Recently my girlfriend Laura and I travelled down to Melbourne for weekend getaway. It was a wonderful little holiday and a much needed break. While I had only been to Melbourne once before, when I was 11 years old, I could not remember much about the city. I was taking most things in for the first time.
We flew down from the Gold Coast airport with Tigerair. Simple, cheap, no thrills. It was a nice smooth ride, lasting just over two hours. How does Melbourne Airport not have a train line to it? It’s the 21st Century! Fortunately they have the SkyBus, similarly priced to what the AirTrain is in Brisbane and Sydney, which takes you to a Central bus terminal. From there it shuttles you out to the various hotels you are staying at.
We checked into our hotel (the reasonably priced and comfortable Ibis on Swanston Street, Carlton), ditched our bags and headed down to the State Library (after a quick stop at 7/11 for pre-packaged sandwiches as we did not have time for lunch) to begin a free walking tour. Laura and I both thought it would be a good way for us to get acquainted with the city and see all of the good sights. I had done several free walking tours in Europe and was interested to see how an Australia equivalent stacked up.
Our tour guide Desmond was very passionate about his job and provided a great insight into the history of Melbourne in an informative, but also entertaining way. The tour lasted approximately three hours and went to a number of the major sites in the city, including The Exhibition Building, Parliament House, Flinders Street Station, Street Art Laneways and South Bank. It was a great way to be introduced to the city.
I think I heard one of the cringiest jokes I have ever heard on the tour though. How did the hipster burn his tongue? He drank the coffee before it was cool. Following the tour we headed up the Eureka Tower and took in the city from above, then went to dinner at an Italian restaurant on the Yarra River at South Bank.
On our second day, we headed out to St Kilda. Unfortunately a lot of places were closed when we went out there, but it was still a nice experience walking along the beach, the pier and the rocks. One thing I do remember from my previous visit to Melbourne was how creepy Luna Park looked. The creepiness nowadays is even worse! It was also closed when we were there.
After the adventure out to St Kilda was headed to a rooftop bar in Brunswick with city views and just soaked in the late-evening sunlight. Come on Queensland, it’s time to catch up and get daylight savings! It’s so nice to be able to enjoy the sun still at 7pm.
Our trip of being peak tourists continued the following day, as the first thing we did for the day was go for a cruise tour of the Yarra. It was by far my least favourite activity we did on the trip. Our driver was sarcastic the entire time, and while he provided some interesting information (as we were there on the anniversary of the Westgate Bridge disaster), you kind of just wanted the whole thing to be over. Thankfully it was soon enough, so we headed to our next destination: The Melbourne Star Observation Wheel.
I’ll just get to the chase and say we got the most annoying kid that ever existed in our compartment. While it was slightly funny for Laura and I, I felt bad for another couple who were in our capsule and just seemed to be very annoyed at this mother who could not really control her young son (who was about 5 or 6). Despite the kid, the views from the wheel great. You could see the skyline, out to the docks, Flemington Racecourse and much more. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when we got out of that capsule.
For our last night away, I wanted to go and see some live music in Melbourne at one of the many live music venues in the city. While I had not planned to see the Jezabels again, after seeing them about a week earlier in Brisbane, it seemed like the best option… plus I really love them.
The band were playing at the Croxton Bandroom, about a nice 30-minute tram ride away from the CBD. On the way we stopped off at a pizza place in Northcote called Pizza Mine Liebe which was recommended to me by a friend. Seriously, best pizza in the world! If ever you want to have a great pizza and you’re in Melbourne, don’t go anywhere else. It is the best.
The Jezabels did not disappoint. Again, they delivered a high-energy set with incredible passion. Despite seeing them twice in a month, it’s safe to say I can’t wait to see them again.
The following day we got up, checked out of the hotel and went to find a cafe called Hash (stylised as #…. typical Melbourne) for breakfast. The cafe featured one of the most incredible hot chocolates I have ever seen. Basically the hot chocolate drink was presented to you as literally a beaker of pure melted dark chocolate and a mug filled high with freshly-spun fairy floss. You then pour the chocolate over the fairy floss, which evaporates and turns into a drinkable hot chocolate. It was incredible to watch. I had a sip of it (it was my girlfriends, I had ordered a green tea latte) and it was delicious! I’d recommend going to Hash just to try the hot chocolate.
We then hopped back on a tram and headed over to the National Gallery of Victoria. We walked around the various exhibits, looking at how a mosque was constructed, early colonial Australian art and much more. It was quite pleasant.
While walking through the gallery I realised you had to buy tickets to what we wanted to do next. Visit the Art of Banksy exhibit. I had my phone, but my wallet with my credit card was down in my bag in a locker. Thankfully I have some crazy memory and was able to remember my credit card number and buy the tickets (hey Westpac, hurry up and come to an agreement with Apple for Apple Pay so we don’t have to worry about this in the future).
Banksy is a UK street artist who has created a number of highly-political expressions, through street art, over the past few decades. The exhibition in Melbourne, while not officially sanctioned by Banksy (as only a select few people know his actual identity), showcased a number of his works in interesting and unique ways. There was a room filled with t-shirts with Banksy on them; a singular London phone box stood in the middle of the room. There was a room decorated as a traditional lolly shop; the lollies had images of Banksy prints on them. It was bizarre, it was a little terrifying, but it was also an incredible experience seeing the artwork and learning the meaning behind some of the pieces in an up close and personal setting.
We then rushed back to our hotel, picked up our bags and headed to the airport. Despite an almost two-hour delay (due to safety concerns over an electric scooter), we managed to get home in one piece.
The trip to Melbourne was a much needed break, which showcased Melbourne is most definitely the cultural and food capital of Australia. I can’t wait to go back!
