Sigh. Our last road trip day. And our final few days in Australia. Where did the time go? Seems like just yesterday we were in Hawaii. Incredible trip so far – and with 3 more incredible days to go.
We are up and on the road around 9:30ish. Not too early, but not too late. We want to be in Melbourne around 2 which is when the City Tempo said our room would be ready. We head out along Princes Highway, easily finding the Coles gas station where we get our 8 cents off a litre with our Coles points 
. Then off we go to Melbourne.
Two tourist information folks (the lady in Bruthen and the guy in Eden) told us to take the scenic route on the South Gippsland Highway. They both raved about the beautiful the drive and scenery. Sure, that’s what we’re all about. so after a short time on the Princes highway, we turn off onto S. Gippsland.
After about 30 minutes – we are now committed to this route – we are wondering what the fuss is all about. Parched fields, outback-ish bushland, farmland and cows. No coastal scenery and no real stunning view points either. Just really stiflingly boring driving. Seriously so boring, that we didn’t even take any pictures. That will tell you how disappointing the drive was.
As soon as we can, we find a deviation to put us back on Princes and get us to Melbourne. We make it unscathed to the M1 – go through the electronic tolls (they charge the toll straight to your credit card through the rental company!) and into Melbourne proper. It’s a pretty easy shot straight up to City Tempo. We come into the city from the South, and simply have to navigate a couple of roads. Again – grid system lay out – makes it really easy to navigate. Unfortunately though, the trolleys make it nearly impossible (for us foreigners) to make a right turn! Seriously – this is nuts – and we sadly have to make a right turn to get to our hotel. Yikes!
Ok – so it goes like this: to make a right turn (and remember we are driving on the left side of the road), we have to get in our far left lane (yes, totally counterintuitive). Then you pull out into the middle of the intersection so that you are blocking the cars coming up the road onto which you are turning right. At most intersections there is a neon sign telling you when to go. Of course the intersection we are turning into doesn’t have that sign. Crap. So, we wait and wait and then see an opening in the traffic behind us – and sort of in the traffic coming the other direction and just floor it. Darn – scary!
But we made it. Now – the hotel. It’s located right on a corner with a bus stop in front and a Loading Zone only section for 2 or 3 cars. 15 minutes only. Ok – we’ll unload, check in fast and go return the car. Check in is smooth, Ajay, who we’ve been communicating with over the past week is there – and is just as wonderful in person as through email. We head up to the 23rd floor, check out the room, great views of the city, cute little kitchenette, nice bathroom and plenty of space for us. We don’t linger long, because we know we need to head back down to get the car out of the loading zone.
Horrors! There is a parking ticket on the car. The violation says it is for being “stopped in a loading zone”. Ok. So we’re thinking maybe they thought we were there for more than 15 minutes, which we were not – and we have the time stamped receipt from reception to prove it. To add insult to injury – its for $141. No way! Yeah, we know it’s expensive here, but that is just crazy!
Of course now we are fuming – and we still have to navigate the city streets to return the rental car. Needless to say it was a stressful little drive – made only worse by another freaking right turn. Sheesh! Although, this time we figure out that we are supposed to wait until our light turns red, then we make the turn. I know, I know, it doesn’t really sound right, but it works and we weren’t almost t-boned this time! So, now we are on the correct street and we are looking for the rental agency at the train station. We find the sign, but don’t have a clue where to park – no signs for a garage – just the train station. Crud.
We actually luck out and find a metered space across the street from the rental car office. We feed the meter (oh yeah, not taking any chances this time!) and head over to the office. We walk in, give the guy the keys and tell him where the car is (apparently there is a garage somewhere – but whatever!). He says it’s not a problem parking on the street, he was just about to leave, so he’ll just take that car. Huh? Leave? what the heck? Thank heavens we got there when we did, because we would have gone over the edge if the office would have been closed and we were stuck with that darn car in this city another minute!
We also tell him about the parking ticket and both he and another guy there say – oh yeah – those parking officers are tricky. They also said a few choice words about the parking people which they apologized for – but it was Aussie slang and we didn’t even catch what they said! They tell us we’ll have to call or go online and contest it and it shouldn't be an issue. But this one guy says he’s had to take them to court over tickets … not helpful!
Back to the hotel we go. The good thing is it isn’t even 3PM, so we can figure the ticket thing out today. And the walk back does us good – well sort of. We do get to scope out the area and get the lay of the land, but it is HOT. Sweating, wilting, stupefyingly hot. By the time we are back to the hotel we are just dripping. Because we have time, we crank up the a/c and cool down while getting organized in our cool city view apartment.
Effectively “chilled” we go out on the hunt for Town Hall and our ticket complaint! Again – it’s good for us – we’ve nothing planned this afternoon, so this gives us ample time to explore the city a little bit more. It’s a lovely small and easy to navigate CBD. You can walk everywhere without any trouble. We head down to the Town Hall, passing the main metro/train station with thousands of people swarming in and out. Very young, very vibrant – and very Asian! The people and the restaurants. The area right past the train station has every Asian type of restaurant you would want – Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese. All in a row. Good to know for dinner options.
We find the Town Hall and are directed to the appropriate department where a lovely girl tells us we were parked in a commercial loading zone and tries to hand us a flyer with parking rules. Well, gee, thanks, but the sign did not designate the zone as for commercial only – it simply said loading zone, 15 minute limit. We argue our case for a bit, not getting anywhere, and finally she gives us a form to fill out to contest the ticket. We plead our case in writing and hand it in. We’ll see. Welcome to Melbourne!
After that annoying detour, we continue to wander around the city – going to the Greek area to look at restaurants, to Hardware Lane where there are tons of restaurants, one of which is a Greek Tapas place that looked promising online. Sadly, it was out of business – well – the sign said it was undergoing renovations and would be open February 3. Since it’s March 4 and there is no sign of activity, all the plates and cooking utensils are stacked on tables and the bar, well, we’re guessing they won’t be open anytime soon. Darn.
Oh well, we continue our strolling and searching and stumble across Chi Kitchen – Thai food with happy hour! $5 drinks. Now THAT is promising! Onward we head to the grocery store in Melbourne Central – a totally cool mall constructed around Coops Shot Tower – a tower completed in 1888 to produce lead shot. It was saved from demolition in 1973 and incorporated into the Melbourne Central mall. The shot tower is now encased in a huge glass cone – an imaginative way to meld the past and the present!
The mall is enormous and it takes some wandering and navigating to finally find the grocery store on the bottom level near the train station. Fortunately there is a bottle store there as well, so we stock up on food and beer to stock our fridge, then head back to City Tempo to cool off some more!
Later on, we venture out again to Chi Kitchen for dinner. We had the place virtually to ourselves,
and were treated to some incredible Thai dishes: Calamari Salad for Ed and Chicken with Thai veggies for me.
Huge portions too! So much so that I took half mine home in a doggie bag for later in the week. What the heck? We’ve got the kitchen and we might as well make use of our leftovers and facilities!
Back at the hotel, we chill watching the city light up in the night, then crash early to get ready for our 14 hour Great Ocean Road tour.
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