I took our old digital camera with me and stopped to take pictures to give you guys an idea of some of the scenery and landmarks along the way.
This is Gardiners creek. The bike path into the city crosses this creek at least half a dozen times and runs beside it most of the way.
There are two of these huge Field hockey stadiums beside each other about 15 minutes from our place. The field looks like field turf but the in-fill is sand not rubber. There was a game on one field and kids learning to ride bikes on the other field. Field hockey is huge here. There are leagues for men and women and field hockey stores that sell nothing but hockey gear.
Not too much farther along is the Hamthorn Velodrome. It is probably about 500 m around and in the traditional shape with two straights and two banked corners. Its paved instead of wood, but in great shape. The inside lane is the fast lane and the outside lane is the slow lane. 
Another 10 minutes or so and the path goes underneath the M3 highway. The path is made of steel and is suspended from the highway above with huge metal braces. It's very stable and quiet, but more than a little bit freaky knowing you are under a highway. It is plenty wide enough for two bikes to pass, but not much more than that.
Once you come out from under the highway you cross this neat little suspension bridge over the Yarra river. I couldn't get a good side shot of it.
Next the path merges with the Yarra Trail which takes you the rest of the way into town along the Yarra river. The path is on the North side of the river and Toorak, Melbourne's richest suburb, is on the south side of the river. I tried to get some shots of the biggest places along the river.
After a few kilometers the path moves down to the water and actually floats on pontoons. The highway also goes along the river and at one point there is this neat little free access public climbing gym. It's not very high but kind of a neat idea.
As the path comes back up to the river bank you pass the Rod Laver Arena. This is where they have the finals of the Australian Open Tennis tournament.
From here you also get your first good look at downtown Melbourne, or the CBD as it is known here. ( Central Business District ).
Next stop is Birrarung Marr. This is a large park between the river and downtown. It is connected with Federation square and is used for large festivals and events. There is a permanent big top tent that houses a children's Circus as well as a small amusement park.
Here is a picture of Federation square and the play ground in front of it.
This sculpture is in all the tour guides so I had to take a picture.
Yep, another shot of Federation square...
Interesting sculpture beside a tree...
After cutting through the square I crossed back over the river and took this shot looking back at where I had just come from. In the distance you can see the Melbourne Cricket Grounds(MCG) where the big Footy games are played. People here just call it "the G". You can also see all the rowing clubs on the right of the picture. You almost can't get a picture of the Yarra river without getting a couple of rowers in it.
This is a picture of the Rialto Tower. The tallest building in Melbourne with 63 floors and the tallest Office building in the southern hemisphere. There is an observation deck at the top but I have yet to make it up there.
The next stop was Albert Park. This is melbourne's big city park. It has a large aquatic complex which is where this huge outdoor pool and stadium are.
Albert park is also the site of the Australian Formula One race. Here is a picture of the pit row complex. I rode down pit lane and the building has to be almost a kilometer long. The garages are all empty but the upper floor is used for indoor sports such as soccer and netball.
Once through Albert park I came out in St. Kilda which is the the trendy / urban beach suburb in the city. Lots of restaurants, bars, and stores here.
From St.Kilda the bike path runs along the beach all the way South through all the various beach side suburbs. Here is a shot looking back at the city after travelling 5 or 10 km.
Saw these birds sitting on this ledge and thought it looked like a good picture.
The path crossed over this weird "S" shaped bridge. It looks like at high tide you would be riding right over the waves !
After a while I realized I had gone too far south and when I turned to go back I happened across this view of the famous Brighton beach huts. In case you were wondering they sell for about 200,000 AUD. you can't sleep in them and they have neither electricity or water. Basically just a brightly painted shed for storing beach stuff.
I rode down as close as I could get without getting onto the sand . We will definitely come back here with the kids and get some good pictures .
If you look closely at these two pics you can see the kite from a kite surfer in the background. This is the sport where you ride a modified surf board while attached to a huge semi-inflateable kite. I've seen a few people in Canada doing this before but it is very popular here. At some points along the bay the beach was littered with people doing this. In hind sight I should have take a few pictures.
From here it was back north and east to our place on normal suburban streets. Now that I managed to dig out our older camera I will try and bring it with me to work so I can take some more pictures of stuff around town.
Jeff.
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