"The Grotto" Great Ocean Road- South Victoria, Australia
The Twelve Apostles
The Great Ocean Road- South Victoria, Australia
Federation Square- Melbourne, Australia
Mad Max's Car- Australian Center for the Moving Image
Flinders Street- Melbourne, Australia
Molly and I left Sydney Thursday afternoon. Even though Melbourne (pron. Melbin- get it right, otherwise they'll know you're a tourist) is only an hour and a half southwest by plane, the difference in weather made it feel like an entirely new country. First of all, while we left Sydney siders basking in 85 and Sunny, the citizens of Melbourne were bundling up against low 60s, wind, and rain. The relaxed-no-worries-mate-I'm-headed-to-the-beach mentality was also left behind in my beloved New South Wales. Though Melbourne is aesthetically pleasing (more so than Sydney) things there seem to be all business. I get more of a European, big city feel in Melbourne than I do in Sydney. I didn't like that as much as the relaxed Sydney atmosphere, but I suppose I'm a bit biased. It is home, after all.
We arrived Thursday evening and checked into our hostel in Chinatown. The last hostel I stayed in was Jinja Backpackers so naturally the Exford hotel just didn't quite compare :( Thursday evening we went to Shengai Dumpling, which, according the the queue down the alleyway, is somewhat of a local legend. (15 pork dumplings for $7.50- a steal in Australia.) Melbourne's Chinatown isn't quite San Fransisco's but it certainly wasn't lacking in its awkward signs: we made sure to bypass a restaurant called "New Kum Den" (???) and couldn't help but laugh at a sign INSIDE our restaurant that politely requested customers to "please refrain from smoking OUTSIDER the building." After dinner we walked around the CBD in search of some of Melbourne's famous bars. Before I left Sydney, I'd heard from more than a few people that the "dodgier the laneway, the better the bar." We found plenty of creepy alleyways, but very few bars. Tricky Melbourne. It was getting cold so we ended up going back to our hostel after a glass of wine at an Irish pub. (The beer was too expensive- $9.50 - whhaaatttt).
Friday morning we left the hostel early and walked to Federation Square. We poked around the Ian Potter National Gallery Victoria, which showcased Aboriginal, Colonial, and Contemporary Australian art, then visited ACMI- the Australian Center for the Moving Image. ACMI was very cool, especially the special exhibit they had on Walt Disney's films. I also got to see a few Academy Awards, some of the jewelry worn by Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbosa in Pirates of the Caribbean, and the car used by Mel Gibson as Mad Max. From there we stopped at Degraves Street (dodgy laneway) at a hole in the wall french cafe. Next we went to Queen Victoria Market on the other side of the CBD. Besides the inexpensive strawberries we snagged, we were quite disappointed with the market wares- mostly cheap touristy stuff. We ate dinner at Nando's- reminded me of Chipotle (!!!)- then reassured our 8 male hostelmates that we were the lamest people to ever stay at the Exford by going to sleep by 11- at least we'll never see them again.
The next morning the bus picked us up at 7:30 for our tour of the Great Ocean Road. There were about 20 of us plus one driver/guide. The road was absolutely stunning and we packed a lot of cool sights into one day including:
Bell's Beach
Wild koalas and roos
The birthplace of RipCurl, QuickSilver, and Billabong
Ngatanwarr Rainforest
The 12 Apostles
London Bridge
Loch Ard Gorge
The Grotto
Sydney update soon.
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