Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne

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take the chilren to feed the wild life after dark! Take an apple or 2. Go to the the Fitzroy Gardens just after dark and wait for the action to start. I took my two children on a walk through the Fitzroy gardens just after dark with a chopped apple to feed to the Possums. We walked around along the paths within the garden and had limited success. We had the best fun at the park bench near the corner Landsdowne & St Andrews Place (just where we had parked the car!!!) where around five possums surrounded my 2 rugrats wating for a handout. We found out that if you stand still they come to you and will take the peice of apple from your hand and maybe even climb on you to grab the apple. Warning, do not try to grab at them or stroke them. They do bite if they feel threatended. I know because I have been that stupid as a young boy.

The oldest house in Australia is not even Australian - it was shipped in from Great Britain,
from the small harbor town where Captain James Cook was born. Even though Australia
had been "discovered" by many other European seafarers decades before, Cook is said
to have discovered "Terra Australis" (the "Southern Land") in 1776 by settling in Botany
Bay (nowadays this is the area where you land by plane, Sydney Airport).
Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne offers a variety of plants and vegetation, Cook's Cottage
can be visited every day for a small admission fee.

I was in Melbourne just as they were heading into their winter season, and the foliage in the Fitzroy Gardens was absolutely beautiful at the time. There are several different fountains and statues you'll come across just by exploring.

This is really a lovely place to spend some time just not rushing through, sitting on the grass and just time pass you by leisurely. (My countrymen is quite famous for zipping through gardens and parks - deeming them "worthless" as a sight)

Named after Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy (1796-1858), Governor of New South Wales and Governor-General of the Australian Colonies, the Gardens have a long history of over 150 years and few other capital cities can boast such a significant garden so close to the City's centre.

In the Gardens, you will find Captain Cook's Cottage, a memorial to Captain James Cook, discoverer of the east coast of Australia. The cottage was purchased by Russell Grimwade in 1933, dismantled, and shipped to Melbourne from the UK, arriving in 1934. Australian assemblers gone about the task of restoring the cottage as accurately as research and guess work would permit to its mid 18th century appearance. The cottage has undergone two modern day restorations. You'll have to pay to enter the Cottage.

There is also a lovely conservatory where you can enjoy spectacular floral displays. Opened on 13 March 1930, there are five separate displays each year and is used by tourists, schools, families and anyone who wants to capture a moment of floral beauty.

Lots more of other lovely sights to explore as well.

A huge and beautiful park , perfect for reading and talking a walk at the start of winter ...Captain cook's cottage is also here and a Glass house with lots of different plants are not far away.

But becareful of the toilets though :-)

This beautiful garden is ideally suited to strolling, picnicking, relaxing - and searching for fairies. It's a leafy oasis featuring avenues of elms, manicured lawns and rustic paths, home to some of Melbourne's most delightful tourist attractions.

The reconstruction of Cooks' Cottage (the home of Captain James Cook's parents, shipped from Yorkshire) in 1933; the building of the adjacent deco-style Conservatory with its spectacular seasonal displays of hothouse blooms; and the creation of the delightful Fairies' Tree - images of fairies, goblins, dwarves, gnomes and native animals carved into an old eucalypt stump

There are many things to do in the Gardens: picnicking, dining, horticultural and historical exploration, birdwatching, possum-spotting (best done after dark) and, in summer, children's story sessions by the Fairies' Tree.

Enjoy what Melburnians have been doing for more than 150 years.

To the immediate east of the city are these leafy, majestic gardens. Originally designed in 1857 as a Union Jack (!), the first curator of the Gardens (James Sinclair, former landscape gardener to Tsar Nicholas I) somewhat altered the original to create a verdant escape of huge elms and cedars, lawns, flower beds alongside more recent additions such as Cook's Cottage, the rather odd miniature Tudor Village and a (carved) Fairy Tree (don't ask!).

And if you fancy hand-feeding possums, this is the place to do it. Take fruit.

Fitzroy Gardens! Take a stroll through this park, it's beautiful!
Going to the MCG to watch the Pies win (or lose mostly!)!! The Footy IS Melbourne.
Melbourne Zoo! This place is awesome, it's so grouse! The lion enclosure is fantastic, and the orangutan one is cool too.