I had heard so many great things about the city just south of us, so my roommate and I decided to check it out. We booked a pretty last minute trip, but it ended up working out great. We got super cheap flights (mine was about $120 round trip!), but the real kicker is luggage when flying domestically Australia. Your carry on luggage can be no more than 10 kilos (and yes, they weigh it). And if it is more, you have to check it, which costs a mere $70... So I attempted to be a real backpacker and literally only bring my backpack (okay, and a large purse). 10 kilos, EXACTLY. I would have thrown every piece of clothing on my body though in order for them to not make me check that bag.
Jaclyn and I stayed at the Base Backpackers hostel in St. Kilda. Getting there was some journey. We took 2 buses to get from our apartment to the airport in Sydney, then a plane, then a bus to the Central Cross Station, then a tram to our hostel. We arrived at midnight, just in time for the "biggest backpackers party night in Melbourne" to be in full-throttle mode. Not quite what I was expecting when I went to check in at the front desk. Guess I should have been though after staying at Gilligan's in Cairns. Our tired selves somehow evaded the crazy partyers and found our room. Ahhhh... the Sanctuary. For $30 a night, we stayed in a 6 girl room in a separate part of the hostel called The Sanctuary. It was a girl's only floor, and we were provided with free towels, free shampoo and conditioner, hair dryers, and wait for it, free champagne every night. Yes please. They Sanctuary even had a separate door to get to it and once you opened it, it was like a breath of fresh air, decorated with flowers and pretty paintings and such. A nice escape from the crazy hostel. Not that the room was anything nice... But I'll take it. Our roommates turned out to be awesome. All 4 other girls were actual backpackers, just traveling through Australia. Some were taking a year off school, others were just traveling for fun, and some were working. Great meeting people from all walks of life.
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| The Sanctuary! |
After our exhausting day, we crashed that night right away in our bunk beds. We slept in the next morning and decided to go get lost in the city. After being idiots and struggling to figure out how to purchase a tram pass, we discovered that no one ever checks you when you get on. So we rode it for free all day long every day. The tram was awesome compared to the buses in Sydney. Really, they should take notes from Melbourne. We got off at a random stop and decided to go check out the shops. The city has a very European vibe. There were strips of tons of cute shops and restaurants and gorgeous buildings. Melbourne is known for its alley-way graffiti art, so we checked that out as well. It was weird seeing a sign that said, "graffiti encouraged," but it was pretty spectacular. We walked around Federation Square, found a random playdough cave that we played in for some time, and ate our packed pb&j lunches in the sun. We headed back to St. Kilda and went into Luna Park to see what it was like. There is one in Sydney that I have yet to go to, so I figured I had to at least go see what it looked like, since it was across the street from our hostel. Pretty dinky, not going to lie. But I can officially check it off the bucket list now. We walked over to the beach afterwards and sat at a beautiful cafe on the water. Our pathetic selves split an order of bread and water, to which the waiter responded, "On a budget...?" Our catch phrase became "Help me, I'm poooor!" (the line from Bridesmaids). I'm actually quite impressed with our bargain hunting during our trip. We got dinner with our new hostel roomies that night and enjoyed our free champagne before heading to bed.
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| Cool graffiti art in the alley ways |
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| St. Kilda beach |
Saturday morning we got up and headed to the famous Queen Victoria Market. Unfortunately, we slept in and got there about 2 hours before it closed, but it was still amazing. I could have spent all day there. It was absolutely enormous. We enjoyed a wine tasting consisting of Watermelon Wine and Sparkling Peach Wine and deliciousness. I bought 3 pieces of scrumptious fruit for $2. I almost bought an adorable dress, but I decided it wasn't quite worth the money. The clothing there was gorgeous though. There were souvenirs galore-literally anything you could possibly imagine. Definitely worth going to, but make sure to go early! We went to the Old Melbourne Gaol (jail) afterwards for a tour. They handed us cards and we read the info of our new criminal selves and we were taken through the jail as if we had just been arrested. A very entertaining afternoon. At the end you get to take a mugshot. We had too much fun with that. We had dinner in the city with two of our other friends that night and checked out a local pub before heading home early-6:30am wake up time the next morning for the Great Ocean Road!
Sunday we got on the bus at 7:00 am for the Great Ocean Road tour-a 13 hour long day... Exhausting, but man was it gorgeous. We stopped at several places along the way. A few beaches, some really cute small beach towns, a rainforest, a wildlife spot, and of course the famous 12 Apostles. The drive was really, really long, but the views were truly spectacular. I wish the weather had been a bit better, but the rainbows we got to see were worth the rain! In this case, a picture is worth a thousand words, so the rest of the journey I will leave to pictures.
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| the start of the journey! |
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| one of the many beautiful rainbows |
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| absolutely gorgeous scenery |
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| the 12 Apostles |
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| just in time for the sunset at the last stop |
Monday morning I got up to go for a quick jog before we had to check out of our hostel room at 10 am. I unfortunately got a text telling me my dad was in a bicycle accident and had been hit by a car, so I was a bit nervous all day. My roommate's flight was much earlier than mine, so I spent the day relaxing by myself. I went shopping in St. Kilda, saw a movie, and enjoyed tea at a cafe (with free wi-fi to call my mom) and read the last Hunger Games book for a bit. I met my other two friends at Southern Cross Station to catch a bus to the airport. We eventually made it back to Sydney late that night. I was so wiped out and ready for bed, but I had an amazing trip! It was super relaxing. I wasn't used to being on my own schedule, since I had just come back from a trip to Cairns with my study abroad program where everything was on a strict time schedule. We slept in, decided that day what we were going to do, and enjoyed exploring on our own time. We had nowhere to be, so we just started to walk and ended up where we ended up. It was great. Refreshing to get out of Sydney and see another city. My friends actually said they liked Melbourne better than Sydney. I pick Sydney, to be honest, but I definitely had a great weekend and loved Melbourne. I feel like I have become an expert traveler! I am a bit stressed out, as school is really starting to pick up, but I can't wait to see what adventures Uluru has in store for me in a few days!! Outback, here I come.
Other strange lingo I've picked up:
-Queue=line
-Distributor=freeway
-"How are you going?"="How are you doing?" -I don't like this one... I always just think it sounds like they have terrible grammar.
Side note: I have started to spell words with "our" instead of "or," such as "behaviour," and think it's normal. And it is now normal for me to walk on the left side of the sidewalk and look left when crossing the street. And I now own real, authentic Australian UGG slippers. So guess I'm pretty much a local now? Yeah, I think I could stay here for a long, long time...
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