…Ok, we actually had 4 nights in Melbourne however we spent our first two full days visiting the Great Ocean Road and Phillip Island, leaving us 2 full days for the city.
We were lucky enough to couchsurf again in Melbourne and stayed with a lovely Dutch couple in Richmond. This meant that on our first night, before heading to the Great Ocean Road, we were able to sample some of the Asian food which is on offer everywhere on Victoria St, Richmond, and the Chinese we ended up going to was pretty tasty indeed.
Getting back from our tour on our 4th day, we were very tired, particularly after having immediately visited Uluru before. So on day 5 we spent the morning enjoying the wonderful sunshine with our new Dutch friends on their balcony, before heading out to explore the city. We made a beeline for the Queen Vic market, which was far larger than we expected. After much wandering we managed to find the recommended Market Lane coffee shop to sample the obligatory Melbourne coffee, and we quickly grabbed a lamington from the Fergusson Plarre stall opposite. This was our first and only Lamington in Australia. And it was amazing – possibly the lightest, fluffiest cake I’ve ever tasted. We didn’t quite stop there though. We still had the obligatory hot jam doughnuts to try, so we made our way to the doughnut van for those. Again, pretty tasty stuff.
After stuffing our faces we headed back through town, stopping first to explore the state library with its impressive La Trobe reading room, and exhibitions on books and also Ned Kelly’s armour. From here, we just enjoyed walking around the city, highlights of which included China Town, Parliament House, South Bank, Federation Square (where we sampled a delicious gozleme), shops on Bourke St and in the Royal and Block Arcades, as well as the cool Brighton-esque lanes. And of course, the wonderfully quirky Hosier St where we enjoyed watching graffiti artists at work. We made our way home early for a relaxing evening, with some delicious Haigh freckles in hand.
On our second day, we headed to Prahran Market for breakfast. It’s a lot smaller than the Queen Vic but was more pleasant to walk around. We continued our sweet-themed city tour by sampling a hedgehog cake with the mandatory coffee. Then, we moved further South to visit St Kilda and bought a florentine from one of the bakeries from the famed Ackland St (yep, more sweet things). We enjoyed the even more laid back vibe here as we explored the shops, Sunday market stalls, Luna Park and beach front. We also took a walk down the pier and spotted a couple of penguins hiding between the rocks.
In the afternoon we made our way back to our Dutch friends in Richmond, and their other friends who were visiting for the afternoon. What better way to spend our last afternoon in Australia than to enjoy an outside barbecue at the communal area… To top it off, we were introduced to a new boardgame – Ticket to Ride – and also took a walk to a nearby bridge above the Yarra River, where we had an excellent view of the city at nighttime.
And that’s the end of nearly 6 months spent in Australia. We leave with fond memories of the places we visited and people we met.
Melbourne: 1st-6th October
chrisandlaurentravel 