We’ve had an incredible time in Melbourne so far – two parkruns, Star Wars exhibition, galleries, parks, wildlife, markets, cricket, walking tours, architecture, tennis, street art, gin tasting, minigolf and so much more. The Yayoi Kasuma exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria is worthy of a post all of its own.

We’ve had busy days and quieter ones – although Melbourne doesn’t really let you be completely lazy. There’s just so much to see and do.

Today was our last day staying in the city centre – we’re off to one of the western suburbs tomorrow for a different view of Melbourne life. We should have been at the MCG for the final day of the cricket, but it didn’t go well for England (at all).

So we had an extra day to explore.

But it was hot. Not quite as hot as last Monday, but temperatures were forecast to hit 38 degrees by mid-afternoon.

We still wanted to explore, but we needed to escape the heat of the day.

So we went to the library – The State Library of Victoria (to give its full name) and found a whole host of reasons to make our visit worthwhile (and save us from the sun for a little while).

We started with the Lego version of the library on the ground floor…

And then we took the lift to the sixth floor to get a close-up view of the library’s inpressive dome and look down into the La Trobe Reading Room. The representation in Lego was incredibly accurate.

Back down to the fourth floor, we came across an unexpected but brilliant exhibit entitled World of the Book.

Amongst the displays, there were early editions of Winnie the Pooh and Les Miserables; books relating to the suffragettes and women’s voices in the history of books (both strong themes in the book that is linked to this week’s post). There was a section too on Australia’s crime fiction boom after the second world war… some interesting titles on display here.

From there, we went back down to the La Trobe Reading Room – in amongst all the people posing for photos whilst pretending to read a book, there were actually lots of people actually reading. Mr T did both…

Whilst he was reading about Australians on the Somme, I walked around the perimeter, reading quotes about books and reading, which were part of the Reading Room’s impressive  decor

• Stories are the way to feel you belong – Boori Monty Pryor
• Words on the page are never prisoners of the page – Sonya Hartnett
• Writers speak for those who are kept in silence – Isabel Allende
• Books are the plane, and the train, and road. They are the destination and the journey – Anna Quindlan
• One reads in order to ask questions – Franz Kafka

After time to pause and reflect, we weren’t done with our exploration. There was a gallery with paintings related to Melbourne – including one that showed the skyline in 1998, which would have been what Mr T saw the first time that he visited the city. There are a lot more skyscrapers now.

Through the gallery and into the Redmond Barry Reading Room, named after the judge who presided over infamous Aussie Ned Kelly’s trial. His armour was part of the display.

Our final stop was a special exhibition called Melbourne Out Loud: Life through the lens of Rennie Ellis. There were photographs showing celebrities at some of Melbourne’s iconic music, fashion, and dance venues. But Ellis was also famed for capturing the real people of the city – at sporting events including cricket and footie at the G, at protests and demonstrations in a city that loves to be heard, or just going about their lives.

There was still more to see and read – but the library had saved us from the worst heat of the day.

After some retail therapy, we ended our day with cocktails by the river. We made it back to our hotel just before the promised lightning storm arrived. It’s been a good one to watch as I write.

And now I might read for a bit before bedtime… there’s a whole world of books to explore.

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52 for 52 in 2025 #5 – weekly blogs in 2025 inspired by the books I’m reading.