So about six weeks ago I went to Melbourne with a few friends for a long weekend; now I am finally going to tell you all about it. It wasn't exactly the weekend when we went because we had to schedule around work. All four of us worked Saturday night until about 2am then had to catch our flight out at 7am. Needless to say none of us really slept. As soon as we arrived in Melbourne we hit the ground running. Fortunately for us, one of the group members had a friend who lived in Melbourne so he picked us up from the airport and drove us around for the day.
Our first stop of the day, Brighton Beach to take our tourist selfie with the colorful beach shacks
Once the selfies were taken we headed off to the Queen Victoria Market to browse and have a snack. Then we grabbed a beer at this cool bar under a bridge called Ponyfish Island bar. (Stupid me didn't take a photo of it) We continued to power through our sleep deprivation and caught the sunset from the Sky Tower.
We had an amazing view of the city
Then for dinner we had a well balanced diet of pancakes and sugar
Hey it's vacation right? I can do what I want, it doesn't count in real life...
The next day was my favorite! We rented a car and drove part of the Great Ocean Road but saw some of the main highlights. It is an amazing drive with beautiful scenery the whole way. For some parts you drive along the coast and others you drive through a national park which is just amazing.
12 Apostles
Loch Ard Gorge
For our last day I visited the Melbourne Zoo and went shopping at H&M. Then we met up with some other friends from work who were also in Melbourne and celebrated Laurie's birthday.
Wednesday was the day we were supposed to fly back to Melbourne but for some reason we forgot how to travel. In the morning we were just relaxing waiting for our flight (slightly hungover), then when we should have been leaving for the airport we decided it was a great time to get nachos. (They were delicious) We catch an uber to the airport and realize we only have an hour until the flight takes off. So we run into the airport and try to check in, turns out check in closes 45 minutes before the flight and our dumb selves didn't check in online like normal people. So we were stuck because the next available flight out was not until 630am the next day. We spent the next 3 hours searching for a new way home. Laurie and I ended up taking an all night bus home while Ignacio stayed. (Jerk got lucky and jumped on a flight home that night)
Things I would do differently:
- Stay longer. Three and a half days just wasn't enough to see everything. I would have liked to spent two/three days alone just doing the great ocean road.
- Go at a different time. We went in September and it was still super cold and unlucky for us it rained every day. If it had been a little warmer and less wet I would have enjoyed it so much more.
- Do a little research. Maybe I'm stupid but I thought the public transportation was a little confusing which made it difficult/expensive for us to get around.
Also, here is a video of the trip... Duh
