Melbourne

I am a city person. I have lived in or around major cities my entire life (see Philly, NYC, D.C., Baltimore, and Sydney). I like to be able to walk places and have everything I need at my fingertips at any hour of the day (which is absurd because I go to bed at 9 so I really don’t need anything during abnormal hours, BUT WHAT IF I DID RIGHT?). Anyway, for this reason, when I am traveling I prefer to not be in a city. I like to really venture out and see something totally different than what I’m used to. That’s why I loved Fraser Island and the Outback (coming soon). And Southeast Asia, but that’s for another day.

However, as far as cities go, Melbourne is a pretty great one. I actually went to Melbourne twice when I was studying in Sydney – once with my parents for probably less than 24 hours because Brian had some business meeting or something, and once with a bunch of friends. And actually, after looking back at my pictures and preparing this post I realized some of my favorite Melbourne attractions were actually outside the city because, well, a city is a city. Also, in my experience the top attractions in cities are often museums and I’d rather be outside exploring than inside looking at artwork. Just a personal preference.

Since this was the only trip I did with a big group of friends (the rest were either with Jen or on group tours), this was my one true hostel experience. We were in two rooms with two bunkbeds each, but the wall did not hit the ceiling so we could actually climb from top bunk to top bunk across rooms. This also meant basically anyone in the hostel could get into our room and our stuff. The bathroom was shared in the hallway. There’s a chance that all of the toilets were broken or clogged at some point, but this also might be Marissa’s experience in her hostel and not mine. Sometimes our stories get confused and our memories get blended. There’s probably some science behind it – see the most recent season of Orange is the New Black for reference.

Anyway, it was truly absurd and I am happy to say I will never have an experience like this again. At least it was better than Marissa’s hostel with friends while abroad in London where they shared a room with like 48 strangers. (I do not believe this number is an exaggeration. Ask her about it. I know this is her story and not mine.)

Anyway this is a travel blog and I do not normally stay in hostels and I would not recommend my clients do so unless absolutely necessary, so that’s so not the point. The point is Melbourne.

When traveling to any city, I highly recommend leaving some time without anything planned to just go out and walk. Find a cafe on the corner or walk into a grocery store to observe the differences or find things you’d never find in your own local stores (this is a weird thing my parents do when they travel so I’ve seen a lot of foreign grocery stores). Find a park or some green space to just stroll through and relax.

• 

• 

If the city is on or near the water, even better – just take a walk and take it all in.

• 

• 

If you’re not into walking, take public transportation to get a feel for the culture of the city. Or just take pretty pictures of pretty train stations if you’re like me and not totally comfortable figuring out public transport in foreign places.

• 

If you are a museum person, I’m sure there are some great ones. Jen tells me we went to one with some fashion exhibit. I may vaguely remember this but I don’t usually leave space in my memory for museums so I really can’t tell you much about it.

• 

And I guess based on this picture I went to the National Gallery of Victoria with Bettina. Don’t remember at all.

• 

I definitely remember walking down some back streets and alleys and perusing through some cute boutiques and shops, with a few outdoor cafes.

Aside from the strolls through the city, though, there were some amazing excursions from Melbourne that I would highly recommend.

One morning, Jen and I got up at the crack of dawn (seriously, I think our pick up time was like 3:30 am) to go on a hot air balloon ride at sunrise. It was absolutely beautiful. I’ve done a hot air balloon in Colorado too, and that was also super early in the morning, and I’m pretty sure this is the only way it’s done. Something about the air being most stable in the morning makes it unsafe to fly any later in the day, so if you’re not a morning person just suck it up (or don’t go to sleep the night before). It’s an incredible experience that should not be missed because of the time. And if you’re scared of heights see my posts on Sydney and Sydney Excursions (and look out for my New Zealand Post coming soon) to find out why you should, again, just suck it up.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Melbourne’s highlight and one of the biggest activities recommended when there is to drive the Great Ocean Road. This is a coastal road filled with beautiful beaches and views with a bunch of cute little towns along the way. It is really a full day (or multi day) drive, but it’s a must-see if you’re in Melbourne so you should definitely make time for it. We rented a car and trusted Grandma Traycie, who was the only one old enough to rent a car, with our lives. Seriously, driving on the wrong side of the road is scary, but for some reason we allowed this to happen.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We had a gloomy day, but it was still beautiful. The goal is the drive to the 12 apostles, a collection of limestone stacks along the coast. Unfortunately, we had tickets to Wicked that night and we just couldn’t make it all the way to the end in time. Having seen Wicked in New York, and being from New York with full access to Wicked, missing the 12 Apostles is my biggest regret from my entire time abroad (right along with not seeing the West Coast and not researching better food). But sometimes, especially in a group, you just have to go with the flow (maybe soon I’ll write a post on traveling with groups or people with different interests).

And finally, we did a full day trip to explore some of the wildlife Australia has to offer with the company Wildlife Tours Australia. The day started at Maru wildlife park where we got to hang with all of those native Australian creatures you hear about from this side of the world but never get to see: Koala’s, Kangaroos, Dingos, Emus, and Tasmanian Devils. Yes, the Tasmanian Devil is a real animal and not just a cartoon, and it comes from the Australian state of Tasmania. Maru was where we got to pet but not hold the Koalas (see my post on Queensland for more on this), and we also fed some Kangaroos.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We then headed over the bridge into Phillip Island where we got to explore some of the surfing beaches in the area, and the Nobbies National Park. This is the home of “The Blowhole” where you can see waves crashing into dark volcanic rock. It’s a beautiful setting and view.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

This day ended with the Phillip Island Penguin Parade. I remember before I left for Australia my dad told me about the Phillip Island Penguins. I didn’t really ask any questions and just sort of assumed that I would be able to just go to the beach and see tiny penguins whenever I wanted to. I was very disappointed to arrive in Sydney to find out that this was actually a Melbourne attraction (and 90 min from Melbourne at that), and you couldn’t just go hang out and watch every night – you had to actually pay for this activity, and it was a whole process with different viewing areas. So, needless to say this was a one time thing, but it was definitely on the top of my list when we booked our trip to Melbourne.

So here’s what happens. Phillip Island is home to the tiniest penguins in the world, standing about 32cm or 1ft tall. These warm weather penguins (apparently that’s a thing) spend their days out fishing, and every night at sunset they come back home for the night. Hundreds of tiny penguins all parade up the beach together to head home, and it’s the absolute cutest thing in the world. I know I’ve spent a lot of time telling you I don’t like animals, but penguins are definitely the exception. This is a must see event, and it happens EVERY DAY, unlike the bats in Austin (this is me foreshadowing to my next series on the south). You aren’t allowed to take pictures to protect the animals, but definitely google it.

I wish I had more time in Melbourne. It was a great little city with lots of great excursions and I think I would’ve really enjoyed living there. But we had to choose only one city (Sydney) to live in when we studied abroad, so Melbourne got a long weekend. Hopefully I’ll make it back there one day.