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Published: September 17th 2008
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Melbourne
A cool view of the city with the statue and a ferris wheel--they seem to love those here! Give Way Down Under
We flew on a red-eye flight from Bangkok to Melbourne--9pm to 9am with a 3-hour time change. We were both excited to get one more continent checked off our list. It was really nice to be in a country that observes the same rules that you are used to--though, we do get quite confused on which way to look when crossing the road! Not to mention that you have to get in the far left lane to turn right. At this time, it's spring here, and that means it's quite a bit colder than what we are used to. We had to wear half our clothes on our walk to the hostel! But it is a nice change from the extreme heat and humidity of Southeast Asia. So, as we figured out the bus and tram system in Melbourne, we jumped off the tram where we figured our hostel was closeby. We were good, and we asked for directions. We needed to get to Park Street. A nice lady pointed us in the right direction--or so we thought. As we walked down Park Street desperately looking for 99 Park Street, we could not locate our building. There
Melbourne
The view from the pier. was a 71-131 Park Street--an apartment building. This was definitely not our hostel, as the website described it as an 1800s old-style cottage. Finally, we went into Best Western to ask them where in the world could 99 Park Street be? They figured out that we were on Park Street, Melbourne, and we needed to be on Park Street, South Yarra. Hmmmmmm . . . two Park Streets and so close together--within a mile of each other. We jumped on the tram, and headed to Park Street, South Yarra. About 10 minutes later, we found ourselves in front of St. Arnaud's--our hostel. It was very cute, and had all the essentials: laundry, kitchen, fridge in our room, internet, and cable TV. After a quick nap, we headed downtown to find a grocery store and to see what Melbourne had to offer. The city was super cute. Old buildings lined the newly formed roads. Trams bustled here and there throughout the city. Tall buildings overshadowed old cottages. It is definitely a top 10 city that we have visited.
A Walk in the Park
The next day, we slept in and had a late breakfast. It was truly a vacation moment. Then
Melbourne
Carnival entrance near St. Kilda's Pier. we took a long walk to the city through the botanical gardens and a huge park. We also made stops by the WWII war memorials, and eventually, we ran into the South Yarra River which we followed into town. The park was beautiful. It is really well kept, and there is virtually no garbage anywhere in the city. It seems everyone uses the trash cans! We really enjoyed seeing the boats on the river and watching the people run and play in the park. There were several cute dogs, too! Australians really love labradors. During our walk, we passed the Melbourne Cricket Stadium. Then we headed toward Federation Square to see what downtown had to offer. There were several cute cafes and coffee shops. We stopped at Krispy Kreme to have a donut treat . . . then we walked the streets looking for a very hidden Chinatown. Finally, we decided that after a complete day of walking and touring, we were ready to head home for supper, so we jumped on the number 8 tram to South Yarra.
St. Kilda Beach and The Hunt for Mexican Food
On our last day in Melbourne, we headed down to St. Kilda
Melbourne
Billy sticking his toes into the cool water--it is springtime here now. :) Beach--not far from city central. Here we enjoyed a windy day walking along the beach. One thing we can say about Australia is that they have incredible beaches! The sand is perfectly soft. The beaches are wide and broad, and the water is clear. However, it was cold seeing as it's early spring here in Australia! Billy put his foot in the water, and I put in my hand--it was chilly! We walked down the St. Kilda Pier and had a great view of the city from there. We had a great time, and we were ready for lunch after a few hours walking around. I had been craving Mexican food--since Asia doesn't have any idea what that means--and luckily, we found a Mexican food restaurant ad at our hostel. So, we headed off to find "Fiesta" on Toorak Street. Unfortunately, we didn't bring the ad, so we didn't know the address. We decided to start at one end of the street and walk down, so as not to miss the restaurant. After about 20 minutes or so of walking and almost giving up, we found it! Most unfortunately, the restaurant is only open for dinner starting at 5:00 PM.
Melbourne
a library Boo! I was heartbroken, but alas, we found another place to eat--"Pinocchios Pizza". We had a delicious mushroom, olive, and capsicum (green pepper) pizza. We had to hurry, because we needed to get to the airport to catch a flight to Brisbane.
Which Airport?
After an hour trip to the airport and waiting in line to check-in, we found out that we had gone to the wrong airport. Apparently, JetStar does fly out of both airports, but only to Brisbane from the one we were NOT standing in at the moment. There was no way we would make it to the other airport on-time, so we had to change our flight--luckily, at no cost to us. Three hours, 2 buses, and 1 extremely long walk to Subway later, we arrived at the other airport--way out of town. We were excited to be there, because we couldn't wait to see more of Australia. Next stop--Brisbane, North Stradbroke Island, and the Gold Coast.
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Melbournegirl
non-member comment
Good to see you guys enjoyed your time here! Just wanted to let u know that that "cool building at night" is actually a library. State Library :) and that it's Flinders St Station and not Fed Square Station :)