This short trip to Victoria state, and veer left to South Australia to visit my sister-in-law who lives in Mount Gambier, was good and very relaxing. I wish it was longer so I could see more of Melbourne and also Great Ocean Road. But, never mind, it means there is a reason we should go back there again! 🙂 This time our flight out to Melbourne was in reasonable hour and it was so smooth, thank you Qantas! We arrived in Tullamarine airport at 3pm local time, it took 3.5 hours from Perth to Melbourne. After waiting for almost half an hour for our rental car (Budget, you are bad!) we drove out of Melbourne to Ballarat. Ballarat is about an hour drive north west of Melbourne. We had 70th birthday party to attend that evening, and it was held out in the paddock, and it was so freezing cold.
The next day after visiting a close relatives, we were off to Mount Gambier in South Australia. It took us almost 3 hours or so from Ballarat to the Mount. We stayed at my sister-in-law’s house for two night before headed to Warrnambool in Victoria. Mount Gambier is just 17 km from the Victoria border and about 450 km south east of Adelaide. The city is known for its volcanic and limestone features and most notably its Blue Lake.
We only stayed a night at Warrnambool then headed to Melbourne. Warrnambool originates from the local indigenous Australians means land between two rivers or two swamps. It has an oceanic temperate climate where summers are cooler than in Melbourne and winters are slightly warmer.
Basically we only had 2.5 days in Melbourne. We stayed around Carlton area at the Rydges Hotel which is pretty handy. Trams, restaurants, mini-market, and shops are within walking distance, not to mention Victoria market just about 10 minutes walking from the Rydges. We mostly walked or jumped into the tram wherever we went around Melbourne. I love love love Melbourne. It’s just so full of characters and colors. The last time I went to Melbourne was a very long time ago, pre-children! Melbourne reminds me a bit of NYC. Its old character buildings mixed with modern touch of skyscrapers, the alleys and lanes, the markets, the trams, the arts, the yellow cabs, I like them all! Oh, and not to mention the people! Melburnians are more friendly and warmer than Sydneysiders (sorry!) We couldn’t believe that almost every where we went people are so helpful and chatty 🙂
Now let me bore you with lots of pictures during our time there…:)
the bonfire out on the paddock
the avenue of honour, Ballarat
Ballarat is pretty cold and gloomy in winter
old and unused colorful church
can you spot the ghost in one of the window?
somewhere between Victoria and South Australia
unfortunately there’s no whale…:(
if you’re in warrnambool, drop by at Dubois Boutique, they have nice prettly little things and tell them I say hi! 🙂
flinders station at the background
captain mathew flinders statue in front of st.paul of catheral
inside the st. paul of cathedral
one of the wall is covered with this batik pattern looking tiles
MCG stadium at the background, pity it was a very grey day!
on princes’ bridge over looking the yarra river
melbourne from the 88th floor of eureka skydeck
finally caught up with this lovely friend of mine who used to live in perth
freshly made doughnuts at queen victoria market
china town – pic courtesy of Ervina
Last night in Melbourne, my children and their father went to see an AFL game at Etihad stadium while I was having a night out with my girlfriend. Our night started out with having dinner first at the Vietnamese restaurant called Mekong. This little restaurant is so famous that it is always full, we had to share our little laminated table with a couple of strangers. But who cares, the pho was so delicious anyway!
Little we knew that evening there was ‘market night’ at China Town where people selling food at this little alley. All kind of food you could find that night, from satay, pad thai, paella, curries, and many more. Sadly our tummy were full, so we just bought kue lupis for dessert later…
and roasted yummy peanuts from this guy who thought my friend and i are ‘an item’! thanks but we’re not! 🙂
After strolling around the market we continued to walk along the parliament building and decided to have coffee at one of the elegant cute looking cafe. But we ain’t dare to eat our lupis there, as we only ordered two cups of coffee and well, the surrounding looked a bit posh…tee-hee 🙂 So then we decided to go back to the Parliament building and sat on the stairs, over looking the lights and people milling around, then we demolished our lupis!
Well, I had a great night and good times while in Melbourne. Thank you girlfriends for meeting me and the laughter and the chat!
Til later, Melbourne…
do:
watch AFL game at MCG stadium
jump on/off the trams
go to royal botanic gardens
visit williamstown
eat:
lygon st, little italy – melbourne famous cafe and restaurant culture’s was born
china town
fair foodstore, richmond
shops:
chapel st
bourke st mall
queen victoria market
collins st
Mba Ria, nambahin ya… State library of Victoria itu keren bgts! Plus sport museum-nya MCG, menarik dan seru apalg klo memang suka olahraga.
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Thanks Dinny, iya itu aku cuma nulis yg sempat aku pergi-in aza soalnya cuma 2 hari di Melbourne. Tentunya masih banyak tempat2 asyik lainnya di Melbourne yg bisa di google 🙂 Btw, have you been to Williamstown? It’s a cool place, I like it, sayangnya batre camera dan hp mati semua 😱
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Wah belom euy mba, kmaren cuma di Melbourne aja. Smoga nanti ksana lg, pengen liat salju hihihi
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Pantesan temenku yg tinggal di Melbourne gak mau pindah.., tempatnya emang enak keliatannya.. Nice post, Ria👍😃
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Thank you Em. Yeah Melbourne just got voted as no 1 most liveable city in the world, for 4 years on the row 🙂 While Perth is in no. 9 yeehaa😀
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Ah…no wonder..😄 Pindah ah ke Melbourne..😉
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Ahhh, pengen ksanaaaa… Love the pictures, Ria 👍
N yg pasti skrg jd pengen lupis, huaaa 😩
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Thanks Vem, tapi Melbourne sama London, beda2 tipis lah kl soal viewnya, cakepan London kali yah… Hahaha iya thu, kue lupisnya yg jualan orang Indo pula! Enak!
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arghhh….kapan dong ini kesana….kapan?????
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Melbourne is waiting for you, Non 🙂
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Melbourne nampak selalu cozy di setiap photo yah, dan keknya kedai2 kopi nya juara2.
Ah one day I hope we could return to Oz and in that time to visit Melbourne!
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Yes Feb, I forgot to mention about their coffee! Everywhere I went I smelled brewing coffee from the cafes along the street. And I had coffee over load just because….you know 🙂 🙂
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Wah itu yang lebah keren..
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Yeah I like the bees too, pengen comot saty, bawa pulang buat dekorasi dirumah hehehe
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asik banget jalan2nya.. view nya bagus2 banget ya.. 🙂
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Viewnya bagus Man, apalagi kalo ke countrynya sayang gue ga lama sih 🙂
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Aaah this post make me wants to return and explore more of Victoria 😉 Lovely pictures, Ria. Thanks for sharing them.
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You should Yen and you perhaps someday will live somewhere in Victoria 😉😉 I actually passed the town of Lorne! Didn’t get a chance to go to the great ocean road this time.
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Baru sempet baca blogmya yg di Melbourne…huhuhu bikin kangen banget tapi bagus2 loh fotonya!! Victoria market, flinders station, yarra river, chapel street, st Kilda beach etc etc.
Love love Melbourne, going to city with the train or tram, gloomy weather yg hujan mulu dan kalo jalan menuju sekolah dan kalo lagi angin kenceng rasanya seperti mo terbang ditiup angin, dan dulu aku disana belom banyak toko ato resto indo.
Nanti deh aku balik ke Melbourne lagi for a visit:):)
Nice post!
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Thank you 🙂 Did you study in Melbourne? Yes, I like Melbourne more than Sydney. Some of the things there also remind me of New York, the yellow cab and the horse ride! Cuma ya itu weather-nya aduh ampuuun, dalam sehari bisa empat musim! Naik train or tram enak ya di Melbourne, dan orang2 di Melbourne sungguh lebih ramah2 dari orang Sydney 🙂 🙂 xx
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Iya dulu sekolah di Melbourne ikutin kaka yg juga sekolah disana 🙂 Oh iya banyak carriage yg ditarik kuda juga, bedanya sama NY cuma lautnya, dan gedung tingginya di NY lebih banyak. Aku inget di Melbourne tiap Christmas itu panas, dan ga ada white Christmas dan setealh pindah ke Canada baru ngerasain white Christmas:) Well, I never like Sydney, even though I love the Opera house and Harbour Bridge:):):)
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Is your name Ria?
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Yup, short for Valeria😃
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