Day 3 of the Moomba Festival required an early start to see its highlight, a parade that starts at 11am. Normally the parade runs through the centre of Melbourne CBD, but this year, due to roadworks, the parade was moved to St Kilda road, alongside the botanical gardens. The parade consits of floats, dancing and music and is a celebration of aboriginal and worldwide culture.

After seeing Abi and Rob the day previous, we arranged to meet up again and watch the parade. We met up at around 10:30, and sat on the grass banks of the botanical gardens. The parade started with an aboriginal dance, and the theme for the parade was clearly food and drink (but with a few exceptions). After the dance finished, the parade began moving up St Kilda road, lead by the men and women of the armed forces and the services (police, abulance, fire).

As the fire service walked past I noticed a very familiar face in the parade, and I just happened to be taking video at the time. I have uploaded the video for you to see! The parade continued on for around an hour, before winding up. Abi and Rob were eager to head off, as they both had much to do after just moving to a new city. We said our goodbyes, and I headed south, in no perticular direction.

Shortly after saying goodbye, my vision was drawn to the Melbourne Shine of Remembrance, which is situated in the botanical gardens. I had meant to visit the Shrine for some time, and this was a perfect day to do it. I changed course and walked up to the Shrine.

The Shrine was originally erected as a memorial to World War 1 veterans, and has an engraving on the side to reflect this. It reads "This monument was erected by a grateful people to the honoured memory of the men and women of victoria who served the empire in the great war of 1914-1918". It was designed by World War 1 veterans. Since then, It has been expanded to honour the many Australian's who have faught and died in all Australia's wars, including World War 2, Vietnam etc.

The Shrine was placed in a location which places it at the centre of 4 crossing streets in Melbourne, and the result is both spectacular and moving. The view of Melbourne from the Shrine is by far the best I have seen from anywhere yet, with the background skyline eminating in the distance, and the sombre and beautiful gardens in the foreground.

Dotted around the Shrine are the names of all the places Victorian citizens have faught and died to protect their state, country and empire. The gardens are lined with flowers, and there is a pool with a waterfall that is very beautiful. In the forecourt there is a World War 2 memorial, and an eternal flame for the honoured dead.

The whole place is very moving, and evokes such strong emotions for me in so many ways. On the one hand, it is calm, sombre and reflective, one of the most fitting war memorials I have been to. On the other hand, from its roof, you can see some of the most spectacular sights of Melbourne, invoking wonder and amazement at just how astonishingly beautiful a city it is. I mused at the time perhaps the view should be there just to remind people what these men and women faught and died for.

After spending almost 2 hours at the memorial, I headed back home to unwind from a busy weekend of activities in Melbourne.

Ian.