Old Melbourne Gaol

In true Melbourne style, it was pouring with rain when we woke this morning.  We stayed indoors while Jack and Jarrah made the most of catching up on their diaries.  Mrs Drysdale's kindy package clearly had an effect as Fletcher came out fully dressed in 'school' shorts, with socks pulled right up to his knees and announced that he is now a "school boy".

Note he hadn't forgotten about the Tiny Teddies either!

 

By midday we decided we couldn't wait any longer for the weather to improve.  So, donned in jumpers, beanies and scarves (well, I was!) and armed with umbrellas, we took the short walk to the Montague Street tram stop.

 

Today is Oaks Day, the traditional Ladies Day of Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival.  However due to the inclement weather, today was quickly and cleverly re-branded as Soaks Day.

 

Here's some of the day's headlines -

 

When the heavens opened after the fourth and a Mallee farmer's wet dream was dumped on an already soggy Flemington track, a day famous for glamour underwent a grubby fashion shift.

In the mud and the muck of Flemington, the picnic rugs and deckchairs lie where they fall. The lawn looks like the battered beachhead of some terrible war.

And this is my favourite -

 

Fascinators and frivolity give way to rain and mud and a naked lady.

Yup, when this mother of five's friend bet her $10 that she wouldn't do a nudie run clad only in her underwear and an umbrella, she abandoned herself to the elements and tossed her white dress into the rain.  She ran naked laps of the grass while her daughter watched in horror!

 

The self proclaimed free spirit said she had no regrets that the world has seen her in her “Bridget Joneses”.   The same couldn’t be said, however, for her five children, aged between 14 and 32.  Apparently  her son saw the footage in Thailand and has told her he is applying for citizenship and not coming home!  Bahahahaha!!

I'm thinking this could be our next NUNYA trip, girls???

Anyway, back to our story.  Oaks Day is traditionally known for fashion and fascinators and I was thrilled to share our tram ride with the elegant ladies of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.  The boys, however, were just happy to swing around the poles and ring the bell.

We had a short walk up Russell Street to our destination - The Old Melbourne Gaol.  This visit neatly tied in with our recent bushranger experience at Glenrowan.  As the boys stood in the gallows where their new hero Ned was "hung up", we closed the final chapter on Ned and the Kelly Gang.

The former gaol consists of a bluestone building and courtyard, and is located next to the old City Police Watch House and City Courts buildings.  The three storeys of the remaining wing have been opened up to visitors, its cells filled with letters and memorabilia, photo archives and death masks.  During its operation as a prison between 1842 and 1929 it held and executed some of Australia's most notorious criminals, including bushranger Ned Kelly and serial killer Frederick Bailey Deeming.   In total, 133 people were executed by hanging.  Though it was used briefly during World War II, it formally ceased operating as a prison in 1924, with parts of the gaol being incorporated into the RMIT University and the rest becoming a museum.

In the City Watch House we were arrested and charged.

 

Then the kids were locked in a padded cell.

Ned Kelly's death mask.

 

We are all a little fascinated by the concept of the 'death mask'.  A death mask is a wax or plaster cast made of a person’s face immediately following death.  The taking of death masks from executed criminals was widespread in the nineteenth century and by the mid-1850s taking casts from the heads of recently executed criminals was a well-established practice in Victoria.

Ned Kelly’s actual skullwas once displayed here too, until its theft in 1978.  It was mysteriously stolen from an unbroken glass case, with no sign of a break in.  After being 'lost' for more than 30 years, in 2000 it was finally handed in by WA farmer and self proclaimed 'custodian of the skull', Tom Baxter.  Then, in a remarkable twist to the tale, in 2001 analysis was able to prove that the stolen and re-discovered skull is not Ned's skull at all!! 

The rest of Ned's bones, however, which  had been exhumed from the old Pentridge site where he was originally buried, have now been positively identified and handed over to the Kelly family.  Finally, in 2013, the Kelly family were able to bury Ned's remains (minus the skull, which is still at large) at Greta Cemetery, next to his Mother's grave.

 As a final tribute to Ned and the gang, the boys all had a go at trying on Ned's armour.  By all accounts it was heavy and cold and would have been very difficult to shoot anybody while wearing it!

While we were warm and dry inside the gaol, learning all about the lives of some of Australia's most notorious criminals, the rain outside had become torrential.
The weather had turned so bad, in fact, that the Bureau of Meterology had issued a local tornado warning! 

And just ten minutes later we were walking back down Russell Street in the bright sunshine!  Gotta love Melbourne!

As has become tradition, we could not leave the gift shop without a purchase.

Jack's purchase today, however, proved to be quite valuable for travelling with the  Shooting Star.

Bustling through the City streets was much less stressful for Bruce and I knowing that Fletcher was permanently attached to Jack.  Much more stressful, however, for unsuspecting Melbourne shoppers who tried to rush between them, head down, absorbed in their smart phone..

As you can see, by the time we got to Flinders Street Station the weather was toasty warm.  All beanies, jumpers, scarves and umbrellas had been tossed aside as we sweltered in the bizarre Melbourne spring weather.





 It got so hot, in fact, that Fletcher couldn't even keep his shirt on.

 

 Dinner was a pretty low key affair - burritos, followed with Sticky Date Pudding.

A family favourite.