Rubber Ninja vs Melbourne Day

EXPERIENCE SOMETHING NEW


Arrr... Me Hearties!!!!!!!
(Ninja and Pirate co-mingle for an afternoon....)

Apparently, 30th August is 'Melbourne Day', when the first European settlers sailed into the Yarra River and disembarked from their timber ship, the Enterprize, to found this city.













To commemorate, a replica of the Enterprize was berthed in the Waterfront City marina, Docklands.

How could I not climb aboard?

I wish I could say something really exciting about the whole thing, but I have nothing. It was crowded with tourists so it was difficult to see anything noteworthy.

The living quarters underneath the deck is very small and I guess, um, built with maximally efficient use of space?

The end. Sometimes new experiences are boring.

A stationary boat is not too thrilling I must say, but they do take the ship out for a sail which actually sounds quite interesting.


BONUS! A bit of a history lesson for you:

" The Original Enterprize (1830-1845) was built in Hobart in 1830 by Willian Harvey and William Pender as part of the early coastal trading fleets of southern Australia. At that time most bulk cargo was transported by sea. Enterprize carried cargo such as coal and, on one occasion, over 300 sheep.

In April 1835, Enterprize was purchased by John Pascoe Fawkner to search for a suitable place to found a new settlement in the Port Phillip District. Enterprize sailed from Launceston on 21st July 1835, but only travelled as far as George Town in northern Tasmania, where Fawkner was forced to remain by his creditors.

Enterprize then departed George Town on 1st August 1835 under Captain Peter Hunter. On board was Captian John Lancey, Master Mariner (Pascoe Fawkner's representative); George Evans, builder; William Jacson and Robert Marr, carpenters; Evan Evans, servant to George Evans and Pascoe Fawkner's servants, Charles Wise, a ploughman, Thomas Morgan, general servant, James Gilbert, a blacksmith and his pregnant wife Mary.

Searching for a place to settle, the part looked first at Western Port and then at the eastern side of Port Phillip. They eventually found the Yarra River, and after warping (hauling on ropes attached to the river bank) the ship upstream, they moored the Enterprize alongside the river bank at the foot of the present day William Street.

On the 30th August the settlers disembarked and at once began to put up their tents, build their store and clear some land for growing vegetables. Settlement at Melbourne had begun. After this, Enterprize continued operating as a coastal trading vessel for a number of years. She eventually disappeared off the shipping register in 1847, having been wrecked on the bar of the Richmond River in northern New South Wales, with the loss of two lives."



On the way back, I spotted these sculptures along the waterfront:




















There's just something so peaceful and innocent about them. Reminds me of a summer day, lying on your back on the lawn, looking up at the sky and imagining pictures in the clouds. Bliss.