Austraila- Melbourne

I have been in Australia now for about two weeks.  I came into Melbourne on the 13th, spent a few days, then went to the outback for a good 5 days.

Melbourne was an interesting city, very clean, well laid out, full of fashionable people, art, and trendy cafes.  It only took about two days to see the more exciting parts of the city. 

The first night, I was alone, as David’s flight was delayed due to the snow in Dallas.  I walked around a bit, than went to bed around 5pm, exhausted from the flight over.  The next day he got in around noon, and we headed straight out to do some sight seeing.  We walked around the city center, going into the State Library, which was once the Victoria National Gallery, a beautiful building and excellent library.  Later we walked through Victoria Market, unimpressed with the goods on display, then through Fitzroy Gardens and back into the city center, taking in all of the shops and cafes.  We ate outside at a cute café where I had a gorgeous green salad for the first time in months, as SE Asia isn’t exactly the spot to eat salad.  We spent the rest of the afternoon in St. Kilda, enjoying the bay at a café with a few beers before taking on the St. Kilda Festival and listening to a few bands play.  I got to meet up with Phil, an Irish guy I met in Kuala Lumpur in January who lives in Melbourne.  We hung out with him and a few of his friends at a bar that night before heading back to our hostel.  It was nice to see another familiar face.

The next day we walked around the Southbank area which lines the Yarra river, had some breakfast at a nice café, and then checked out the sports complex, old Olympic park, and Cricket Fields.  The afternoon was spend mainly planning the next week or so, and unwinding at the hostel, doing laundry, etc.  We had big plans for the night, however. 

Our last night in Melbourne we went to the Crown Casino for dinner and drinks.  We heard from a few Kiwi guys that there was a summer special going on.  For $12 you could get dinner and a drink, what a deal!  We went to one of the restaurants in the casino, a Mediterranean restaurant, and had a phenomenal meal.  Afterwards we did a bit of gambling. I went for the slot machines and came out $1 on top and decided to stop. David played some blackjack and ended up losing $30, ouch.  It was my first time in a casino, and I thought it was just so much fun….Las Vegas here I come.

Overall, I think unless you have loads of money and can shop till you drop, Melbourne is more of a place to just sit at a café and people watch than anything else.

More to come....