Melbourne Docklands
Melbourne's Docklands, fast gaining popularity as a place to go for leisure and entertainment, has become more attractive to visitors and Melburnians alike with the presence of fine restaurants, waterside promenades, marinas, parks, public art, accommodation choices, and easy — and free — public transport access.
Melbourne's newest entertainment, shopping, residential and business precinct — it's still a work in progress — is Docklands, hewn out of an area of disused riverfront wharves and industrial structures.
It is planned to be completed by 2015 and already it is a gleaming precinct which, for visitors to Melbourne, comprises a variety of restaurants, promenades, marinas, hotels, apartments and residential areas easily reached through the free City Circle Tram and the City Tourist Shuttle.
The revitalised Spencer St Station, renamed Southern Cross Station and including a gallery of boutique shops and factory outlets, is at its eastern edge adjoining Melbourne's central business district.
Docklands has a large shopping and entertainment area and an accessible sports arena, Etihad Stadium, which doubles as a multipurpose entertainment venue.
Southern Cross Station, formerly Spencer St Station, is a major public transport interchange with rail connections to regional Victorian centres and interstate to Sydney on the Countrylink XPT and Adelaide on the Overland. It has facilities for rail, taxi and bus passengers.
Southern Cross is one of five Melbourne train stations forming what is known as the City Loop which encircles the central business district.
Particularly for Melbourne airport arrivals, Southern Cross Station is the airport shuttle city destination from which passengers can then be ferried over to their accommodation in the city.
Linked to the train station is the redeveloped area that is now a showcase of shops and factory outlets for those who love to shop, or window shop.
Docklands Stadium, formerly known as Colonial Stadium and Telstra Dome, is now Etihad Stadium. The permutations of its name rely on who the current sponsor is with naming rights.
By whatever name it goes, the stadium is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue generally used during the football season for Aussie Rules matches and is the headquarters of the Australian Football League. A large number of international singers and bands have performed at the stadium.
The stadium's construction started in 1997 on the Harbour Esplanade and reached completion in 2000.
The City Circle Tram and the City Tourist Shuttle have stops at the stadium and Southern Cross Station arrivals can stimply walk from the station's northern end down through the Bourke St pedestrian bridge to the stadium.
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At the southern end of Docklands, Webb Bridge crosses the Yarra River from the River Esplanade of the dining and residential precinct at Yarra's Edge to parkland adjacent to the Harbour Esplanade.
This is an award-winning bridge designed by architecture and urban designers Denton Corker Marshall in collaboration with New South Wales-born artist Robert Owen.
Webb Bridge, close to the Charles Grimes Bridge over the Yarra, was converted from the former Webb Bridge rail link and now comprises a cycling and pedestrian river crossing to the main part of Docklands.
More »
Webb Bridge is part of the public artworks located in the Docklands parks, promenades and architectural landscape. It is one of some 36 works created by established and emerging Australian artists and reflect much of Australia's history, culture, landscape and technology.
The sculpture group, Silence, on NewQuay Promenade is the work of Australian sculptor Adrian Mauriks and welcomes visitors strolling through the Docklands restaurant and marina precinct.
See if you can get a copy of the Docklands Art Walk brochure at the Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square across the street from Flinders St Station. This would be a useful guide to the Docklands public artworks.
More »
In late 2008, a Docklands landscape feature, the Southern Star observation wheel, a Ferris wheel-type structure much like the London Eye, went up on Waterfront Way at Docklands.
At 120 metres high, the Southern Star observation wheel was planned to provide spectacular panoramic views of Melbourne and its surrounds.
In January 2009 the wheel was closed due to certain problems, dismantled, and was due to be replaced.
In April 2011 it reopened with a revolutionary new design comprising a square wheel, but was again closed and dismantled shortly afterwards due to technical problems.
Reports indicate that the Southern Star observation wheel in its original Ferris wheel configuration may reopen in late 2019.
1. Overview
Melbourne's newest entertainment, shopping, residential and business precinct — it's still a work in progress — is Docklands, hewn out of an area of disused riverfront wharves and industrial structures.
It is planned to be completed by 2015 and already it is a gleaming precinct which, for visitors to Melbourne, comprises a variety of restaurants, promenades, marinas, hotels, apartments and residential areas easily reached through the free City Circle Tram and the City Tourist Shuttle.
The revitalised Spencer St Station, renamed Southern Cross Station and including a gallery of boutique shops and factory outlets, is at its eastern edge adjoining Melbourne's central business district.
Docklands has a large shopping and entertainment area and an accessible sports arena, Etihad Stadium, which doubles as a multipurpose entertainment venue.
2. Southern Cross Station
Southern Cross Station, formerly Spencer St Station, is a major public transport interchange with rail connections to regional Victorian centres and interstate to Sydney on the Countrylink XPT and Adelaide on the Overland. It has facilities for rail, taxi and bus passengers.
Southern Cross is one of five Melbourne train stations forming what is known as the City Loop which encircles the central business district.
Particularly for Melbourne airport arrivals, Southern Cross Station is the airport shuttle city destination from which passengers can then be ferried over to their accommodation in the city.
Linked to the train station is the redeveloped area that is now a showcase of shops and factory outlets for those who love to shop, or window shop.
3. Docklands Stadium
Docklands Stadium, formerly known as Colonial Stadium and Telstra Dome, is now Etihad Stadium. The permutations of its name rely on who the current sponsor is with naming rights.
By whatever name it goes, the stadium is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue generally used during the football season for Aussie Rules matches and is the headquarters of the Australian Football League. A large number of international singers and bands have performed at the stadium.
The stadium's construction started in 1997 on the Harbour Esplanade and reached completion in 2000.
The City Circle Tram and the City Tourist Shuttle have stops at the stadium and Southern Cross Station arrivals can stimply walk from the station's northern end down through the Bourke St pedestrian bridge to the stadium.
More »
4. Webb Bridge
At the southern end of Docklands, Webb Bridge crosses the Yarra River from the River Esplanade of the dining and residential precinct at Yarra's Edge to parkland adjacent to the Harbour Esplanade.
This is an award-winning bridge designed by architecture and urban designers Denton Corker Marshall in collaboration with New South Wales-born artist Robert Owen.
Webb Bridge, close to the Charles Grimes Bridge over the Yarra, was converted from the former Webb Bridge rail link and now comprises a cycling and pedestrian river crossing to the main part of Docklands.
More »
5. Public Art
Webb Bridge is part of the public artworks located in the Docklands parks, promenades and architectural landscape. It is one of some 36 works created by established and emerging Australian artists and reflect much of Australia's history, culture, landscape and technology.
The sculpture group, Silence, on NewQuay Promenade is the work of Australian sculptor Adrian Mauriks and welcomes visitors strolling through the Docklands restaurant and marina precinct.
See if you can get a copy of the Docklands Art Walk brochure at the Melbourne Visitor Centre at Federation Square across the street from Flinders St Station. This would be a useful guide to the Docklands public artworks.
More »
6. Southern Star Observation Wheel
In late 2008, a Docklands landscape feature, the Southern Star observation wheel, a Ferris wheel-type structure much like the London Eye, went up on Waterfront Way at Docklands.
At 120 metres high, the Southern Star observation wheel was planned to provide spectacular panoramic views of Melbourne and its surrounds.
In January 2009 the wheel was closed due to certain problems, dismantled, and was due to be replaced.
In April 2011 it reopened with a revolutionary new design comprising a square wheel, but was again closed and dismantled shortly afterwards due to technical problems.
Reports indicate that the Southern Star observation wheel in its original Ferris wheel configuration may reopen in late 2019.
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