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Attractions & Activities: Parks & Gardens
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The Royal Botanic Gardens, 2 kilometers (1 1/4 miles) south of the city on Birdwood Avenue, off St. Kilda Road (tel. 03/9252 2300), are the best of their type in Australia. More than 100 acres of gardens are lush and blooming with more than 12,000 plant species from all over the world. Don't miss a visit to the oldest part of the garden, the Tennyson Lawn, with its 120-year-old English elm trees. Other special corners include a fern gully, camellia gardens, rain forests, and ponds full of ducks and black swans. You can either discover the gardens by wandering at your own pace (most plant species are labeled, so you'll know what you're seeing), or you can take one of the free guided walks that leave the national Herbarium Building, F Gate, Sunday to Friday at 11am and noon. Bring snacks and your picnic blanket to Shakespeare in the Park, a popular summer event in the gardens. Performances occur in January and February, and tickets cost around A$30. Call tel. 03/9252 2300 for details. The gardens are open November to March from 7:30am to 8:30pm, in April from 7:30am to 7pm, and May to October from 7:30am to 5:30pm. Admission is free. To get there, catch the tram on route 8, traveling south on St. Kilda Rd., and get off at Stop 21.
Nearby, in King's Domain, take a look at Victoria's first Government House, Latrobe's Cottage (tel. 03/9654 5528). It was built in England and transported to Australia brick by brick in 1836. Admission is A$4 for adults and A$3 for children. The cottage is open from 11am to 4:30pm every day except Friday. On the other side of Birdwood Avenue is the Shrine of Remembrance, a memorial to the servicemen lost in Australia's wars. It's designed so that at 11am on Remembrance Day (the 11th of November), a beam of sunlight hits the Stone of Remembrance in the Inner Shrine. Note the eternal flame in the forecourt. King's Domain is Stop 12 on the route 15 tram traveling south along St. Kilda Road.
In Fitzroy Gardens, off Wellington Parade, is Cook's Cottage (tel. 03/9419 4677), which was moved to Melbourne from Great Ayton, in Yorkshire, England, in 1934 to mark Victoria's centenary. It's claimed (with some debate) that Captain Cook lived here between his long voyages. Inside, it's spartan and cramped, not unlike a ship's cabin. Admission is A$3 for adults, A$1.50 for children 5-15, and A$7.50 for families of up to six. It's open daily from 9am to 5pm. Also east of the central business district are the Treasury Gardens. Look out for the memorial to John F. Kennedy near the lake. Treasury Gardens and Fitzroy Gardens can be reached by Tram 75 traveling east along Flinders Street. Get off at Stop 14 for Treasury Gardens and Stop 14A for Fitzroy Gardens.
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