Muddle-headed = stupid, blundering, confused.
I wouldn't actually call Melbourne any of the above. But there was certainly the odd thing or two that made us laugh.
Did you know Melbourne has an Icehouse? Seem unlikely doesn't it? Australia is not exactly a hotbed of ice hockey or figure skaters. But Australia is traditionally a nation of battlers and sports lovers. So maybe... one day...
The Icehouse is home to 2 Olympic sized ice skating rinks, The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, Melbourne Ice (Melbourne's team in the Australian Ice Hockey League - did you even know Australia had an ice hockey league?), ice hockey, figure skating, curling and speed skating, Aussie Skate School and more. The IIHF 2011 World Championships Division II will be played at the Icehouse in April. Australia is one of 6 countries who will be vying for promotion to Division 1 for 2012.
Everyone knows Melbourne gets really hot in the summer. Temperatures can exceed 40+c. So why then did the Southern Star Big Wheel buckle in the heat? Opened in December 2008, a heat wave caused the structure to buckle and crack and it was subsequently closed in January 2009. This thing cost millions to build, was only open for a month, and has been closed ever since. Not good planning. This is all that remains:
It used to look like this:
photo thesouthernstar.com.au
There's a bike share program, which seems like a really good idea. There are 600 bikes at 50 stations across Melbourne. The idea is to promote cycling for trips under 10km in and around the CBD. The only problem we could see is that helmets are compulsory, and there are not helmets at the bike stations.
(we've since learnt that you can buy a helmet for $5.00 from a number of locations across the city).
My favourite Aussie animals are the wombat, echidna and platypus. Wombats are big, but not normally this big.