Melbourne is the capital of the southern state of Victoria, and has the tagline 'the place to be'. Melbourne is a very young city, only 170 years old, around seven or eight generations. Despite this, it is now a multicultural cosmopolitan populated with over three and half million people from all corners of the globe.
First up for us though was a trip on the free tourist bus which takes you around the city with a bit of light commentary, a nice way to get a good sense of direction. Melbourne is a city really into it's sports, and we saw no less than five stadiums including the MCG and the Rod Laver, plus Albert Park, home to the season opening Australian F1. Staying just outside of the center also gave us a chance to get to see the suburban side of a larger city and also get accustomed to the intricate and all encompassing tram network.
During the week we had plenty of time to check out Melbournes attractions, starting with the free ones of course.... a city walking tour, a sunny day in the botanic gardens and Shrine of Remembrance, Queen Victoria and Prahran markets, the ACMI (Australian Centre of Moving Image), National Gallery, and the tiny penguins down at St Kilda. For what is an expensive country its surprising the amount of free things you can find to do, and with the free accommodation (thanks Kent Grove!) it means we will have at least some money left to take to Asia.
As much as Melbourne was about seeing the city and trying to immerse ourselves into its famous 'cafe culture' (no easy feat at $4 a coffee), it was for us a chance to catch up with friends who had fled the UK some years previous. Midweek drinks had us catching up with an old work colleague and friend, Tamsyn, whose been living and studying in Melbourne for over two years. A few later drinks had us getting a few freebies from a friend whose currently working in a bar in town. A weekend road trip took us on a death defying drive down the Great Ocean Road (don't try this stretch of highway in the dark with intermittently working headlights). We were rewarded and greeted on arrival by Adams friend Samia who put us up for a weekend at the 'Grand Pacific Hotel Lorne' and treated us to the surprisingly fun off-season Lorne nightlife. (Thanks again, that was an awesome weekend and a great Friday night with some interestingly flavoured shots!). The perfect way to wrap up our last weekend in Oz... a BBQ on the beach and even spotting a Koala in the wild.
This should be the last blog entry where you here us complaining about money as Borneo, Malaysia and Thailand make up our next destinations.
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