We had arranged an early morning pick up from our new hotel (Highfield Hotel, just a minutes walk from our last hotel) at 07:30, and we were greeted by a friendly, and enthusiastic mini van driver who we initially thought was Italian (he looked like "Big Pussy" from the Sopranos - I've not watched it so googled the characters name) but later revised to be of perhaps Georgian/Armenian descent. He was hilarious - he beeped his horn, waved his hands excitedly in frustration and even got into an argument with a fellow mini van driver (who spoke the same language as they were shouting at each other in a tongue unknown to all of us in the mini van) as we were picking up another coupe from a hotel. He hopped back into the car after his argument and with a loud call of "ee-de-yut" (at least that's how it sounded when he said idiot) we headed back onto the freeway and towards Sydney Airport.
We boarded our flight to Melbourne no problem and after perhaps an hours flight started our descent into Melbourne. Nicola and I were both surprised by how large the Melboune area appeared from the air, it was a sprawling mass of residential housing spreading out as far as the eye could see. We looked at each other and shrugged, we were not going to prejudge anywhere - although the gathering grey clouds had cast a gloomy shadow across the land...
We caught a skybus from the airport for $18 each which was slightly dearer than Sydney but only took 25 minutes so we couldn't complain too much. After a subway to refuel (Nicola had now "officially" had more subways in Australia than UK - 2:1) we tried to find the nearest tram stop (easiest way to get about Melbourne is via the large tram network). We hopped on board and bought a pair of tickets ($4 for 2 hours, which did include trains and buses but still pricey) and headed off towards (what we thought) was the direction of St Kilda, where our hostel was booked. However, after a few stops headed in the wrong direction, we realised that we had caught the tram on the wrong side of the road - easy mistake when you don't know which direction you need to head - and had to jump off and swap trams before we headed any further away from where we were supposed to go.
St Kilda is not far from Melbourne CBD, it is an area by the beach that is supposed to be quite lively and nice to stay. After 30 minutes or so on a tram, and 15 minutes walking up Fitzroy Street (where we were staying) we eventually found ourselves outside our hostel - The Ritz for Backpackers - located above a "traditional" English pub, the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. We checked in and dropped our bags off and headed almost straight out towards the direction of the beach which only took us a few minutes to get to. Due to the overcast weather it was not very hot and we dug out the goretex coat I brought with us (and didn't expect to use in Australia). We sat on the promenade, which was nice and flat and skateboarders, joggers and cyclists were in abundance. The sea was very cold and we decided not to brave dipping anything in but our toes so we sat on the paved walkway and watched the sunset (a regular pastime now). Maybe due to the weather, maybe due to the pier, but we thought the place resembled Brighton, not a bad comparison, but we didn't expect to be sitting in the cold on a beach resembling home. We don't have any pictures because Nicola didn't feel very inspired by the surroundings...sorry St Kilda.
We boarded our flight to Melbourne no problem and after perhaps an hours flight started our descent into Melbourne. Nicola and I were both surprised by how large the Melboune area appeared from the air, it was a sprawling mass of residential housing spreading out as far as the eye could see. We looked at each other and shrugged, we were not going to prejudge anywhere - although the gathering grey clouds had cast a gloomy shadow across the land...
We caught a skybus from the airport for $18 each which was slightly dearer than Sydney but only took 25 minutes so we couldn't complain too much. After a subway to refuel (Nicola had now "officially" had more subways in Australia than UK - 2:1) we tried to find the nearest tram stop (easiest way to get about Melbourne is via the large tram network). We hopped on board and bought a pair of tickets ($4 for 2 hours, which did include trains and buses but still pricey) and headed off towards (what we thought) was the direction of St Kilda, where our hostel was booked. However, after a few stops headed in the wrong direction, we realised that we had caught the tram on the wrong side of the road - easy mistake when you don't know which direction you need to head - and had to jump off and swap trams before we headed any further away from where we were supposed to go.
St Kilda is not far from Melbourne CBD, it is an area by the beach that is supposed to be quite lively and nice to stay. After 30 minutes or so on a tram, and 15 minutes walking up Fitzroy Street (where we were staying) we eventually found ourselves outside our hostel - The Ritz for Backpackers - located above a "traditional" English pub, the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. We checked in and dropped our bags off and headed almost straight out towards the direction of the beach which only took us a few minutes to get to. Due to the overcast weather it was not very hot and we dug out the goretex coat I brought with us (and didn't expect to use in Australia). We sat on the promenade, which was nice and flat and skateboarders, joggers and cyclists were in abundance. The sea was very cold and we decided not to brave dipping anything in but our toes so we sat on the paved walkway and watched the sunset (a regular pastime now). Maybe due to the weather, maybe due to the pier, but we thought the place resembled Brighton, not a bad comparison, but we didn't expect to be sitting in the cold on a beach resembling home. We don't have any pictures because Nicola didn't feel very inspired by the surroundings...sorry St Kilda.
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