Dear Chibi,

Jacky and I were on a holiday in Melbourne for the past week and just got back to Sydney last night. Home Sweet Home! It was both our first time going to Melbourne so we were unsure what to really expect. Is it different? Is it exciting? Does it look like Sydney? What’s the weather and people like? And all those questions the curious would wonder.

As we arrived at the Melbourne Airport, we thought we went back to Sydney! haha.. except the airport is much smaller than Sydney’s but the similarity is there. So we hired our car and headed out the door.. first step into Melbourne! What did we feel? A blasting cold chilly wind, in the middle of Summer on a nice shiny bright day! We heard the weather fluctuates drastically everyday, but only when we were there we understood exactly what that meant XD

Day 1: Arrive – Pick Up Car – Check in -Explore the Melbourne CBD, China Town, Familiarising city locations and buildings!

As we explored the Melbourne City, it wasn’t hard to convince ourselves we were in London or something XD There were trams everywhere!! A lot of old fashioned ones too. It definitely had a different feel to Sydney. There’s also less population, the roads were more spacious, and there’s a lot more people on Bicycles. It was quite an interesting experience… especially finding out there were some slight new road rules ^^; Wasn’t Jacky having a lot of fun XD There is a “Hook Turn” road rule, where you essentially turn right by going onto the left lane! Kinda weird, I know. And of course, we saw A LOT of stadiums!! I’m not much of a sports fan, but Jacky was really really amused, haha.

Day 2: Royal Botanical Gardens – Crown Casino

Endless walk through the beautiful green nature
We signed up as a member at the Crown Casino and got a free parking coupon complimentary + $5 cash. We used the money towards our parking instead of gambling, haha. The casino is okay in size, not massive though. I think the outside of Star City stands out more too.

Day 3: Rialto Tower – Coffee – Chapel Street and Bridge Street Shopping – Southern Cross Station

Rialto Towers is our Sydney Towers equivalent, 236m on the upper observatory level.

Popular place for Coffees..

Massive building, The Southern Cross Station.. I can’t believe this is their train station!! It’s so big and spacious inside!! Ah.. if only Central Station was like this :p

One of those City Circle Trams! It’s FREE!

China Town.. with lots of fobs XD Similar to Sydney’s but much longer and lots and lots of Japanese restaurants. Melbourne sure love their Japanese food.

We ate at Teppansan several times because the food was so yummy :3

Day 4: Phillip Island – Churchill Island – Koala Conservation Center – The Nobbies – Penguin Parade

The Koala’s in the background!

The highlight of the day was watching the Penguin Parade, where thousands of “The Little Penguins” come to shore from the wild! We waited till 9pm at the Beach for the sun to finally set… and there they were!! They were the most gorgeous tiny little penguins I’ve ever seen.. Too bad photography wasn’t allowed >_< We got sooo many good views of them, and when they went up in the land to socialise with other penguins, or returning to their burrows to feed the kids X3. So So So..cute.

Day 5: Meet up with Abhishek + Ash, Luna Park, St Kildas

err.. need I say more? XD

Day 6: The Great Ocean Drive – Angelsea – Lorne – Apollo Bay – The Twelve Apostles

The Great Ocean Drive was the highlight of the trip, where we drove along the beautiful coast! However, the day started off a little worrying because it was raining, misty and windy! However, we were so lucky to have the sun shine the moment we reached our final destination at The Twelve Apostles! The rest of the day was beautiful and it was just so much fun =)

Day 7: Check out – Queen Victoria Markets – Melbourne Zoo – Depart Melbourne City – Melbourne Airport, Return Car – Back in Sydney!!

A few of my favourite animal sightings:

Overall, It was an amazing trip!! Everything ran so smoothly and with the help of my GPS, we were able to get around to all the places without too much trouble =D I think it was a great experience, but I probably wouldn’t go there the second time because I feel we’ve already seen it all. Which is the better city? I’d have to go with Sydney! Yeh I know, I’m biased.

Related posts:

1. Karaoke and Dinner with Uni buddies
2. CNY Twilight Parade + Fireworks 2009
3. Ski Trip 2009

Posted on Friday, January 9th, 2009 at 9:02 am in the category:general, outing & occasions. Comment RSS 2.0 feed. Closed.