Melbourne!
Trip Start
Jun 29, 2008
1
28
40
Trip End
May 15, 2009
Melbourne,
Victoria,
Australia
Friday, October 10, 2008
Well sorry for not updating this sooner but things have been kinda manic....in a good way.
Fri 10th
Got in eventually as the flight was late and we had a bit of unexpected turbulence where the plane dropped a bit (not to the extent of the Qantas flight to Perth..thank god) but my arse did come off the seat by a inch or so...a bit scary!! Oh I saw a guy who used to play Dan in Home and Away at Sydney airport.
It was real good to see Teresa again. We decided on a quite nice in so it was a stop at the local supermarket for BBQ stuff and a few beers. So good to have my first Aussie barbie along with a good few beers.
Teresa lives in a suburb of Melbourne called Footscray which is predominately Vietnamese (good for food) and ia only about 15mins by car from the city centre. She lives with a friend Leonna (Brit) who works most of the week in sydney and comes back for the weekend and a little cat called Charlie.
Sat 11th
Had a nice lie in. Woke up to find Charlie making herself comfy around my neck. We headed to a mall after breakfast which teresa lving calls wogland.... wog is someone who is from a greek/italian background (the aussies aren't as PC as we are!!).
We then headed into the city. The city is quite small and is made up of blocks and is easy to walk around. We went to Federation (Fed) Square which is realy arty and cool and then had a park which goes along the Yarra river to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). There are loads of cafes here and it has a real cafe culture feel going on, you could be someone in europe.
The city feels much more laid back than Sydney, much more cosmopolitan. It has a greek and chinese precincts. We had lunch at a small chinese dumpling place which was sooooo good and real cheap, $8 for noodle soup with wantons. It was full of asians which is always a good sign.
Leonna was back by the time we got home. For dinner we went across to another suburb to a Laos/Thai place which was tiny!! Everyone has to squeeze along a couple of tables. The food was very authentic.
Sun 12th
We took a trip to St Kilda which is a seaside suburb kinda like Brighton but a better beach!! This is where all the cool people live if they can afford it. We were lucky the weather was really sunny and warm, not normal for this time of year. Melbourne is usually colder than Sydney.
Mon 13th
Took the bus into town leaving Teresa to work form home. The journey took about half an hour and it was really busy. It seems that Melbourne has a pretty good public transport system.
I had a real good look around. It is so easy to get around without getting lost due to it being laid out in blocks (map is real handy though). It is all within walking distance which is good. I took myself off first to the Immigration Museum which tells the story of the poeple who left the Uk, Greece, Italy, Poland etc to sail to Melbourne and what they went through. It was very interesting and worth the visit.
Took myself back to the dumpling place for lunch as the food was soooo good. Then went off to meet Maureen, the woman I taught in Cambodia with. She took me to the Sofital hotel to the loos!! It was great place to see views of Melbourne and it's free. Even some tour groups take people here to see the view.
It was so good to see Maureen in her home town. She is such a cool and sweet lady. I miss working with her. She is trying decide where to travel to next year to help kids.....Bless her.
Tues 14th
I took a bus tour to the Great Ocean Road (a 500km round trip). This trip takes you around the coast on apparently the best scenic road in the world to the 12 Apostles, some stone columns (9) raised up in the sea. There were only 20 of us on a coach which was a good start, I was the only english person on there!! Most were asian. I got talking to three thai people and sat with the daughter (haven't a clue what her name was).
We went to Torquay (and it has a much better beach than ours), Lorne, Bells Beach (world famous surfing beach), Port Camobell (12 Apostles) and I'm sure many more places.
We got to see wild Koalas asleep in the trees which was really cool. The 12 Apostles were pretty amazing. More amazing as I went up in a helicopter to see a better view of them, well it was only about 24 quid for 10 mins. Such a good experience. See pics on facebook.
Got back quite late as it was a long trip. Went into Footscray for Vietnemese noodle soup (Pho) and it was like having it in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). Again it was about $8 which is about 3 quid!!
Weds 15th
I went into town again as I love this little city. I did a tram tour which takes you around the city for free and takes about an hour. A really good way of seeing the city. I stopped off at the Koorie Heritage Centre which is about Aboriginal culture. Well worth the visit especially I don't know much about it. They were still taking their children away from them and placing them in orpanages and with white families up until the beginning of the 70s. What's even worse is that it was still leagal to dhoot them like animals in the bush up until 1968!! Unbelieveable.
I had a look arounf St paul's Cathedral, not to be mistaken with the one in London. I then took a walk up to Carlton gardens which has the Royal Exhibition Hall and the Melbourne Museum. The Museum is really new and very good and cheap at $6 to get in. I spent most of my time in their Aboriginal exhibitions. i love learning about other people's culture. I took a walk around the gardens as the weather was so good and sunny. I was very lucky with the weather.
We went to a local indian for dinner and had their three course banquet whcih was only $22!! Some real cheap places to eat (compared to home).
Thurs 16th
Went into the city again. i know I probably should have gone somewhere else but I like experiencing new cities. I took the free bus around the city today as the route is a little different to the tram, it takes you further out.
I went to the Queen Vic market, full of tat like all markets except for the deli part. Oh a food lovers heaven of olives, cheese, bread, meat, veg etc!!
Took the bus to the Botanical Gardens as the weather was good again. Stopped off at the Remeberancxe Shrine built for the soliders lost in World War I. It as massive and really sobering.
The Gardens are hugh and a good place to sit and read and take in the weather, which is what I did.
Teresa took me off to Brunswick in the evening. This is the more bohemian part of Melborne, where music and art happens. We went to a small bar to have tapas and a couple of glasses of NZ wine. Heaven!!
Fri 17th
Time to go back to Sydney. I had a really cool time in Melbourne and Teresa is lucky to live there.
Heads off to NZ on Sunday. Spent the rest of Fri and Sat in Manly onthe beach and doing chores like washing. Spent Sat night/afternoon in bed as had very bad headache!!!
