Saturday, November 15, 2008
Melbourne
Nov 7 - 8, 2008
Got up before four o'clock on a Friday morning to catch my 6:15 flight to Melbourne. In Melbourne, I'd be meeting up with Beng, Lala and Simon who just arrived the night before from a 3-day roadtrip from Sydney. Underestimating the cold weather, I arrived before 8:00am welcomed by showery and gloomy sky. From Tullamarine Airport, I boarded Skybus that would take me to the city for $16. After 20 minutes, the bus stopped at Southern Cross Station, a major railway station and transport hub of Melbourne.
I went to info desk as I needed to find a way on how I could get to St Kilda where my friends were staying. After talking to a staff, I bought a daily tram ticket and got on a tram wondering if I was heading to the right direction. Thank God I finally reached St Kilda and even bumped into Simon down the street while I was trying to find their hostel. I was even more relieved when I saw Beng and Lala! I just left my bag at the inn and then we all proceeded [back] to the city by tram to start touring.
We got off at Spencer Street, took a walk from there to find a place where we could have breakfast and ended up at a small sidestreet cafe. After breakfast, we started walking towards Federation Square.
Before reaching the precinct, we stopped in front of the famous Flinders Street Station, the central railway station which used to be the world's busiest passenger station.
At Federation Square we went to the Visitor Centre which offers not only comprehensive information on Melbourne but also quality souvenirs and gifts. We also had a short stop in front of Champions - Australian Racing Museum. Sitting next to Fed Square is the Yarra River.
Facing Federation Square is St Paul's Cathedral which is also a major landmark. From here we could see a good view of Flinders Street Station as the church is situated diagonally opposite the station.
After spending some time at the cathedral, we continued walking along Swanston Street, a main thoroughfare where we enjoyed [window] shopping and taking photos by the big Christmas tree. We also passed by and got yummy chocolates from Haigh's. Chinatown is just nearby so we decided to take a short stroll around the area.
This time the rain was pouring harder and the weather was getting colder. We had no choice but to run in the rain as we didn't have hoodie (except Lala) and umbrella. We had ourselves sheltered in a Greek restaurant and had late lunch while waiting for the rain to stop. But the wind was even blowing stronger so we battled the storm going to the tram station. Our next stop was Queen Victoria Market which is said to be the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately, we came a little bit late - time for the vendors to stack their goods away.
Frustrated, we boarded a tram again going to Parliament of Victoria and continued walking towards Fitzroy Gardens. Good thing it wasn't raining anymore but the sun was still not showing up. The Conservatory must have been a nice place to visit but it was already closed. Yup it's closed but we still managed to sneak in and take photos inside.. haha. But there's no way for us to go inside Cook's Cottage and St Patrick's Cathedral.
Still thinking of a place to go, they suggested to visit the Old Melbourne Gaol, an iconic landmark where cons, including infamous bushranger Ned Kelly, were hanged. We planned to take a tour of the prison but a private function was going on so no tour was allowed on that day. What else could we do but catch a tram going back to the apartment.
We rested for 30 minutes then prepared to go to Luna Park, which is just within walking distance from the hostel. But it was raining again and walking in the rain in a dark night was no fun at all. Oh why did we choose to catch a cold rather than a tram?! Yes we braved the weather only to find out that the park was closed! Of course how would an amusement park with all the rides operate if it's raining? We should have thought of that beforehand. Disappointed, we got on a tram and just decided to have dinner at a nearby restaurant. Simon didn't join us so it was our chance to giggle over girl talk.. hehe.
It was already late so we proceeded to the inn after dinner. While Beng and I were on our way to our room, we saw shards scattered on the balcony floor and noticed that the window of one of the rooms was broken. It was the room next to ours that was broken into! I got so scared so as soon as we entered our room I carried my bags as I didn't want to stay in our room anymore and pleaded Beng to call the receptionist and Lala. While I was panicking, Beng was still composed and calm. Good thing there are spare beds in Lala and Simon's room. It had been a long day but we still found time to play pusoy dos over a bottle of vodka.
At 10:00AM the next morning, we checked out from EasyStay and drove to the city. We revisited the Old Melbourne Gaol and this time we were able to get a ticket to self guided tour where we discovered the history and secrets of the gaol, saw death masks and found out what prison life was in the 1800s.
Simon and Lala's flight back to Singapore was at 1:30PM so we just had a quick lunch then hugged and kissed each other goodbye. Beng and I went to Flinders St and boarded Tourist Shuttle going to Melbourne Museum. After leaving our backpacks at the museum's package counter and having a short stroll, we walked towards the city then went to shops at Swanston St. We also visited the National Gallery of Victoria located in Southbank.
We caught Tourist Shuttle again to get our bags from the museum. Oh we forgot to have our photos taken in front of Queen Victoria Market so we went back to the market before heading to Southern Cross Station where we would board Skybus going to the airport to catch our 8:15PM flight back to Sydney.
Note: While Melbourne is known as being a city of four seasons in one day, Beng reckons it's four seasons in two hours! The weather here is really very unpredictable. We so love Sydney! I'm gonna miss the trams, though. :)
Got up before four o'clock on a Friday morning to catch my 6:15 flight to Melbourne. In Melbourne, I'd be meeting up with Beng, Lala and Simon who just arrived the night before from a 3-day roadtrip from Sydney. Underestimating the cold weather, I arrived before 8:00am welcomed by showery and gloomy sky. From Tullamarine Airport, I boarded Skybus that would take me to the city for $16. After 20 minutes, the bus stopped at Southern Cross Station, a major railway station and transport hub of Melbourne.
I went to info desk as I needed to find a way on how I could get to St Kilda where my friends were staying. After talking to a staff, I bought a daily tram ticket and got on a tram wondering if I was heading to the right direction. Thank God I finally reached St Kilda and even bumped into Simon down the street while I was trying to find their hostel. I was even more relieved when I saw Beng and Lala! I just left my bag at the inn and then we all proceeded [back] to the city by tram to start touring.
We got off at Spencer Street, took a walk from there to find a place where we could have breakfast and ended up at a small sidestreet cafe. After breakfast, we started walking towards Federation Square.
Before reaching the precinct, we stopped in front of the famous Flinders Street Station, the central railway station which used to be the world's busiest passenger station.
At Federation Square we went to the Visitor Centre which offers not only comprehensive information on Melbourne but also quality souvenirs and gifts. We also had a short stop in front of Champions - Australian Racing Museum. Sitting next to Fed Square is the Yarra River.
Facing Federation Square is St Paul's Cathedral which is also a major landmark. From here we could see a good view of Flinders Street Station as the church is situated diagonally opposite the station.
After spending some time at the cathedral, we continued walking along Swanston Street, a main thoroughfare where we enjoyed [window] shopping and taking photos by the big Christmas tree. We also passed by and got yummy chocolates from Haigh's. Chinatown is just nearby so we decided to take a short stroll around the area.
This time the rain was pouring harder and the weather was getting colder. We had no choice but to run in the rain as we didn't have hoodie (except Lala) and umbrella. We had ourselves sheltered in a Greek restaurant and had late lunch while waiting for the rain to stop. But the wind was even blowing stronger so we battled the storm going to the tram station. Our next stop was Queen Victoria Market which is said to be the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately, we came a little bit late - time for the vendors to stack their goods away.
Frustrated, we boarded a tram again going to Parliament of Victoria and continued walking towards Fitzroy Gardens. Good thing it wasn't raining anymore but the sun was still not showing up. The Conservatory must have been a nice place to visit but it was already closed. Yup it's closed but we still managed to sneak in and take photos inside.. haha. But there's no way for us to go inside Cook's Cottage and St Patrick's Cathedral.
Still thinking of a place to go, they suggested to visit the Old Melbourne Gaol, an iconic landmark where cons, including infamous bushranger Ned Kelly, were hanged. We planned to take a tour of the prison but a private function was going on so no tour was allowed on that day. What else could we do but catch a tram going back to the apartment.
We rested for 30 minutes then prepared to go to Luna Park, which is just within walking distance from the hostel. But it was raining again and walking in the rain in a dark night was no fun at all. Oh why did we choose to catch a cold rather than a tram?! Yes we braved the weather only to find out that the park was closed! Of course how would an amusement park with all the rides operate if it's raining? We should have thought of that beforehand. Disappointed, we got on a tram and just decided to have dinner at a nearby restaurant. Simon didn't join us so it was our chance to giggle over girl talk.. hehe.
It was already late so we proceeded to the inn after dinner. While Beng and I were on our way to our room, we saw shards scattered on the balcony floor and noticed that the window of one of the rooms was broken. It was the room next to ours that was broken into! I got so scared so as soon as we entered our room I carried my bags as I didn't want to stay in our room anymore and pleaded Beng to call the receptionist and Lala. While I was panicking, Beng was still composed and calm. Good thing there are spare beds in Lala and Simon's room. It had been a long day but we still found time to play pusoy dos over a bottle of vodka.
At 10:00AM the next morning, we checked out from EasyStay and drove to the city. We revisited the Old Melbourne Gaol and this time we were able to get a ticket to self guided tour where we discovered the history and secrets of the gaol, saw death masks and found out what prison life was in the 1800s.
Simon and Lala's flight back to Singapore was at 1:30PM so we just had a quick lunch then hugged and kissed each other goodbye. Beng and I went to Flinders St and boarded Tourist Shuttle going to Melbourne Museum. After leaving our backpacks at the museum's package counter and having a short stroll, we walked towards the city then went to shops at Swanston St. We also visited the National Gallery of Victoria located in Southbank.
We caught Tourist Shuttle again to get our bags from the museum. Oh we forgot to have our photos taken in front of Queen Victoria Market so we went back to the market before heading to Southern Cross Station where we would board Skybus going to the airport to catch our 8:15PM flight back to Sydney.
Note: While Melbourne is known as being a city of four seasons in one day, Beng reckons it's four seasons in two hours! The weather here is really very unpredictable. We so love Sydney! I'm gonna miss the trams, though. :)
