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Eureka
Skydeck 88,
Melbourne
By
Richard Moore
Eureka Skydeck 88
Aquarium,
Eureka Skydeck 88 and Old Melbourne Gaol
 For
the most amazing sights you will see of Melbourne
you should take a trip up to the Eureka Skydeck 88.
It
is the highest public vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere and
you will get to see the city and its metropolitan area stretching
out below you from 300m in the air.
Positioned
at Southgate the building offers prime viewing of the inner city
as you look down on the Arts Centre spire, Government House and
the Domain Parklands, Flinders St Station, the Yarra and then off
a little in the distance to the Tennis Centre and the Melbourne
Cricket Ground.
Port
Phillip Bay opens out to you and you can see the piers at St Kilda
and Brighton.
The
lifts, which are no slow coaches, will whizz you up in 40 seconds
- and you can feel the atmospheric changes in your body as you go
up and then down. My ears popped, which is something they normally
reserve for aeroplanes.
In
fact, the lifts are travelling at 9m per second and that makes them
the fastest ones in the Southern Hemisphere.
If
you don't like lifts then you can always take the stairs, although
keep in mind there are 3680 steps to the top.
 The
level 88 observation deck has a couple of dozen fixed telescopes
that allow you to get up close to important points of Melbourne
- one of which just so happens to be the scoreboard at the Melbourne
Cricket Ground.
Very
handy for footy or cricket fans!
There
are colour tickertape-style electronic messages in the floor of
the deck.
These
are quirky and worth stopping to read. At night they are also reflected
in the windows and can give your images a very sci-fi look to them.
Now
because the Eureka building is so tall it does tend to flex a bit
- 60cm in high winds, although two massive 300,000 litre water tanks
on levels 90 and 91 keep this movement to a minimum.
 And,
to get ann idea of how windy it can be up at that height head out
on to The Terrace for a bit of fresh air. On the day we went it
was pretty cool and breezy, however, the views were magic. Out on
The Terrace you can also focus long-lenses through the large wire
mesh and get images without fear of reflections.
On
that subject you do need to be a bit careful how you shoot out of
the observation deck - get your angles right - and at night it is
even more difficult with people's reflections in the glass. Still
worth the effort.
Now
if you really want to get the feeling of being 300m in the air then
you can pay extra to head out on to The Edge, which is a glass cube
jutting out from the observation deck.
You
can walk out 3m on a see-through floor that probably is only for
those with strong stomachs. There is a list of conditions you shouldn't
have if you want to go out there - claustrophobia and fear of heights
being just two of them.
 The
Eureka Skydeck 88 is one of the things you really should do in Melbourne.
If
you think the top of the tower has a golden glow to it then you
would be right.
The
building has 52,000 sq metres of windows in it and on the top 10
storeys the glass is 24 carat gold plated.
And
if you are wondering about the red stripe on the side of the building
that some people call the bandaid, it is reference to the blood
spilled at the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, Australia's only armed
rebellion.
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