Eureka Skydeck

This past Monday evening I spent the evening in the city with my friend Claire (fellow aupair). About 3 months ago, we decided going to the Eureka Skydeck was something we wanted to do together. We realized a few days ago, however, that we were quickly running out of time. I get back from Sydney on the 29th and she leaves for New Zealand on the 31st. So we arranged an evening in the city at the Skydeck and a good old fashioned sleepover at my house.

Eureka Tower Facts:
- Opened on the October 11th, 2006
- Took 4 years and 2 months to complete
- Over 450 people worked on the building
- Cost approx. $500 million AUD
- 297.3 metres high, 92 stories (20 trams end to end), 3,680 stairs
- Fastest elevators in the Southern Hemisphere (more than 9 metres/second, as fast as an Olympic sprinter)
- Glass on the top 11 floors is 24 carat gold infused
- The facade's glass and aluminum panels cover an area of 40,000 sq. metres (cover the MCG twice)
- Used 110,000 tonnes of concrete (would fill 44 Olympic swimming pools)
- Weighs 200,000 tonnes (as much as 40,000 elephants)
- The Skydeck is on the 88th floor and is the highest public vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere at 285 metres

Eureka Tower - Tallest building behind me

When we got to the Skydeck it was still daylight. We did 2 rounds and spent some time on the outside observation deck. It was a clear day so we could see quite far. Next we purchased some yummy snacks and got "front row" seats to watch the sun set over the city and the bay. The colors created were absolutely beautiful. Every color in the rainbow was visible on the horizon. In addition to the sun set we also got to watch the city lights slowly turn on. It's amazing what kind of transformation takes place as the city shifts from day time to night time. The city lights were honestly, and I thought I'd never say this, just as pretty as the sun set. The lights were a different kind of pretty, but left me staring nonetheless. It was 5 minutes away from time to leave and I just wished I had another hour or so up there. The city lights are seriously just something else.

Melbourne CBD - Now go look at the last/night picture of the city

Flinders Street Railway Station, Federation Square, Cathedral

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Melbourne CBD - Same location as the first city picture, but huge contrast

Luckily, Claire and I see things similarly and find beauty in the small things like feeling on top of the world and watching the colors change in the sky and watching the lights come on all over the city for as far as you can see. We had a lovely chat, spent some time in the gift shop (I got a pin that has the American and Australian flag on it and some postcards... that I can't bring myself to mail home), and then took a not so leisurely stroll to the tram stop since we already missed our train. Public transportation runs quite frequently during the day, but at this time of night my train and tram were only running every 30 minutes, so if we didn't make it to this one we would be stuck at Flinders (train station) for 30 minutes. Also like me, Claire isn't above running to catch a train/tram and since we were still far enough away from the tram when it pulled to the stop that we would miss it... we ran. We met a nice girl on the tram, got to my house, got ready for bed, and then stayed up into the early hours of the morning chatting. In the morning we had breakfast and then said goodbye.

Saying goodbye to other aupairs is a downside to aupairing that no one ever mentioned. I hate that I have to say goodbye to her, but if I have to, it was a fabulous way to do it. Now it just means that we each have a friend somewhere new and different that we can go to if we want to see each other. Ah, I've found the plus side to having aupair friends that no one ever mentioned.