Melbourne, VIC
Wednesday, July 17th
"Half the fun in traveling is the journey to your destination."
- KSW
The process of getting to Melbourne was interesting. The distance between Brisbane and Melbourne is equivalent to New York City to Miami. Wednesday morning I went to work because I had things to get done AND I didn't want to miss out on the funds as things were a bit tight. I rushed home from work, got my things together and got on the train for the airport. I'm not sure why, but I was a bit late getting to the airport.
My flight left Brisbane around 9:00PM and arrived in Melbourne around at nearly 1:00AM. "I should mention here that I went to Melbourne alone. By the time I was able to go most of my friends had already left." So my flight lands (in the sketchy Tiger Airways terminal in Melbourne) and now I have to find my way to my hostel. I decided that the best way to do this is to catch the 20 min shuttle into the city. The shuttle drops you off at a station downtown that is about another 20 min walk away from my hostel. By this time it's like 1:30AM or so and I'm walking downtown with a dying iPhone, camera bag, book bag and a rolling carry on suitcase in the 2nd largest city in Australia..ALONE. My mom would kill me if she knew.
Before I make it to my hostel, my phone ends up dying, and now I'm lost because I was using it as my GPS. Being the genius that I am, I stand on the side of the road and plug it into my computer for a bit more juice. It worked and I made it!
Remember how I said things were a bit tight? Well, I paid for the cheapest room which had like 10 people in it. By the time I got to the room most of the people were in the room asleep and all of the lights were off... Great. Good thing that I was exhausted and didn't care where I slept.
I started the next day off exploring the city. The first stop was a coffee shop for breakfast. Among other things, Melbourne is known for its unique coffee shops. I took this time to check my account - it was pay day! Seeing that I now had more than two $2 coins to rub together, I booked my return flight home and planned the rest of the day. My hostel offered city tours, so I walked around and checked out the town a bit solo before returning for the tour.
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| Made it to the train with 1 min to spare! |
My flight left Brisbane around 9:00PM and arrived in Melbourne around at nearly 1:00AM. "I should mention here that I went to Melbourne alone. By the time I was able to go most of my friends had already left." So my flight lands (in the sketchy Tiger Airways terminal in Melbourne) and now I have to find my way to my hostel. I decided that the best way to do this is to catch the 20 min shuttle into the city. The shuttle drops you off at a station downtown that is about another 20 min walk away from my hostel. By this time it's like 1:30AM or so and I'm walking downtown with a dying iPhone, camera bag, book bag and a rolling carry on suitcase in the 2nd largest city in Australia..ALONE. My mom would kill me if she knew.
Before I make it to my hostel, my phone ends up dying, and now I'm lost because I was using it as my GPS. Being the genius that I am, I stand on the side of the road and plug it into my computer for a bit more juice. It worked and I made it!
Remember how I said things were a bit tight? Well, I paid for the cheapest room which had like 10 people in it. By the time I got to the room most of the people were in the room asleep and all of the lights were off... Great. Good thing that I was exhausted and didn't care where I slept.
Thursday, July 18th
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| State Library of Victoria |
-Thomas Jefferson
I started the next day off exploring the city. The first stop was a coffee shop for breakfast. Among other things, Melbourne is known for its unique coffee shops. I took this time to check my account - it was pay day! Seeing that I now had more than two $2 coins to rub together, I booked my return flight home and planned the rest of the day. My hostel offered city tours, so I walked around and checked out the town a bit solo before returning for the tour.
"First impressions are lasting impressions"
- who said this first??
Joining the gang back at the hostel, I met a group of about 8 people or so. It was nice to get to meet new folks. Our tour guide was great. He really knew the city and we got to see a lot in a short amount of time. We walked through the Queen Victoria Markets, rode to the Docklands (newer district in Melbourne that most "Melbournites" aren't very fond of, through the Crown Casino, down to Federation Square (this is about the time the bottom dropped out of the sky and Melbourne showed it true colors), towards Flinders Street Station, past the street art on Hosier Lane and back to our hostel where we were treated to a round of beers.
One of guys, Eugene, on the tour and a solo traveler like myself. We decided to go check out the town that night. We ended up finding a few eclectic bars (another thing Melbourne is known for). I remember having some wine that was served hot. It was damn good.
Walking around the city, I noticed the architecture the most. It was nontraditional, contemporary, colonial, geometric and abstract all at the same time. The best way to describe it would be "mixed bag".
Another thing I noticed was the weather. I had been warned that Melbourne weather is unpredictable. Many people say, "In Melbourne you'll experience four seasons in one day." I didn't find this to be the case. The sun was out and it was relatively warm.
Joining the gang back at the hostel, I met a group of about 8 people or so. It was nice to get to meet new folks. Our tour guide was great. He really knew the city and we got to see a lot in a short amount of time. We walked through the Queen Victoria Markets, rode to the Docklands (newer district in Melbourne that most "Melbournites" aren't very fond of, through the Crown Casino, down to Federation Square (this is about the time the bottom dropped out of the sky and Melbourne showed it true colors), towards Flinders Street Station, past the street art on Hosier Lane and back to our hostel where we were treated to a round of beers.
One of guys, Eugene, on the tour and a solo traveler like myself. We decided to go check out the town that night. We ended up finding a few eclectic bars (another thing Melbourne is known for). I remember having some wine that was served hot. It was damn good.
That night I asked if I could upgrade my accomodation (because I had a few more dollars). Front desk dude hooked me up with an empty room for no extra cost!
Great day!
Friday, July 19th
"I want every day to be life for the living, not just traipsing through it existing. I'm just interested in life and the world and exploring."
- Queen Latifah
Excited about the new sunny day, I woke up and got ready relatively early. I didn't have much of a plan for the day. There were so many things that I wanted to do, but little time to do them. When I left my room for the day, I ran into Eugene in the lobby. Both of us without a plan, we decided to go with the flow and figure it out as we went along together.
First stop that days was to a travel agency to book our Great Ocean Road trip for the next day. He ended up booking a different trip than me (mine was cheaper). Anyways, after that off we went to check out what else Melbourne had to offer. He was quite keen on checking out museums and such, so we did that first.
Eugene was from Ireland and there just happened to be an exhibit in town called "Leaving Dublin" at the Immigration Museum. We stopped there but didn't go to the exhibit because of the cost. After that we left and checked out the Koorie Heritage Trust Center where they displayed Aboriginal art and history.
After that, we got on a tram to check out Brunswick St. It was little The Black Cat before heading back into town. Very cool atmosphere and good coffee too.out of downtown, but a must destination when visiting Melbourne. We got a little crossed up when heading there, but we figured it out soon enough. Brunswick St. was lined with boutique shops, thrift stores, odd bars and bakeries. It was a mix of things for a mix of people. Pretty cool area. We stopped at a cafe and bar called
We ended up getting off the tram at the Melbourne Museum and decided to check it out. Before splitting up, we agreed that we'd only spend about an hour inside. It was hands down the best museum that I've ever been into (I haven't been to very many). This museum was so large that it had an indoor rainforest and numerous other exhibitions. By the end of the hour, I was basical
Next, we got back on the tram and headed for St. Kilda beach area. This area was on the complete opposite side of the city but another must do. When we got there the sky started to darken and it started to rain. Great weather for the beach..NOT. I heard that you could see penguins from the pier if you go at certain times. Unfortunately, we didn't see any. :-/ Instead, we found a cool place to eat dinner and get a drink appropriately named, 29th Apartment. It was decorated just like a NYC apartment complete with a kitchen, bed, patio area. They also had Connect 4, and I won against Eugene multiple times! Very cool. We left there rode into the city back to walk around the Crown Casino a bit.
After that, I got on the tram and we went our separate ways. I was glad to have met him.
Immediately after leaving St. Kilda I met up with Pete and his coworkers from Merye Corporate HQ in the Dockland area (mentioned earlier) after they got off. Pete used to work for the same company that I did in Brisbane. A few months prior he came up to Brisbane for a party and he offered me a place to stay should I ever come to Melbourne. I took him up on the offer. He and his coworkers were really cool. We stayed at this one bar for a while, headed to this random karaoke spot, played arcade games, went through the famous Melbourne alleys and got a late night meal before headed to place out of the downtown area. It was so kind of him to open his doors up and show me around to places that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. Thanks Pete. Much appreciated!
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| Flinders St. Station 6:47AM |
Saturday, July 20th
"The early bird gets the worm."
-insert your mom's name
I probably slept on the livingroom floor palate for about two or three hours before I had to get up at 5:00AM and walk to the trainstation. Once again, I was in an unknown area in the dark and alone. Sorry mom... The Great Ocean Road tour met at about 6:00AM near Flinders St. Station (mentioned and pictured earlier).