Melbourne with the Kids

Melbourne is an energetic, cultivated and cosmopolitan city with stunning architecture, world class facilities, bustling markets and an abundance of leafy park lands. Visitors flock to Melbourne for the Restaurants, Shopping, Sports Events and the many Cultural Activities. Kids and Adults alike, will love this lively city with it's remarkable choice of family friendly attractions.

20 Things to do with the kids in and around Melbourne

1. Visit the Melbourne Aquarium and watch the sharks and stingrays swim over your head.

2. Go to the Melbourne Museum its an innovative playground of interactive fun encompassing culture, history and nature.

3. Visit the Melbourne Zoo, its Australias oldest zoo with over 350 species of animals set in lovely botanic gardens.

4. Ride on Puffing Billy the historic steam train through the stunning Dandenong Ranges.

5. Visit Healesville Wildlife Park, they have over 200 species of Australian Wildlife in their native habitat.

6. Go to Werribee Wildlife Park and join the Wildlife Safari Tour where you will see rhinos, giraffes, zebra and eland.

7. Explore the Botanic Gardens; it has a special Childrens Garden, an Ornamental Lake, Rainforest Walk and a Water Conservation Garden.

8. Get lost in Arthurs Seat Maze, there are three formal mazes including one especially designed for children with tree fairies and a lock ness monster.

9. Let the kids milk a cow at Collingwood Childrens farm, you will also see donkeys, horses, goats, sheep, pigs geese and ducks.

10. Take a ride on the Tram to Fitzroy, South Yarra, St Kilda, Carlton, and Richmond or around the city loop.

11. Have a picnic on the banks of the bustling Yarra River; there are lots of lovely spots near the Botanic Gardens.

12. Visit Queen Victoria Market on a Sunday, it has an outdoor caf, childrens rides and activities.

13. Hire at boat from the Studley Park Boathouse, paddle around and listen out for the bellbirds.

14. Ride the 100-year-old Roller coaster and the historic carousel at Luna Park, you will also discover lots of other thrilling rides.

15. Take a river cruise up or down the Yarra River, a very relaxing way to see this diverse city.

16. Go to the Melbourne Observation Deck on level 55 of the Rialto Towers Building, Melbournes tallest building with stunning panoramic views.

17. Kick a virtual goal at the AFL Museum; you can also be part of the commentary team or host the Footy Show, great interactive fun.

18. Watch the penguins as they return from their daily fishing expeditions at the Penguin Parade on Philip Island.

19. Visit Scienceworks, a totally interactive and fun experience that brings science to life.

20. Have some fun at the St Kilda Adventure Playground on the climbing structures, ponds, trampolines, flying foxes and cubby houses.

This article is courtesy of Sandy Prosdocimo, owner of http://www.smart-mums.com.au - ... everything Mums need...

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Faulty Data on the Number of Humans Living in Urban Slums

In a recent project at the Online Think Tank we noted that there were several sources for the number of people living in urban slums, each one from a respected body of researches, unfortunately they were all different from one another. This makes planning for 10 Billion people on Earth by 2075 rather difficult.

When our Online Think Tank did our study, rather than quoting any specific number we averaged all the numbers we could find and used that number as the basis for our argument. So where can you get the right or exact number? Well the percentage of the Earth's human population, which lives in Urban Slums, is not an easy figure to attain and the number we used came from several sources, but all the numbers conflicted instead of picking one, the highest one, we averaged them.

The UN Habitat study shows less than the highest number by nearly half that amount, a very big gap. Many of the Slum research papers in India, Brazil, etc. show numbers near it. One thing that is interesting is what "WE" in the US call a slum is "regular" for other people and in the Third World our slum dwellers live like extended royalty family?

There are not only huge gaps in perception but in the statistics as well. The Urban Slums "real slums" the world considers is about 1 Billion people, which is slightly less than 1/6 the human population, but from what we consider slums in the first world, the number is more like 2 Billion. Of course, people in Houston consider the Eastside of Houston as slums, as it is indeed nothing compared to the rest of the place, but by Mexico Standards it is very nice housing.

Worse by 2050 to 2075 the consensus now seems to be 10.75 Billion humans and 30-40% living in giant city like slums. I thought that the depiction in the latest Futuristic UAV Movie was about right, this is what they are predicting, meaning over 3-4 billion people; too many.

What is interesting is that when Americans go travel they come back and say that "They" live in slums, indeed compared to a Middle Class housing tract, of course they call the East Side of Memphis a slum, Detroit a slum, Compton CA a slum. Most of the low income housing or "projects" in the US are called slums, but those would be considered solid habitats for most places on Earth, so perhaps this is worthy of more discussion.

L. Winslow is an Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entrepreneur http://www.worldthinktank.net . Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.

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