In Melbourne, Australia, lions at the zoo get blocks of frozen blood to help beat the Summer heat! Cool!

About Melbourne

The first thing to remember about Australia when you are planning a trip there is its size. It is BIG. Only Russia, Canada, China, the USA and Brazil are larger. This single nation has three separate time zones: Sydney in the south east is two hours ahead of Perth in the west. So it is not possible to just go and “see Australia”. Flying from one side to the other is 2,000 miles and takes over three and a half hours; flying from Melbourne in the far south to Darwin in the tropical north will also take about three and a half hours. I asked my cousin, who lives in Australia, what was the best time of year to see the country – and only revealed my ignorance, because I should have known that Australia is so vast there is no one month that is the best in which to see all of it.
Melbourne Victoria, on the south coast of Australia has a cosmopolitan and vibrant atmosphere - a sophistication and sense of history not seen, at least to the same degree, in other Australian cities.
Melbourne is a city worth exploring - it is Australia’s events capital, its sporting hub and its cultural heartland, home to great theatre, music, nightlife and restaurants. Peel back the layers to uncover a place that’s constantly on the move - from the ever-changing bar scene to a non-stop rollcall of international events.
It is said people here are a little more snobby, but its probably they have a better sense of dress and are more in touch with fashion. You can find great clothes designers, shoes and accessories here.
Sydney inevitably attracts most tourists (2-3 million from abroad each year) and has something for every taste, whether it be culture, sightseeing, shopping or nightlife. The 1973 magical urban sculpture that is Sydney Opera house is the most iconic of the 18 World Heritage Sites in Australia. Its much-photographed three groups of vaulted interlocking ‘shells’ are set on a platform at the end of a peninsula projecting into the Harbour. There is a two hour backstage tour, on which your expert guide will tell you stories of the real life dramas behind the polished performances. The tour takes you onto the stage and into the stars’ dressing rooms, culminating in a breakfast in the Green Room. (Book well in advance as this tour typically sells out.)
 Other popular landmarks in Sydney include Sydney Harbour Bridge, the fifth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world, linking the Central Business District to North Shore; Sydney Tower, the city’s tallest structure with two restaurants; and the Queen Victoria Building, a 19th century Romanesque Revival building designed as a shopping centre and used for that purpose now.