Melbourne Shopping Trip (I've been told!)
Trip Start
Feb 28, 2006
1
114
125
Trip End
Aug 20, 2008
Melbourne,
Victoria,
Australia
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Check in to the Tiger flight was certainly no-frills, with minimal baggage allowance and a wee paper ticket to get us through, but never mind! The flight left Perth on time and although we totally struggled to get any sleep in the plane, with seats that felt more like torture devices than a comfort aid, we were soon decending into Melbourne, bleary eyed as the local time approached 6am. Arrival at Melbourne (Tullamarine) Airport was, at least for us budget travellers, into a 'shed!' The arrivales baggage area was actually a large roofed cage with the carousel in the middle - certainly no expense spared, but still, our bags arrived and then we were off in search of transport.
A taxi to the hotel (Grand Chancellor, Lonsdale Street) had us zipping through the dawn-lit streets and deposited at our Melbourne home just before 6.30am. We obviously couldn't check in but I had phoned ahead and they were more than happy to look after our bags until check in time arrived.
So, sleep deprived but happy to be on holiday, we headed through the centre of the city - near deserted at this time of day! Down to Federation Square and Flinders Street Station, then across onto South bank and a lovely walk along the river as the sun rose in the Eastern sky.
Back into town we stopped for a bite to eat and a coffee for Sophie (we were starting to flag by this point!) and then on to the Old Treasury Museum at the East end of the city centre to take in some cultural history of the place.
Melbourne Break... 001
It's a pretty good museum, if small, and the original home of the gold depository here in Victoria. Luckily after our wanderings it was getting closer and closer to check in time (and the possibility of sleep!) so a quick walk through the shopping areas and we were back at the hotel checking in.It's a really nice looking place in the foyer after a very plain entrance on the street, but to be honest we weren't very impressed with the room - very basic and in real need of a lick of paint etc. Still it was clean, comfy and had a bed for me to pass out on!
After a recovery sleep we were back up and out into town. First stop, completely by chance, was a place called 'Chill Out.' It's a bar made completely out of ice, with drinks served in ice glasses that you can enjoying sitting on... Yes you guessed it, ice chairs. Lots of fun and a few good photographs from the 21 minutes we lasted in there before we started to lose feeling in our fingers!
On from there and suddenly the temperature in Melbourne had a tropical feel to it (well, compared to the ice room, Aberdeen would probably have felt tropical!) and we headed off to find food and alcohol to keep us going. We managed a good wander around the city and a few drinks before calling it a night and getting some sleep in before our continued touristy wanderings.
Thursday morning we headed up into Fitzroy, up Brunswick Avenue for brunch in what was described as the eclectic part of the city. It certainly was that with plenty of cool looking cafes and little quirky shops...
Melbourne Break... 002
Food and juice later and we doubled back on ourselves to the museum and Carlton Gardens. A beautiful walk on a gorgeous sunny day!Shopping was the order of the afternoon and first stop was the famous Victoria Street markets. A huge array of food stalls with everything you could want, and a huge array of 'tat' stalls with nothing you could ever need! Lots of fun though and we wandered on from there into the pedestrianised area of Melbourne city and on to some serious shopping!
Thursday night arrived after freshening up at the hotel and we wandered across to the South Bank and a lovely meal before hitting the casino!!! Sophie had agreed (silly girl!) to put some of our holiday funds into a 'casino spending pot,' so I knew that I'd have to be careful with the cash! Despite Soph being sure that we'd leave with nothing, we actually ended up about $150.00 up on the night - enough to pay for all the food and drink that we bought that evening and still have our starting money - not bad, eh? :o)
I don't think Soph was convinced on the gambling scene, just as well really! I think one of us in the house is probably enough!
A nightcap at the casino and then we were off to the hotel again to get ready for another day.
Friday I sadly had to do some work (but at least by doing that I got the company to pay for my flight and one of the nights accommodation!!!) so Soph headed out bravely on her own around the shops of Melbourne - amazingly coming back with few bags and still some money to her name! I even managed a little bit of shopping as well - buying some new shorts, shirts and a jacket - all good!
Friday night we headed out with Kim and her mate which was lots of fun - taken around lots of different pubs and clubs that we would never have gone to on our own for sure!
Sadly we had to call it a night at a fairly reasonable hour as we had a very early flight the next day, but we've had a great time here in Melbourne and will look forward to another short day here at the end of our trip...
Melbourne Break... 003
But for now, it's time to get ready to head to Noosa! 
