Melbourne is the other major city in Australia besides Sydney. The city is especially known for it’s art, hipster culture, and livability. Especially as the city is known as one of the most livable cities in the world. I flew out on a Friday and was there in an hour and a half. My friend Felix allowed me to stay at his house over the weekend so I was able to have free accommodation. After arriving at the airport, I was able to get a shuttle service into the city that took me to Southern Cross Station. From there I walked arounf a little bit to find food, but I soon gave up and took the train to a wealthy neighborhood called South Yarra, where I was staying. The house was extremely elegant and my host Janet (Felix’s mom) was super nice and accommodating.
After getting settled, I walked 15 minutes to Chapel Street. Chapel Street is a nice street covered in shops, and if you walk far enough down, you reach all of the clubs and hipster restaurants. On this street I grabbed a late lunch and then made my way to the center of the city. I visited the Eureka Skydeck, which brings you up 88 stories in a matter of thirty seconds. From the top, you can see the whole city and it’s entire surroundings. the most notable part of Melbourne is downtown. It was on the other side of the river from the Skydeck. What I consider downtown in Melbourne is Flinder’s Station (the city’s main rail station), St. Paul’s Cathedral, and a large museum and shop complex called Federation Square. After the Skydeck, I walked around the city until I met up with Matt and Olivia, a couple of my friends from IFSA. We went out to a club god knows where, but it was the most white/hipster club ever. The decorations were a bunch of floating paper cathedrals, they had indoor gazebos, and a private room in the shape of a house. The music was all techno/trance as well. In order to get a tram back, I had to leave around 12:30 to make it to the house; but it was still a good night.
The next day was my favorite day of the entire trip: The Penguin Parade. I left with a tour at
The Penguin Parade is an event that happens every night that hundreds, if not thousands of people come to see. We sit in stadium-like seats facing the oceans to watch the penguins come in. I was able to get a good seat in the front where the penguins amass, and then waddle to the shore. Wen I came, there were about 5 waves of penguins over the span of about an hour. Unfortunately, no cameras what so ever were allowed (but people still used them because they are shit) but it was still an unforgettable experience. I ended up getting back to Melbourne late that night, only to wake up at 6:30am for my next adventure.
The Great Ocean Road was a 500+ kilometer day trip that lasted well over 12 hours. The road itself is remarkedly similar to California’s Route 1. The day was a relatively shitty day weather wise, as there was constant light rain and clouds, but the drive was nice. We stopped for lunch at a town called Apollo Bay, which is a very popular tourist destination right on the water. There, we had a subpar lunch, but I did have some bomb ice cream, the best I ever had, at this one joint. At lunch, I talked to a few people on the tour; there were travelers from France and Italy who had been in Australia and Asia for a while. They kept talking about how they were ready to go home. I wonder if it will happen to me, but right now I have no desire to go home. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if I would even be able to relate to them.
After lunch, we stopped by this weird spot to see koalas in the wild. Since I’m such an eagle eye, I was able to spot four. We then drove to another weird spot that was 45 minutes away that was kind of a rainforest but kind of not. We were only a half hour hike. The hike was cool, but I didn’t like being so constrained with time.
Our next destination was the 12 Apostoles, the main event: a series of massive rock formations right off of the coast. They are 60 meter giant limestone pillars protruding from the sea. Of course, they’re popular, but too popular. The place was packed with tourists who fought and cut in front of each other trying to get the perfect photo. It felt like only a few people there actually stopped to appreciate the beauty and wonder of the site. After about an hour we were trudged along to our next stop. I forget what it was called but it was a cove not far from the Apostoles. It had an interesting history: a ship in the 1800s was shipwrecked and only two people survived. They stayed a day or two in a cave at the cove until help arrived. The two survivors, a man and a woman, never got it on though. Probably, you know, because of the trauma. Our final stop, London Bridge, was a giant rock formation that was once connected by an arch (funny story: the arch collapsed in the 90s after two people who were having an affair crossed over it). We then drove back to Melbourne. I forgot what I did the rest of the night but it was nothing eventful.
I had to leave at 1 on Monday to go back to Canberra, so I spent the morning exploring Melbourne more. I saw Hozier Lane which is known for it’s graffiti (Banksy has a couple of works there), I tried to check out Aboriginal art at Federation Square and the woman working actually asked me “what do you want here?” Like chill, I’m just trying to get cultured. There wasn’t even art there, it was just a small floor with a bunch of artifacts. After that I just killed time before heading to the airport. Overall, this trip just confirmed my suspicions that Australia is like California and Melbourne is basically San Francisco incarnate.
