Melbourne! My last stop in Australia before I go to New Zealand. And the city I wanted to see as much as Sydney.

The State Library of Victoria

Since I had a week to visit the city anyway and the weather was not that good, I took my time that day. I slept longer, had breakfast, showered and washed my clothes. When it was late in the afternoon, I slowly pulled myself together to do something in the city. Exactly in the moment I leave the hostel it starts to rain of course. For a short moment I thought about staying in the hostel and just not doing anything that day.

As the next days should not get better and I did not want to spend more hours in my hostel room, I got my raincoat and started walking.

I then decided to visit the State Library of Victoria. It took me about 20 minutes to get there. And I could see quite a bit of Melbourne in the meantime.

When I finally arrived at the State Library of Victoria, I was already pretty wet. I walked around the library for about an hour and looked at all the things and pictures that were exhibited. I also visited the famous dome of the library and walked through each floor once.

It was then already shortly before six o’clock in the evening and I had to rush through the library a bit, as it closed at six o’clock.

When I left the library it had fortunately stopped raining and I could have a closer look at everything on the way back to the hostel.

And another rainy day

The weather was still not better, so I grabbed my raincoat again and made my way to the city. From the Queen Victoria Market, which was actually really nice (nicer than Paddy’s Markets in Sydney) I moved on relatively quickly due to the weather.

As I had way too much time in the city and was just around the corner anyway, I decided to walk to the Royal Exhibition Centre. But I could only look at it from the outside for a very short time before I had to take shelter, as it suddenly started to rain heavily.

My mood was then also not the best anymore, because I was already totally wet. So I decided to go back to the hostel. But as I didn’t have anything to eat anymore, I had to go to the supermarket first.

Fortunately it had stopped raining after I had done my grocery shopping. So I didn’t have to carry it through the rain for the 30 minute walk back.

Exploring Melbourne

The first and also one of the only days in Melbourne when I am here, when the weather was good. So I also wanted to see as much of the city as possible that day. But my day did not start that well, as suddenly, in the middle of the night after I came out of the bathroom, I could not get into my room with my room card anymore. So I had to go through the brightly lit corridor from the third floor to the reception (which fortunately is open 24 hours a day), pick up my new card and then up to the third floor again. As a result, I was awake for a while…

After breakfast I went to the famous Hosier Lane Street Art. I had already noticed that this one was unfortunately destroyed by vandalism a few days before. And this when I am in Melbourne for once in my life…

So most of the pictures were destroyed, but I could still recognize some pictures under the graffiti. These were really beautiful, which is why it is a really sad that they were destroyed.

From Hosier Lane Street Art I went on to Birrarung Marr, a small park directly at the Yarra River.

From the Birrarung Marr I went shortly after, because there was not really much to see there, already further in direction to the botanical garden. On the way there I passed the Alexandra Gardens and the Victoria Gardens, which I also crossed. But before I went to the Botanical Garden, I went to the National Gallery of Victoria.

I’m usually not interested in Museums, but this one was really nice. I was especially fascinated by the huge Pop Art sculpture in the entrance hall of Kaws.

From the National Gallery I finally walked to the Botanical Garden. And yes, what else can I say but that it looks just like any other botanical garden, if it is the seventh botanical gardens I visited in Australia?

From the botanical garden I went on to the Docklands district. I got to that there by walking along the Yarra River. I only had a short look at this part of the city, as there was not really anything worth seeing there and I was already pretty tired from all the walking. As it was already late in the afternoon I walked back to the hostel.

Beach Day in Melbourne

The second day in Melbourne, when it is sunny and warm, had to be well used and what could be better than going to the beach?

From a friend, who was already in Melbourne, I got her bus ticket. So I didn’t had to buy one.

So I took the train to Brighton Beach and visited the Brighton Beach Boxes, which are really quite cute. But to take a photo of one of these boxes takes ages. Because they are an absolute Tourist magnet and everybody wants to have a photo there.

Some of these boxes were even open and I could see inside. Some people have really beautifully designed their boxes from the inside and look really cosy.

After I had looked at all the nearly 100 boxes, I walked to the bus stop and drove to St. Kilda. There I had already no more money on my bus ticket. But the bus driver kindly gave me a ride without paying.

I really liked the small district of St. Kilda. From the bus stop I walked past all the shops, palm trees and the Luna Park to the beach. But I had imagined this one much nicer. Also the Brighton Beach is only so interesting because of the Bathing Boxes. But on both beaches in the background you could see the CBD of Melbourne. I walked a little along the promenade of St. Kilda before I made my way back to the hostel.

I had tried to recharge my bus ticket online, but this did not work. But my only way to get back to the hostel was by tram. But since I didn’t see a machine at the station where I could recharge my card or at least buy a ticket, I drove the first time in my life without paying. Luckily I didn’t get caught, since the fines in Australia are much higher than I am used to from home.

Melbourne from above

Arriving at the hostel I didn’t have much time as I wanted to go up to the Eureka Skytower to watch the sunset.

I had thought about whether it was really necessary to drive up the tower, as I had already been to the Sydney Eye Tower and the Q1 Tower in Surfers Paradise. But then I thought, I won’t be coming back to Melbourne so soon in my life and everything is better than spending time in a hostel.

When I got out of the elevator at the top, I immediately knew that the $25 was worth it. The view over the city was breathtaking and not comparable to the one in Sydney or the one on the Gold Coast. It is so incredibly interesting to see cities from above.

After I took a lot of pictures, I waited on the tower with all the other people for the sun to set. The red / orange / yellow sunset over the city was really beautiful.

It is always so beautiful to see how it slowly gets darker over the city and all the lights on the streets and in the houses turn on. After the sun had set, I waited for it to get completely dark and I could see the city from above at night.

When it was dark and I took a lot of photos again, I went down again at about 9 o’clock. At the Yarra River, from where I had an incredible view of the skyline of Melbourne at night, I went back to the hostel.

Looking for inspiration

And by the fifth day, I had no idea what I could do in Melbourne…The weather was not the best (and I thought in Australia it is always warm and the sun is shining). So my motivation to do something was not the greatest.

Activities like going up to the Eureka Tower are really fun, I do something and experience something. But to constantly rush from one sight to the next in a city is no fun in the long run.

But as I didn’t want to waste the day in Melbourne by sitting in the hostel, I managed to get up in the afternoon.

In the hostel there is a wall with activities you can do in Melbourne. I got inspired by this one and walked to Degraves Street first. A small street that was very nice, with many shops, rastaurants and cafés. From Degraves Street, where I didn’t stay too long, I went to Hardware Lane. There, as also in the Degraves Street, were many cafés and Restaurants.

I was lucky and the sun was shining and there were hardly any clouds in the sky when I left the hostel. But when I went to the supermarket to buy tons of TimTams (the classic chocolate in Australia, which tastes better than any other candy in the world) as a souvenir for my family, my luck ran out and it started to thunder.

Then as if out of nowhere it started to rain and hail. Soaking wet I arrived at the supermarket, did my shopping quickly and had to walk back to the hostel for another 15 minutes in this terrible weather.

On my sixth day in Melbourne I did all the things you could do in Melbourne. Inspired again by the activities that were suggested in the hostel, I set off again for the city. First I walked to Federation Square, which I had already passed unconsciously a few days ago, but then I cousciously looked at it again. From Federation Square I went to China Town, where I actually only walked through to get to the district of Fitzroy.

The district was quite nice to look at. It was a bit quieter there, as it is a bit away from the CBD. The buildings there were a little older but still beautiful. After I walked through Fitzroy, I already went back to the hostel.

If you travel through Australia and see almost everything, then at the end of your journey you will like either Sydney or Melbourne more from all the cities.

For me it was clear from the beginning that my favourite city would definitely be Sydney after spending four months there. But when we drove in from our Great Ocean Road Tour to Melbourne, I liked the city quite a bit. I wondered if I would change my mind next week and find Melbourne better in the end.

As the week went by I realised that Melbourne is really beautiful. But Sydney will definitely always be my favourite city. The beaches in Sydney are already much nicer than in Melbourne.