Blogs from Victoria, Australia, Oceania - page 586

After a four hour flight we landed down under...hello Melbourne Australia. Three and a half months in New Zealand have now officially come to an end, I'm sure gonna miss that place, if you ever have the chance go to NZ, you won't regret it. We caught our 6am flight to Melbourne and stumbled into our hostel at around 10am after the time change. Feeling slightly deranged with only two hours of sleep, we set off to check out the town, and what a nice town Melbourne turned out to be. A mix of Victorian and modern architecture are the setting for this bustling city of four million people. I had forgotten what it was like to walk around midtown Manhattan, but it quickly came back to me after passing endless people wearing black suits. It ... read more

The flight over from Hong Kong to Melbourne was dull, but fortunately the taxi driver who took me from the airport into the city itself had a bleached mullet to liven things up. I was a little alarmed by the preponderance of strip joints along King Street, which was part of my hostel's address, but it's on the fringes of the Central Business District so that made perfect sense. The hostel itself, which I'd chosen purely because both my guidebooks had rated it very highly, was bright and open, with the walls near reception awash with leaflets for tours and activities. I briefly looked into the kitchen, which contained enormous glass-doored fridges like you'd find in a supermarket frozen food section, and a large central collection of hobs. Of the few people lounging around in the ... read more

Hi everyone, Thought it was time for an update as it has been a while since my last entry, and so much has happened since the last blog. As of December 8, I moved into an apartment with three friends I had recently been bunking up with since my arrival in St. Kilda. By this time we were all very tired of hostel life, and all felt it was time for a change. So we decided to get out and get a place together. I will spare you the details of the first apartment we moved into for two weeks. It was brutal. Very minimal indeed. Definitely not fit for any human. As a result of my complaining and crying, I was given a new nickname. “The Prince.” Apparently nothing was good enough for me. And ... read more

My third time to Great Ocean Road, but only the first time since one of the 'apostles' crumbled and fell and now left with 11. I'd recommended anyone doing this trip from Melbourne, to take at least two days as there is much to see and do on the road leading up to the 12 Apostles. We stopped at a couple of places, had breakfast on the way up to Apollo Bay, then stopped at the craft market there. We took a walk in the rainforest at Mait's Rest, then to the Tree Top Walk at the Otway Ranges. Admission is $17 for adults, for a 2km walk which takes about 45 minutes to an hour. You get to walk on a elevated man-made ramp that goes up to 25 metres from the ground, then walk ... read more

Dad loves tennis so we decided a tour of the home of the Australian Open would be interesting. We got to check out the press conference room - much smaller and more intimidating than I first thought! Interesting to check out the change rooms and find out that lesser-ranked players get smaller lockers! The day we went, a crew was setting up for a concert that night so we weren't allowed access to the arena - anyone thinking of going should check this before they go. We were still allowed to sit in one of the corporate booths and watch them set up. Good tour for anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look, but I definitely recommend going for the Australian Open, the atmosphere is amazing!... read more