Seniors in Melbourne is a travel website dedicated to inspiring and supporting those aged 60+ in planning midweek adventures across Melbourne and beyond. Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly inspiration.
Cube-shaped wombat poo and other map mysteries
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Hello Reader, It's Chris here. After more than 50 years preparing cartographic artwork for a living, you'd think I'd have had my fill of maps — but no. So when I saw Science Week's opening session was a comedy show called "Maps!", presented by a self-described Cartographic Comedian, I couldn't resist. Held in the historic Royal Society of Victoria building — one I'd walked past a hundred times but never stepped inside — the session was hosted by Julian O'Shea, an engineer-turned-comedian with a love of maps and the odd stories hiding inside them. He had the room laughing over everything from a cube-shaped motel in remote WA (apparently inspired by a map showing a wombat — "and we all know wombat poo is cube-shaped!") to the real reason Melbourne's streets sit at that unusual angle, which turns out to be tied to a rather charming piece of Victorian folklore involving the sun and Bourke Street. Julian clearly adores this city, and like so many of us, he's drawn to its hidden corners and behind-the-scenes stories. His recently published Unknown Melbourne Map is full of them, and it's already got me thinking about a few new local jaunts. Thank you, Julian and Geography Victoria, for a genuinely memorable hour and a half. Science Week runs right through to 23 August, with plenty still on across Melbourne. See what's still on offer here. Warmly, P.S. The Victorian Seniors Festival is coming up in October, and while the full program launches in September, we've started pulling together events, outing ideas and deals early — beginning with our regional Victoria highlights. Take an early look here and start planning a regional getaway. More to come soon!
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Seniors In Melbourne
Seniors in Melbourne is a travel website dedicated to inspiring and supporting those aged 60+ in planning midweek adventures across Melbourne and beyond. Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly inspiration.
Hi Reader, As many of you will know, Travellers Aid is our Community Giveback partner this quarter — and we've planned one of the loveliest ways to support them. If you're passing through one of Melbourne's major stations — or planning a trip to Ballarat, Geelong or Seymour — we'd love to challenge you to pop into a Travellers Aid hub and introduce yourself. The team are there every day helping people get around with confidence and dignity, and they'd be delighted to say hello. I asked...
Hello Reader, Paul here. The parklands surrounding the MCG are now known as Yarra Park. But when I was boy, they were not described in terms of anything so grand. In those days, the lovely green space spreading north from the Northern Stand, a space occupied by gentle slopes and ancient gums, was known as the MCG Car Park. Or at least that's how I knew it. During the 1970s, before almost every Richmond home game, my father would bundle one or two brothers and me into our car, together with...
Hello Reader, It’s Terrie here, So many of my friends tell me how they regularly meet up with family or friends in the city — and I recently did the same with my brother. We met at Federation Square and took a gentle stroll over to the Melbourne Recital Centre for a Mostly Mozart matinee, Mannheim to Paris. Musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music, alongside director Carla Blackwood, presented a beautiful hour of music bringing winds and strings together — just magnificent....