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City
It's not the most photogenic city... The best views I saw were from the upper part of the botanical gardens but I was running and didn't have my phone with me. The plan was to use Melbourne as a hub to get to the Great Ocean Walk and maybe into the nearby mountains as well. But given the sparse and expensive accommodations along the one-way trail (I decided not to take my tent) and the cold/wet/windy weather, I decided to spend 6 days in the city itself - walking to different neighborhoods, running through the parks and along the rivers, and eating at the many inexpensive Asian restaurants in the city center and Chinatown.
It's not the most photogenic city and there aren't many sights, but I really enjoyed my time there.
While the metropolitan area is sprawling, most areas of interest are in walking distance of Federation Square, where I stayed. I walked to each neighborhood, but there's a free tram that makes a loop near the city center.
Federation Square is right next to the main train station (Flinders) and is definitely ground zero of Melbourne. I stayed at a mediocre chain hostel- Backpackers United- that is clean and full of contrived pop art and hip vibes and cliche adages about travel and tiresome humor ad nauseam- but in the end its location, right across from Flinders
Station, makes you feel like you're in the middle of all the action.
Chinatown is a ten minute walk away and I was sad that I only got to tr three of the long list of pho restaurants in the area. The city is the most diverse in terms of population that I've ever seen, so in and out of Chinatown there is no shortage of hot pot, pho, sushi, Malaysian, Thai, and beyond that Turkish and lots of Greek restaurants; in fact, walking north after Chinatown is Carlton, which reminds me of North Beach in San Francisco with its espresso cafes, locally owned wine shops, Italian bakeries and plenty of "have here" pizza joints. Sticking to the Asian options is pretty cheap... really nice sushi seaweed wraps are only 2 AUD (1.60 U.S.) and even right near Federation Square I found an Indian restaurant called Om that is all you can eat for $5 U.S. and the next day saw a sign for another one nearby that was even cheaper.
The area of Fitzroy is full of graffiti and crunchy, "cruelty free" cafes and understatedly trendy cocktail bars. I'd have liked to eat more in this area
Birds on field
The field is so enormous that a flock of birds flew around the entire game, landing wherever there was no action, and then taking off again once the players came near. and in the Docklands, which is near the harbor, but meals run double or more there, and it's 10-11 dollars a beer just about anywhere.
I like that things here cost what they say they cost. There is no added tax and no tipping. So it's a relief to order something that says $11.90 and to hand over just that, with the added comfort of knowing that everyone there makes a living wage (the Australian minimum wage is 17.29- about 14 dollars U.S.)
There is quite a good coffee scene here. It's pricey but everything is fresh roasted and tasty.
Some things I did besides eat:
The Gaol is only part of the original infamous prison but definitely worth a look. It's 25 to get in and only 5 more for a worthwhile 40-minute tour of the cells and the gallows where the infamous outlaw Ned Kelly was hanged. The ticket covered a tour of the watchtower as well but it was really crowded so I just moved on.
The Botanical Gardens is more like a city park, with some side paths with interesting trees and bushes and such, but more interesting to me is
the TAN trail of sand and gravel that is 4km and roughly runs the circumference of the gardens.
Australian Rules Game
The hostel has an offer to go to an Australian Rules Football match on Saturdays. It was a great way to learn some of the rules and to meet others in the hostel, since it's a hostel environment that people generally don't say a word to strangers. The game was between the Tigers, a Melbourne team, and one of the Sydney teams. The stadium was enormous (110,000) and it looked nearly empty with a crowd of 35,000. The rules were pretty easy to pick up- certainly more so than American football. It flowed like soccer, with no breaks except at the ends of quarters, and no sensationalism or excessive advertising. The Tigers, who I suppose I was rooting for, came back to win in the last few minutes.
There are more photos below.
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