Melbourne: First stop in Australia*Post written by Vlad* Welcome to Australia!
After the super long journey from The Netherlands via Paris using almost every mode of transportation known to man (trams, trains, metro, buses, planes), we were hit with a wicked case of jet lag upon our arrival in Melbourne. Couple that with a fever I caught and our first two and a half days down under were a complete write off. Sleep, reading at 4am, more sleep, a quick chat with our roommates (a couple from Britain who were also jet lagged), a bit of food and yet more sleep at odd hours dominated our first 60 hours.
Once we emerged from our semi hibernation, our first venture out into Melbourne was a walking tour provided by I'm Free Walking Tour Company. The tour costs no money upfront. You just tip the guide at the end, whatever you think the tour is worth. The three hour tour took us through a variety of neighbourhoods, with knowledgable tidbits on the history of Melbourne provided by our local guide. After meeting at the library on Swanson St., we visited the jail where the notorious criminal and Australian hero (we have yet to understand the reasoning behind that title) Ned Kelly was held before he was hanged. From there we headed east to Carlton Gardens and the Royal Exhibition Building, south to the Parliament House, which sits across from the beautiful Princess Theater, before returning to the CBD (Central Business District). It was here where the main shopping stores such as the beautiful Arcades, business buildings, buskers and Chinatown can be found. An interesting feature of Melbourne, and one that I really enjoyed, is its laneway culture. These side streets, or back lanes, are much more than abandoned alleys that house commercial garbage cans and delivery trucks. Some of the city's best cafés and boutique shops are located here. Also, some laneways are reserved for street art, where local artists create beautiful and colourful murals. We even stumbled upon a few wedding parties taking pictures on Hosier Lane, one of the main street-art alleys. Of course Edyta could not resist but giving them her own mini photo shoot. Wrapping up the tour we walked by the beautiful Flinders Street Railway Station, the newly built Federation Square, and finally across the water from the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, where the Aussie Rules Football finals was just letting out. Congrats to the Hawthorn Hawks for defeating the Sydney Swans en route to the trophy. For a championship game watched by nearly 100,000 people and thousands more in pubs across the CBD, it was relatively calm in the city. Good to see no rioting or setting cars on fire taking place no matter who won or lost. Vancouver take notice. A quick note about Flinders Street Railway Station: the original blueprint sent from London was accidentally switched and sent to India, while the plans for the Indian station ended up in Melbourne. You can see the Indian influence in the colour and architecture in Flinders. Guess there's a more traditional Aussie looking station sitting somewhere in Mumbai, India. A couple of cool areas we checked out close to home were Fitzroy and Little Italy. The Fitzroy area, located a 10 min walk down Brunswick St, is a bohemian part of Melbourne where funky bars and restaurants sit between record shops and clothing boutiques. In the opposite direction down Lygon Street sits the Little Italy district. Clothing and book stores were nestled in between the cafés and Italian restaurants and a plethora of other multicultural cuisines. Delicious long black coffees and cappuccinos were enjoyed here. For our last venture in Melbourne, we hopped on a tram and headed south for 35-40 min to the beach area of St. Kilda. Not only did we want to check out the slower paced beach town, but we also wanted to see some little penguins (official name Eudyptula Minor). These guys are the shortest of the penguin breeds reaching only 33cm in height. At sunset they came out from within the rock pier. Based on the online guidebooks, we were expecting a stampede of penguins. However, we only saw a handful, as they timidly emerged to a throng of on-lookers with cameras in hand. Think when Kimye walks the red carpet, except are far less annoying. Despite the jet lag, it was a great visit to Melbourne, Victoria. Next we head north to Sydney, New South Wales. Geography: Australia is a island country located in Oceania between the Indian and South Pacific Ocean. Population: Only 20 million people live in Australia, which is just a bit more than the population of NY state. 80% of Australians live on the coast. Melbourne's population is 4.3 million people. Demographics: Australia was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770 and claimed for Britian; since then the majority of settlers were from England and Ireland and later from other European countries. It is estimated that about 80% of Australians are of European ancestry while the rest is mostly of Asian background and a small percentage of Indigenous Australians (Aboriginals). Fun fact: Melbourne has the second largest Greek population in the world. Currency: Australian Dollar where 1AUD = approximately 0.90 USD Religion: Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other Christian are religions of about 60% of population; 20-30% of Australians state no religion while the remainder is Buddhist, Islam, Hindu, or Jewish. Best Known for: Australia is often called the land "down under"; it is world's 12th largest economy and 6th largest country; known for such natural wonders and tourist attractions as the Great Barrier Reef, Sydney Opera House, Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Outback; Australians sports: Rugby, Australian Rules Football and Cricket; Aboriginal people; cars with steering wheels on the right, drive on the left side; cute animals such as kangaroos & koalas; dangerous animals such as snakes, spiders, jelly fish, crocodiles; Steve Irwin; Vegamite. Melbourne is known as the artistic/cultural capital of Australia with lots of festivals, concerts and other events; home of 1956 Olympics; Victorian Gold Rush of the 1850s; Southern Cross Station; Federation Square; St.Kilda; coffee culture; street art. What We Noticed: unique Victorian architecture and "terrace houses"; cute back alleys with coffee shops, cafes and restaurants; reliable and extensive tram system; street art /graffiti; friendly people; jaywalking can earn you a ticket; lack of souvenir shops. See more photos from our first stop in Australia by going to our Melbourne Gallery page. For more fun facts about Australia, check out this Nomadic Matt's article.
And that's a wrap on Melbourne. For more photos, visit our Melbourne Gallery. And stay tuned for more reports from this wonderful country. Cheers!
Comments
@Tommy - Yes, pretty cool City. Did you know Ben & Cris lived here for 8 months?
@Gabu - Yes, I could not confirm it 100% but the guide was pretty certain about it. Also it was over 100 years ago and back then they had no interwebs so they could not document so well. @Ewa (aka aww little pinquins) - I didn't think you would like a poopy little fella so I decided to wait to get you a better pet ;-)
awww little pinquins!(non-registered)
did you remember to get me one of those?
such cuties! what a great post! thanks for sharing :) xoxox
Gabu(non-registered)
What a great post! I really enjoyed the read - learned so much about Melbourne. Hosier Lane & laneways look awesome - reminds me of this one area in San Francisco, but decidedly more cool. Hilarious story about the Flinders train station - I tried looking it up just to see what the station in India looks like, but couldn't find a definite answer to support that claim - I'd rather believe this fun fact anyway, haha. Also, it looks like Ned Kelly is described as a "bushranger" on wiki - I bet Edi finds that job title hilarious :P Great post & lovely photos! Penguins look adorable. I would of course want to hug them but I bet you can't touch them right?
Tommy(non-registered)
Good job Vlad! Looks like such a wonderful place.
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