March 26-31, 2023
Hi friends and family,
This post is about Melbourne, my final stop in Australia and the final stop (for now) along all of my world travels that began in January. Mel and I arrived at the Melbourne airport from Cairns at 11:50pm on March 26 and took an Uber to our Airbnb in the central business district (CBD).
The next day we hung out in the city. We were feeling a bit tired after our late night, and it was gray and drizzling outside, so we didn’t do too much. We got groceries to cook some meals in our nice Airbnb kitchen and planned some logistics and got a car for the next couple days. In the late afternoon, we went on a walk through the city.
We ended up at a spot called Campari House and had a few rounds of happy hour drinks to escape the rain and explore Melbourne’s food and drink scene. Campari House happened to be the location of many of the acts in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, which was conveniently running from late March to early April, so we popped in for a show called “Sam Sam But Different” with a comedian named Sam Garlepp. He was really funny and performed an interesting show with lots of music, including singing and musical sound effects. I’d heard Melbourne was the cultural capital of Australia, so I was keen on seeing the art, comedy, food, drink, and whatever else we had time for. The first show was a great introduction to the cultural events of the city.
The next morning, I got up early to pick up our Turo (a car rental app) car in Toorak, a suburb of Melbourne. I stopped on the way back at Lune Croissanterie, a bakery that’s purported to have the best croissants in the world. The croissants were extremely expensive and delicious, but I don’t know if they quite lived up to best in the world. The croissants might have lost a little bit of their flakiness on the drive home because I got stuck in rush hour traffic and missed a couple of costly turns because Google Maps was failing me. Still, they were some of the best, if not the best, croissants I’ve ever had.
Luckily, parking in the city was easier than I expected and I came back to the apartment to join Mel for breakfast that she’d kindly cooked. We ate and got to the car around 10:45 to drive southwest to the start of the Great Ocean Road, a scenic drive along the southern coast of Victoria and our adventure for the day.
We first stopped at Bells Beach outside the surf town of Torquay. The beach is a famous surf spot home to one of the World Surf League (WSL) competitions. In fact, the event was only a week or two away and WSL was already setting up for it. We watched the waves and they looked amazing; they were glassy (smooth) and decent size (5-7 feet). It was great to see the surfers out there and the limestone cliffs were pretty.
We continued on to the town of Lorne, where we stopped since Mel was getting carsick. We made an agenda there and then drove ten minutes to Eskrine Falls, a very average waterfall visible after a quick walk.
We drove on for another hour along winding, curvy roads to the small town of Apollo Bay. The drive, unfortunately, worsened Mel's carsickness, but it was quite scenic, reminding me of Hawai'i since we were right on the edge of cliffs overlooking the ocean. In Apollo Bay, we got chicken parma and beef and curry pies. The lady at the cash register also gave us some delicious donuts for free, boosting our morale after lots of driving.
We decided after our late lunch to keep on driving to 12 Apostles because it only added an hour and a half to the roundtrip drive and the road looked (and ended up being) less winding.
From there, we went to the nearby Loch Ard Gorge, another beautiful site with crazy limestone formations in and near the sea. Both these places were crowded but awesome to see.
We didn’t end up going to Hopetoun Falls or the Redwoods in Otway National Park, two sites we’d considered along Great Ocean Road, since we were already looking at getting back to Melbourne at 9:30pm and we’d been driving all day. Great Ocean Road was scenic but it was so much driving and didn’t allow for much active time. The 12 Apostles stop was the highlight but I’m not sure if it was worth it for about seven hours of driving.
The next day we slept in and started to drive to Philip Island, mainly known as being home of the largest Little Penguin colony in the world, around 11:30. Compared to all the other places we’d been in Australia, Melbourne was rather chilly so it wasn’t all that surprising that penguins came up to nest at Philip island.
We got there around 1:30 and walked along Woolamai Surf Beach to Pinnacles Lookout. The beach was windy but it was fun and I liked having the beach mostly to ourselves. We walked for a couple hours on the beach and a trail.
We ate a late lunch at a place called Island Burger Bar. I had a delicious veggie burger and we split some potato wedges. The place had a laid-back vibe that was kind of like Hawai’i.
Then we went to the Philip Island Winery for a late afternoon wine tasting. The winery had a scenic location in some hills overlooking the ocean. It was drizzling a little, but the winery was prepared and had seating underneath a large tent. It was peaceful and pretty, and we thought the wine was good.
From there we went to the Philip Island Nature Park in the southwest peninsula of the island. We spotted plenty of wildlife on the drive in, including kangaroos and birds called shearwaters that looked kind of like a cross between a turkey and a penguin.
We walked around the boardwalks there and saw some dramatic cliffs and more wildlife, including a couple Little Penguins.
Next, we drove to the main attraction on Philip Island, the penguin parade, where hundreds or thousands of Little Penguins emerge from the sea to come home to the largest Little Penguin colony in the world. The penguins came out over an hour or longer and waddled up the shores and surrounding hills to find their nests. They were adorable and it was cute watching them come out of the water and seeing them on land trying to find nests. The penguins are extremely sensitive to light, so we weren’t allowed to take any photos. We were able to see them in a pale orange-ish light that was at a wavelength that they barely registered, the penguin expert said. Even with that light, it was quite dark and we sometimes didn’t notice the penguins until they were really close to where we were watching from the bleachers.
On the way home, we got Chinese takeout at a nearby restaurant and drove back close to Melbourne to return the Turo and call an Uber home. It was around midnight by the time we got home so we were exhausted. Two big days of driving and late nights were really starting to wear us down.
The next day was my last full day in Australia. We got up early to eat a big breakfast and pack up then picked up a new car rental for the day which was conveniently parked right by our apartment. We drove to a train called the Puffing Billy, which was a big touristy train ride that went over a scenic bridge and through some pretty rainforest. The ride was fun for the first ten minutes when we went over the iconic Trestle Bridge and entered the forest, but it became uncomfortable and boring shortly after.
The final destination was a gift shop and a restaurant in this fancy building that looked like it had been built exclusively for the Puffing Billy. We were expecting to stop in a town and be able to walk around, so it was a disappointing destination. I felt like the ride was such a tourist trap. The Puffing Billy was due to head back to Belgrave an hour and 45 minutes after arriving at the tourist center, and there was nothing to do there besides buy overpriced food or souvenirs. We were so annoyed that we walked from the tourist center to the bus stop in the real town 25 minutes away and bused back to our car in Belgrave instead of taking the Puffing Billy back home.
We returned our car in Melbourne and took transit to our hostel in the neighborhood of South Yarra. We were so exhausted that we napped for a few hours in our private room as soon as we got back. We woke up around 5 and I picked up some coffees for us from a nearby bakery/restaurant. I’d just tried flat whites (a style of coffee in NZ and Australia) for the first time in Melbourne and I wish I'd tried them earlier because they were delicious. We went into the city and had dinner at a nice Greek restaurant, sharing a couple entrees, some pita and tzatziki, and a small bottle of wine.
Then we got craft beers at a whiskey bar/lounge. The beers were fancy and the atmosphere was mysterious and intriguing, similar to a speakeasy. Next, we went to a comedy show called “Villain” by a comedian named Brodi Snook. She was so funny and I was laughing out loud for most of the show. Her writing was impeccable and she was rifling off great jokes one after the other. We ended the night with some nightcap drinks from a fancy cocktail bar called Clara Bar. The ambiance was cozy and we had a little corner with some couches to ourselves. It was a great final night in Australia and I felt like I got a taste of Melbourne’s culture.
The next morning, on March 31, Mel had an early flight to Sydney to pick up some stuff she’d left at her friend Amy’s place so we said our goodbyes. She was spending a few weeks in Italy in April and wouldn’t be back to Hawai’i until early May.
Overall, I liked Melbourne. In the little I saw of the city, it seems like it has a lot of character with plenty of cultural events and a novel food and drink scene. I would’ve liked to see Wilsons Promontory National Park south of Melbourne, but it was a three-hour drive away so it would be ideal to have more than a day for it. I might backpack in the park for a few nights if the opportunity ever arises. It would’ve been exciting to see a sports match (probably rugby or cricket) in Melbourne, since apparently sport is really popular there, but our timing didn’t work out since most sporting events are on the weekends. The city is cool, and I’m glad I got to see it for a few days.
I’ll write one more blog entry on some post-travel reflections. Thanks for following my journey, all! I miss you all and can’t wait to see you soon.
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