Anyhow, back to my walk to the Royal Botanical Gardens. I finally arrived at the gardens (which are extensive) and began working my way through all sorts of intricate foot paths. The plants were very nice and the grounds were well maintained. A lot of folks were in the gardens relaxing in the sun or by one of the ponds. I have noticed that people (particularly couples) like spending a lot of time outdoors lying around in the sun. I have also noticed that those couples are often not too shy about public display of affection (though everything is still PG or perhaps PG-13 at the worst)… I spent probably about an hour walking through the gardens and then made my way back toward the city by walking along the south bank of the Yarra River. Along the walk back, I noticed several public grills along the walk way. Several people were out along the river having picnics and cooking on these public grills. I thought it was a neat idea and it was cool to see that so many people had were making use of the picnic areas. 
Eventually, I made my way back to the arts precinct (just south of the center of the city). I walked around the Southgate/Southbank area. Here there are many shops and restaurants just south of the river. I saw a few street performers and eventually made my way back to the train station where I caught a tram back up to the Graduate House. Altogether, the day was very nice. My feet are a bit sore from quite a bit of walking, but it was definitely worth it and I was glad that I was able to get out of the downtown area of the city and experience another suburb of Melbourne. Now, I’m going to unwind and get ready for another week of working at CSIRO…
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