Before I even got to Melbourne I knew I'd love it. I had heard lots of good comments about it. There is an unofficial competition between the two. Sydney and Melbourne are always trying to out do each other. Sydney is winning this battle, but only because it has the coat hanger, opera house and the harbour. I still prefer Melbourne as it is the sports capital of Oz. Also it has more culture and entertainment with festivals and shows. Also one of the things I love are the trams. They are so easy to use and you never have to wait long for one. Driving in Melbourne is made more interesting due to the trams. To make a right turn at a set of traffic lights you you pull over to the left. The reason for this is so that the trams can pass down the middle of the road.
I arrived in Melbourne late on in the evening and was met by two friends (Mark and Pete). There was no messing about, back to the hostel and then straight down the pub to sample the amber nectar. It later became apparent that our quality check was in vain and that nectar met the required standards. Unfortunately Marks Pub radar was not fully tuned into Melbourne's frequency. This was evident as we were in "Bev and Micks", a backpackers hostel and bar. Here I was introduced to a Scots girl called Tricia, who was also going to the Grand Prix. The next day was my 25th birthday and I spent the day on a red double decor bus seeing the sights and getting a feel for where things were. Also during the day I went up the Rialto Tower http://www.melbournedeck.com.au/. The Rialto Tower give you a great view of Melbourne and is the southern hemisphere's tallest office structure. Later that night we had a few beers, but not many as the next day was going to be busy.
The next four days I spent at the 2004 Australian Grand Prix. See the separate entry above. After the Grand Prix weekend I spent a couple of days walking round the CBD and catching up on my sleep. One evening I went with Jo and Tricia to the Moonlight Cinema http://www.moonlight.com.au. This was situated at the Royal Botanic Gardens. These also took place in Sydney and Adelaide. It was a great night under the stars watching "Love Actually", which is a bit of a click flick. On the bank holiday Monday myself and some others went down to the river Yarra and watched street performers and water ski jumping. This type of sport looks to dangerous to me as they wear a crash helmet and balance on a piece of carbon fibre. One of Melbourne's outer areas called St Kilda is a must see I was told. Before I had even left Sydney, people were telling me that you've got to go there. So I went and had a look. Personally I didn't think it was that great. It has a nice main street with shops, cafe's and restaurants and also a very long Pier. This I thought was great as it was quite long and you can sit there with the harbour in front of you and in the distance the tall buildings of the CBD fill the skyline.
A must do when leaving Melbourne and travelling to Adelaide is the Great Ocean Road. This is a very well known piece of road and has loads of places and activities to do along the way.
The next four days I spent at the 2004 Australian Grand Prix. See the separate entry above. After the Grand Prix weekend I spent a couple of days walking round the CBD and catching up on my sleep. One evening I went with Jo and Tricia to the Moonlight Cinema http://www.moonlight.com.au. This was situated at the Royal Botanic Gardens. These also took place in Sydney and Adelaide. It was a great night under the stars watching "Love Actually", which is a bit of a click flick. On the bank holiday Monday myself and some others went down to the river Yarra and watched street performers and water ski jumping. This type of sport looks to dangerous to me as they wear a crash helmet and balance on a piece of carbon fibre. One of Melbourne's outer areas called St Kilda is a must see I was told. Before I had even left Sydney, people were telling me that you've got to go there. So I went and had a look. Personally I didn't think it was that great. It has a nice main street with shops, cafe's and restaurants and also a very long Pier. This I thought was great as it was quite long and you can sit there with the harbour in front of you and in the distance the tall buildings of the CBD fill the skyline.
A must do when leaving Melbourne and travelling to Adelaide is the Great Ocean Road. This is a very well known piece of road and has loads of places and activities to do along the way.
