Melbourne: Art and Culture

Our Hostel was right in the centre of the city which was handy. After speaking to quite a few people, it seemed that everyone had about $50 and a packet of pasta to live off and was desperately seeking work. A trend that we saw in all our other hostels in Oz too!

We soon realised after ten days in Sydney how expensive Australia was, even compared to UK. Our budget for Australia was being drained quicker than we had planned, and so had to keep it cheap from now on. Being in Melbourne didn't help, as this city was even more expensive than Sydney!! Luckily there was a free city tram which did a big loop of the city and had an announcement system that told you about all the sights as you travel round.

The central part of the city was in a big rectangle shape with trams whizzing about and quite easy to navigate. You could see why it was called the culture capital of Australia.

The central square was full of art exhibitions and dance performances, and by the riverside, a lot of street musicians and artists, plus there seemed to be a big music scene. Melbourne also had loads of large green parks and open spaces. The temperature in Melbourne was so cold and not really beach weather, but we wanted to see the coastal area anyway and so went to St Kilda. The beach wasn't that great, but St Kilda as a seaside town was quite pretty and the main street had loads of funky cool bars where the cool kids of Melbourne hang out.

There was also the most amazing cake shops with all the goodies stacked up on display in the window. It was funny standing by watching people walk past, notice the window all of a sudden, then stop and get the cake urge.

As sad as it is, we thought we would kill some time and check out Ramsey Street. We didn't pay for a tour as thought it was waste of money and so went there on the tram. In real life, the street is called Pin Oak Court, and so, with our directions we had got from our Lonely Planet book we headed off into a housing estate. We were expecting big things when we got there, but as we approached we quickly realised how sad we were. It was a plain looking Australian suburb cul-de-sac and didn't look any different from any other cul-de-sac apart from the road cones and fence which they must put up when filming for Neighbours. Even though it was crap, no visit to Melbourne is complete without a visit to Ramsey Street!