AUSTRALIA - A GREAT PLACE FOR A WORLDCON
CHILDCARE
iLOUNGE
VENUE LINKS
AUSTRALIA - A GREAT PLACE FOR A WORLDCON
CHILDCARE
iLOUNGE
VENUE LINKS
The Melbourne Convention
Centre is a modern convention centre and hotel complex on the banks of the Yarra
river and close to Melbourne's city centre. It is not one of those aircraft
hangar style exhibition halls which have to be partitioned and have awful acoustics.
Melbourne does have one of those - it is just across the river. Hopefully they
will have something interesting on to coincide with the Worldcon, but if not
walk a few metres downstream and take a look at the nautical museum and preserved
sailing ship, Polly Woodside.
Just across the Yarra River at Southbank is the Crown Casino, just in case you haven't spent all of your money in the dealers room. In fact, it's the biggest casino building in the world. Who needs Las Vegas anyway! In front of the Melbourne Convention Centre, fronting onto the river, is Batman Park, named, not after the caped crusader, but after John Batman, one of the founders of the city. This small but pleasant strip of green is, as is traditional in Australia, supplied with public barbecues. Weather permitting, one of our program items will be training in that most excellent part of Aussie culture, the barbie. The park is supplied with public barbecues that will be available for use by our members.
A free tram
service (the City Circle)
leaves from in front of the Convention Centre and connects with the shops, restaurants,
museums, art galleries, concert halls and other essentials of a capital city
(Melbourne is the capital of the State of Victoria). It also passes close to
many of the city's major hotels. For the more adventurous, a Daily ticket (currently
priced at A$4.40) gives you unlimited travel by train, tram and bus within about
15 km of the city centre. Take a trip up to the bargain hunters' paradise of
the Queen Victoria Market, to the Royal Botanic Gardens with their fine collection
of Australian plants, or down to Saint Kilda beach and go dolphin spotting in
the bay.
Food-wise, Melbourne is stocked with a fantastic range of restaurants of all shapes and styles. Seafood fanatics can try species of fish unavailable anywhere else in the world. And, being so close to Asia, we have a particularly fine collection of Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese eateries. For homesick Americans, the Hard Rock Cafe is on Spring Street, right on the free tram route.
For the sport-minded, it is a short tram ride along Flinders Street from the Convention Centre to Melbourne's sports district where you can find a basketball stadium, an Olympic class swimming pool, Flinders Park, the home of the Australian Tennis Open, and of course the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground. There will not be any cricket in August, but you will be able to find a game of Australian Rules Football, one of the fastest ball games in the world. With a capacity 100,000 crowd, the MCG is every bit as exciting as Wembley or an NFL stadium.
The one thing
that most people know about Australia is that we have some really weird wildlife.
Melbourne Zoo has a fine collection, but you are probably better taking a day
trip out to Healesville Sanctuary where you can come face to face with kangaroos
and koalas, watch the magnificent wedge-tailed eagle in falconry displays, and,
thanks to a specially built display room, see the amazing duck-billed platypus
in its natural habitat - underwater. You may also be able to combine this with
a trip round the beautiful Dandenong mountains. An ideal way to see them is
from the famous Puffing Billy steam train.
If you are planning to stay longer in Australia, each state tourist board has offices in Melbourne which can suggest places to go and help with accommodation. Not that there is any shortage of ideas. Here are just a few options:
Sydney, with its world-famous harbour, bridge, opera house and surfing beaches, is an hour flight away and well worth a weekend or so. A particular favourite attraction is the Darling Harbour Aquarium where you can walk through a glass tunnel in a pool full of sharks.
A further two hours north takes you to tropical Cairns in Queensland, the main tourist centre for the Great Barrier Reef. The organised trips to the Reef are great value, with snorkelling equipment provided free and scuba at a small extra charge.
A long way out west (3.5 hours flight) is the beautiful city of Perth, home of Australia's yachting community. Western Australian beaches have to be seen to be believed, and are practically deserted because the population is so low.
For the more adventurous, there is an airport at Alice Springs in the middle of the Australian desert. Here you really are outback, and you can visit the famous Aboriginal sacred site of Uluru (Ayers Rock). All in all, Australia is a world apart: a modern Western culture, but never far from unusual sights you cannot find anywhere else in the world. And, of course, really friendly people.
We'd love to see you here.
G'day!
Arrangements have been made for childcare to be provided for the duration of the convention. The service will be run by the City of Melbourne, using fully qualified childcare workers and following all relevant Government regulations.
When/Where is it?
The childcare centre will be located conveniently close to the convention
area (in room Bellarine 4 – ask at the information desk if you’re not sure
where that is) and it will be open the following hours:
| Day | Daytime | Evening |
| Thursday 2nd Sept. | 9am – 5pm | CLOSED |
| Friday 3rd Sept. | 9am – 5pm | 6.30pm – 10.30pm |
| Saturday 4th Sept. | 9am – 5pm | 7.30pm – 11pm |
| Sunday 5th Sept. | 9am – 5pm | 7.30pm – 11pm |
| Monday 6th Sept. | 9am – 5pm | CLOSED |
Please note: due to childcare regulations, infants/pre-school children can be placed in the centre for a maximum of 4 hours at a stretch. If you wish your child to be looked after for a longer period, you’ll need to take them away for at least an hour in the middle of the day.
Who can use it?
Any child aged 12 years or less, whose parents are attending/working on Aussiecon. That is, anyone with a ‘child-in-tow’ (3-12 year-olds) or infant (0-3 YO) membership. People working on the convention (volunteers, panelists etc.) are strongly encouraged to place their children into the centre during their shifts.
Any child with a full attending membership can also use the centre, provided they are under 12 years of age.
What’s provided?
While your child is in the childcare centre, all toys, lunch, snacks etc. will be provided. If your child has any special needs or requirements (ie. medications, special diet) please let us know in advance so arrangements can be made. Babyfood, nappies etc. will not be supplied – please ensure that you leave an adequate supply with your infant.
For older children, there will be videos, activities, organised games etc.
How much will it cost and how do I pay?
The rate for Daytime Care (9am to 5pm) is A$8 per hour, or part thereof.
Evening Care is charged separately, and costs A$30 for one evening (either Saturday or Sunday, though of course you can enroll your child for both nights if you so choose - the rate for Friday night is yet to be established).
Your fees will be calculated on the basis of usage and collected at the childcare centre.
Please note that ALL prices quoted in this document are in Australian dollars and payment must be made in this currency.
Bonus Free Care!
Every child member (aged 3-12) who attends Aussiecon is entitled to five hours of care free of charge. This will be managed via a voucher system. When you register, you’ll get five one-hour vouchers, which you can redeem for care during any of the daytime hours. Sorry, they can’t be used for the Evenings, as the cost of providing care then is higher.
Anyone who’s working at the convention (volunteers, panel members etc.) can also use the childcare facilities free of charge while they are working. Panelists are eligible for up to 2 hours around their item (30 minutes before to 30 minutes afterwards.) while other workers can claim up to four hours care per day, if required. If this is you, please contact us and we’ll make the necessary arrangements.
How do I register my children?
There are two ways to do this – a) simply turn up at the Childcare Centre and the childcare staff will take care of it on the spot.
or
b) Send us an e-mail message (required details are listed at the end of this document). This will reserve your place for a particular session and ensure your child/ren’s care for that time.
Summary:
The Melbourne City Council will be providing a childcare service for the duration of the convention. Any child (0-12YO) attending the convention can be left at the centre for up to four hours at a time. Centre hours are 9am – 5pm each day, plus 7.30pm – 11pm Saturday and Sunday nights. The cost is $8 per hour or part thereof. Snacks, lunch, toys, games etc. are provided, but baby requirements (nappies, bottles etc.) are not. Please provide your own. Every child will be given vouchers for 5 hours free childcare as part of their membership. Convention volunteers/panelists are also eligible for up to 4 hours free childcare per day, organised on a voucher system. When allocating space, advance bookings will be given priority over free care.
Aussiecon Childcare Advance Bookings
Please send us an e-mail containing the following details:
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The iLounge will be open every day of the convention from 10:00 to 18:00 to provide members of Aussiecon Three with access to the Internet. There will be a number of machines available allowing people to use some Internet functions, though due to bandwidth limitations, these functions will only allow web browsing and telnet.
It is important to remember that the iLounge is a free service and should not be used as a place to conduct business. Time at machines will be limited to 15 minutes when demand is high, and can be booked each day at the iLounge. If the iLounge is quiet, then a second session may be allowed, but please remember that all access is at the discretion of the iLounge Supervisor and is a privilege granted, not a right given.
We would especially like to thank our sponsors Alphalink
and Cybersource for helping to make
the iLounge possible.
Here are some links to information about our convention venue and nearby hotels. There are more useful links about Melbourne's and Australia's attractions in general on our Links Page.
World Science Fiction Society, WSFS, Worldcon,
Science
Fiction Achievement Award, Hugo Award and NASFiC are
service marks of the World Science Fiction
Society, an unincorporated literary society.