Melbourne 22/5 till 27/5
Day 1 - Arrived straight off the plane jumped on a bus to St Kilda to book into Base Backpackers for the week. Got the tram to the City to go and see an Aussie Rules game. The trams are slow and noisy (we dont need or want them back home) but pretty cool and quite novel. We went to watch Collingwood, the Man Utd of AFL as has been descirbed, versus Adelaide in the brand new Etihad Arena at the newly developed Docklands area. The roof was shut and the atmosphere was immense. Sell out of 56,000 and whilst Aussie Rules sucks as a sport, going to the game was amazing. Collingwood won after trailing for the 1st 3/4 of the match and the stadium went mad. The stadium itself is amongst the best I have been to in terms of spectator enjoyment and ability to view the game from anywhere, bars, snack stands, the aisles, everywhere gives a view of the pitch. It was a brilliant day out and a great birthday present for myself. We went out for dinner and I had a Sunday Roast which is probably what I would have had back home on my birthday, either that or a bbq. After we went to the Esplanade hotel which had a live band who were really good, they sang chart stuff and songs that I thought they would struggle with but they pulled it off. Went along the street to Robarta but it was really quiet. The doorman both liked a bit of breakdancing mind you.
Day 2 - Slept in a little bit and met up with Lauren who was out at Base checking for flats. She was loving living in Melbourne after going round the Far East and seems to be really enjoying her adventure like we are. In the afternoon we headed to the museum to see the Tutankhamun exhibition that was on. Amazing, the boy was treated like a God and the quantity of precious metal and stone that he was buried with will never be seen again. The exhibition was class, glad we got to see it. Went for a pint and dinner in the Turf Bar which was the scene of the biggest robbery in Melbourne history at the time when a bookies meeting was raided for $6m in the 70's. Haha, daft bookies. We then went along to the Casino which is incredible, it is huge. Takes 35 mins to walk through and employs 14,000ppl. Its brilliant, caters for everything and both of us managed to come out with more money in our pocket than we went in with which is always nice.
Day 3 - Went to the MCG. What a stadium, not the biggest I've been to despite the arrogance of the tour guide, but definitely up there with one of the most magnificent. It holds 100,000ppl but thats only half of its wonder. The layout is excellent and there is history in the walls which is amazing considering the lack of history Australia has, eg it has the very first rules of cricket written by the MCC in its library. It held the 1956 Olympics and 2006 Commonwealth Games and there has been some massive events, not just sporting staged on its turf. Then there is the museum built underneath the North Stand. Its possibly the greatest sports museums on the planet. The artefacts and memorabillia that it contains is beyond priceless. It has the ball used the 1st time Aus beat England in the Ashes and Jack Brabham's car for goodness sake!!! It has a section on the modern Olympics which is great and sections dedicated to cricket and AFL which I am sure are amazing, I found them interesting and I cant stand the two sports. The best bit is the interactive zone where you can take pens, kick goals, try archery, throw at the stumps and test your reactions. It is really amazing, We went intending on spending the morning, we were there 6 hours. The whole area is a sporting mecca. It contains not only the MCG but the Rod Laver arena, the stadium where the Melbource football teams play, a rugby stadium and Olympic stadium along with the Institute for Sport, all of these are serviced by a train station and tram stops within ample walking distance, its perfectly designed and laid out. Had a bite to eat in one of the many alleys off Flinders St which is so cool. Just loads of people relaxing with friends drinking coffee and having a smoke, its so relaxed and social and I loved that. We played the hostel pub quiz in the evening and would have won if Mike could eat a dry Weetabix faster.
Day 4 - Up early to head up the Eureka tower, the tallest apartment block in the world with the tallest viewing platform in the Southern Hemisphere. We got a cracking morning for it and despite your ears popping 3 times on the way up, the views were amazing. You could see for miles...At the top of the tower is the Edge, a section of the building on rollers which moves out from the side and has a clear bottom. I ventured out onto this but it wasnt really worth the $10 extra. After the tower we headed back to the museum to see the normal exhibits. They were running one on the brain which was fascinating, the ability that we each have to think, remember and decide is riduculous and the complexity in how all these work is mind blowing (get it). The exhibit on evolution, dinosaurs and todays animals was cool as well, I was an 8 year old at the National Museum again. Went for dinner in Chinatown and Mike found a Korean where, like in Tokyo, they brought out cuts of meat and cooked it on a hot plate in front of you. It was deliciious. Need to find one at home. Back up the Eureka Tower to see the city at night, which is better and not as good at the same time depending which side you look out from. On to the pub to watch the State of Origin, couldnt miss that, its the most important event of the year in QLD and NSW. We ended up watching it in Young & Jackson which happens to be the oldest pub in the city and has a great selection of beers to go with it.
Day 5 - Up and off the the Queen Victoria Markets. They were cool, could buy anything there and Mike did, he bought himself a Croc Dundee hat which...well look at the pics. After that jumped on the free 1880's tram to the Gaol (jail) for a tour. Its cool, you get treated like a criminal and locked in a cell for a bit. The gaol only stopped functioning in 1994 and everything is as it was, even the office. The jail was the place of a great many hangings, some of whom were wrongly accused. It is probably most famous for being where Ned Kellly was held and executed. Went to the Memorial Shrine in the afternoon. It is impressive, probably as good if not better than the one in Sydney. There was bus loads of Asians posing for photos which I felt was a bit disrepectful. It was a very grand building and the shrine entombed inside is very well presented. A huge number of Aussies died in a war 14,000miles away from there homes and it is right they are remembered for this. Caught a tram home and rounded off our trip with a trip out to the pier to watch the penguins and water rats coming back from feeding. I didnt even know Melbourne had penguins but it was great fun watching them hop the rocks, a great ending to the holiday. Had cakes on Ancona Street as Lonely Planet suggested and then a Mexican for dinner before heading back to the hostel for ladies night in the pub attached to it.
Overall Melbourne is fantastic. Great food, great pubs, lots to see and do (we only scatched the surface and we were busy every day). They are sport daft down there, so much more so than is QLD and NSW as well. All sports are watched and supported fevourisly but AFL is the most important so to go to a game was special. The city is cool, its just cool. Relaxed with the cafe culture and very social and friendly. A great place to visit and maybe live for a while. I regret not getting to do the Great Ocean Road but maybe another day and I wish we had done this when the weather was warmer and there was even more activity down the alleys and lanes and in the pubs and clubs.
Great five days and a fantastic birthday thrown in there as well.