Melbourne for oldies??

[NSWP]

In Melbourne the Immigration Museum and the Victoria Police Museum are worth a look.

 

I am a museum freak.

Edited June 3, 2023 by NSWP

[possum52]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

In Melbourne the Immigration Museum and the Victoria Police Museum are worth a look.

 

I am a museum freak.

The Holocaust Museum in Elsternwick, just a short train ride from Flinders Street Station is also very interesting. Elsternwick Station is a few minutes walk from the museum which is being renovated at the moment but due to re-open shortly.

[mr walker]

15 hours ago, yarramar said:

There never were 12 "apostles". Just nine originally.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Apostles_(Victoria)

I always thought that 2 were lost, leaving 7 and then London Bridge collapsed making the 8th. I may be wrong.

We did a GOR trip when in Melb on Melb Cup cruise in 2015. Our tour guide told us that there was never 12, as you wrote, & that the organisers of the 1956 Olympics made up the '12 Apostles' as it sounded good & they were desperate to have some tourist attractions to attract people to come to Melb for the games.

 

[mr walker]

15 hours ago, yarramar said:

 

Double post

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by mr walker
duplicate

[possum52]

3 hours ago, mr walker said:

We did a GOR trip when in Melb on Melb Cup cruise in 2015. Our tour guide told us that there was never 12, as you wrote, & that the organisers of the 1956 Olympics made up the '12 Apostles' as it sounded good & they were desperate to have some tourist attractions to attract people to come to Melb for the games.

 

The 12 Apostles have had a few names since they were first seen by George Bass. They have been called The Pinacles and The Sow and Piglets. From what I remember from growing up not too far away, it was in the 1920s they became known as the Apostles which some time later became the 12 Apostles even though there were only 9. I saw an artcle just now which states they were renamed the Apostles in the 1960s. 

[LittleFish1976]

On 6/1/2023 at 5:24 PM, Korimako said:

Forgot to mention - one of us is a paranoid arachnophobe. How likely is that to be an issue in that area at that time??

 

No more of a problem than in NZ I would imagine!

 

You could do what my arachnophobe adult children do and ring me to come and dispose of it! Or if you're staying in any sort of accomodation and find one, call the management. We're not known for our spiders here (I'm assuming your question was a serious one but I'm a little mystified, I will confess).

 

Assume it will be hot in February. There are some apartments (and houses) for rent in Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula - if you didn't want to hire a car you could get a driver to take you down there and pick you up again. Once there you'd have lots of summer-y things to do like beaches and shops and restaurants (without driving) as well as the ferry over to Queenscliff for a day visit. Also, golf if that's your thing and hot springs/spa not far away. I'm sure there'd be taxis in the area to get you to the springs. Wineries up in the hills nearby (Red Hill etc) for lunches and walks or picnics in their grounds (Montalto does this and also has a little sculpture park).

[Korimako]

4 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

No more of a problem than in NZ I would imagine!

 

You could do what my arachnophobe adult children do and ring me to come and dispose of it! Or if you're staying in any sort of accomodation and find one, call the management. We're not known for our spiders here (I'm assuming your question was a serious one but I'm a little mystified, I will confess).

 

4 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

We were under the impression that Australia had MASSIVE (although harmless) spiders which would freak us out. We don't have anything like that in NZ. And yes, it was a serious question! One of us has been known to hurl a magazine across the room when inadvertently coming across a page with just a picture of a spider on it.

 

 

[buchhalm]

On 6/2/2023 at 5:12 PM, Ozwoody said:

Just as an aside, I think there are only about four of the 12 apostles still standing.

They really should rename them the Fab Four, or something like that...

[Ozwoody]

Australia does have a variety of spiders, just like most places in the world.

unfortunately Sydney's funnel web spider gets a lot of attention on the news, thankfully there not in any other state. (at least I don't believe so, and hope so😬).

And we do have the giant bird eating spider, but thankfully that's limited to the Northern Territory.

But Melbourne like the rest of Australia does have the Red Back spider, but I think I've only seen about a dozed or so in my 70+ years, their very shy and generally avoid people.

So the worst you could most likely come across is the friendly Huntsman spider, but unlikely not at that time of year in Melbourne, usually they only stray inside in wet weather.

In general in Melbourne you are fairly safe from confrontation with spiders as anywhere else in the world.

Relax and enjoy a city with a smorgasbord of things to see and do.😁

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, Korimako said:

We were under the impression that Australia had MASSIVE (although harmless) spiders which would freak us out. We don't have anything like that in NZ. And yes, it was a serious question! One of us has been known to hurl a magazine across the room when inadvertently coming across a page with just a picture of a spider on it.

 

Actually New Zealand does have at least one massive spider - the Avondale spider, which is related to the Australian Huntsman spider.  

[Korimako]

Thank you all so much for all your suggestions, I do appreciate it. However, after several to-ing and fro-ing emails, it now appears that Adelaide is a better option (!), but I'm not about to ask for  similar recommendations - we're looking at Glenelg. I'll just knuckle down and trawl the internet.

.

 ......the worst you could most likely come across is the friendly Huntsman spider

 

As for this - for an arachnophobe there is no such thing as a friendly spider!! From photos I have not managed to avoid seeing, it's the stuff of nightmares. It's the size of it. Aaaaargh!!!!

And though I have heard of the Avondale spider here in NZ, as far as I know it is confined to the Auckland area where it arrived on a boat from Australia - thanks!!

 

Thanks again

K

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, Korimako said:

Thank you all so much for all your suggestions, I do appreciate it. However, after several to-ing and fro-ing emails, it now appears that Adelaide is a better option (!), but I'm not about to ask for  similar recommendations - we're looking at Glenelg. I'll just knuckle down and trawl the internet.

.

 ......the worst you could most likely come across is the friendly Huntsman spider

 

As for this - for an arachnophobe there is no such thing as a friendly spider!! From photos I have not managed to avoid seeing, it's the stuff of nightmares. It's the size of it. Aaaaargh!!!!

And though I have heard of the Avondale spider here in NZ, as far as I know it is confined to the Auckland area where it arrived on a boat from Australia - thanks!!

 

Thanks again

K

 

 

The Avondale spiders were originally discovered in Auckland, which is where their name came from, but I believe they have spread throughout NZ now. They were certainly in Wellington in the 1970s as one ran over my foot one night. At first I thought it was a mouse but then I realised it had too many legs for a mouse. Talk about scary! I'd never heard of spiders that big in NZ, it was years later that I learnt about the Avondale spider. However that was the only time I encountered one in 43 years living in NZ, and I've only seen about 3 or 4 in the 27 years I've been living in Australia.

[NSWP]

it appears that spider arrived in Railway Sleepers from Sydney in 1924. Descendant  of the Huntsman. I get one or two down here, out with ye old can of kreepy krawler killer, get them spiders.

🕷️

[Jean C]

42 minutes ago, NSWP said:

it appears that spider arrived in Railway Sleepers from Sydney in 1924. Descendant  of the Huntsman. I get one or two down here, out with ye old can of kreepy krawler killer, get them spiders.

🕷️

Hahaha, me too - any bug silly enough to come into my home, or lurk outside too close for comfort, gets sprayed about 3 times with one-shot super strength insect spray (I know, I know). One poor arachnid, not a big fella, was so heavily sprayed that he tried to limp away in the soggy mess, wearing a foam overcoat, before he succumbed 😧

[MMDown Under]

5 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Hahaha, me too - any bug silly enough to come into my home, or lurk outside too close for comfort, gets sprayed about 3 times with one-shot super strength insect spray (I know, I know). One poor arachnid, not a big fella, was so heavily sprayed that he tried to limp away in the soggy mess, wearing a foam overcoat, before he succumbed 😧

I just stamp the floor and they get the message!

[Jean C]

Dare I admit it, even "protected" wetas get my zero tolerance treatment - they're big and they're ugly 😱

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, Jean C said:

Dare I admit it, even "protected" wetas get my zero tolerance treatment - they're big and they're ugly 😱

When I was a kid a weta took up residence in my bedlamp. I guess it wanted the warmth. I kept hearing these odd scratching sounds in the lamp fixture so got my dad to pull it apart. Ugh!

[MMDown Under]

My daughter sent me a photo today of their first sea snake in the ocean.

Eighty Mile Beach, WA.

 

 

 

 

[cruiser3775]

Knock it off, folks. Having a phobia about anything can be crippling, and we want these ladies to enjoy their trip.

This is what I call the "Bill Bryson" approach to Aussie tourism. Pile on the spiders/snakes/bunyips/killer kangaroo stories to scare the visitors. Not really all that funny.

[MMDown Under]

1 minute ago, cruiser3775 said:

Knock it off, folks. Having a phobia about anything can be crippling, and we want these ladies to enjoy their trip.

This is what I call the "Bill Bryson" approach to Aussie tourism. Pile on the spiders/snakes/bunyips/killer kangaroo stories to scare the visitors. Not really all that funny.

When I visited my girlfriend's grandchildren in New York, they came out wide eyed with a book on all the "killer creatures" from Australia! 

Yet, when I was last in Canada/America, two bears killed people and I discovered Vancouver Island had cougars, with lots of books about them stalking people. 

How come we never hear about these "killer animals"?

[Jean C]

The moral of this thread is - if you don't like them and will freak out if you by chance see one, then take insect spray for protection against a chance encounter 🙂

[MMDown Under]

5 minutes ago, Jean C said:

The moral of this thread is - if you don't like them and will freak out if you by chance see one, then take insect spray for protection against a chance encounter 🙂

Aren’t they going to Adelaide now?  The only baddies I’ve heard of in Adelaide are sharks and mice plages. Am I missing something?

[Jean C]

You could meet a spider anywhere 🥴

[MMDown Under]

10 minutes ago, Jean C said:

You could meet a spider anywhere 🥴

But I’m from Queensland.  We have spiders everywhere.  Our younger daughter, who was left home alone, sent us a text to say she was being taken over by spiders. daddy longlegs

😀

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

Knock it off, folks. Having a phobia about anything can be crippling, and we want these ladies to enjoy their trip.

This is what I call the "Bill Bryson" approach to Aussie tourism. Pile on the spiders/snakes/bunyips/killer kangaroo stories to scare the visitors. Not really all that funny.

Actually the point most of us have been making is that it's unlikely someone will come into contact with many more spiders here than they would in NZ in ordinary day-to-day living as a tourist.