Today’s agenda is to wander around the Victoria Market, the CBD and ride the old trolleys that circle the CBD. We’re off to a good start with the market – it’s a 5 minute walk from the apartment so we’re there nice and early. It is huge – filled with every imaginable food. In the outdoor areas, the produce vendors all hawk gorgeous – and really cheap!!! – produce. We’re sad we’re not staying here now because we could so get into this market for food! Compared to the grocery store and restaurants, this is the place to shop! Yum! But, sadly, we are just window shopping since we sincerely doubt any of this stuff would be allowed on the plane tomorrow!
Inside the huge building complex are different areas for meat, poultry, seafood, prepared food, spices, etc. You could spend hours upon hours wandering around here. As it is, we spend quite a bit of time – but not enough that we don’t have about an hour wait for the tourist bus that picks up outside the market.
There are 2 tourist routes in Melbourne – the City Circle Tram which follows the old trolley lines just inside the CBD and the Tourist bus which goes to a bit more of the outlying areas across the river. Both are free and run on regular schedules throughout the day. Ed really wants to go on the tram (being the trolley aficionado that he is!), so we decide to do that later in the day, and first take the bus from the market and do a complete circuit of the city. Since we are too early for the first bus – we go back the apartment for a bit (rest stop!) then head back to the bus stop and get in line (well, there are only 2 others there – but still). The bus finally arrives (a bit late actually) and we grab seats and follow the narrative along throughout the city.
This is a great way to get your bearings here – we go to the waterfront area and dockside, where there are lots of shops, restaurants and a Costco! No kidding! Think it’s the first one built here – there are only 3 in the entire country! Wild! After dockside, we go through the city then down to Southbank and the arts precinct where there are museums and entertainment halls and all sorts of activities. Then back up into the city past St. Paul’s, into East Melbourne, up to the Carlton Gardens and back to the market. We decide to stay on the bus – which is really filling up now! Standing room only! But we’ve decided to go wander around Costco and waste some time – it’s still early in the day and we’ve got nothing to do except explore the little lanes down around Flinder street.
We hop off at Dockside and walk back to Costco – it’s just like being home! And the prices are pretty much the same! How does that happen? In a country where everything is way more expensive than the states – how do the prices in Costco equal what we pay in the states? Who’s getting ripped off here? We’re thinking us! Jeez! But – it is a fun hour or so wandering – and it keeps us cool and off the hot streets. Plus – bonus! We have lunch there – they have the hot dog and soda special – it’s more expensive than the states, but it’s still really, really cheap – so we make out like bandits!
Back out on the street – we walk through the mall – and hit the tram station to go back into town. Trams go both clockwise and counter-clockwise (what the Aussies, like all British speakers, call anticlockwise), so we’re taking the first one to appear. We end up on the clockwise tram which is heading back toward our apartment then down into the CBD to Flinders street which is our destination.
In hindsight, we probably should have taken the anticlockwise tram, because it would have gotten us there faster – but we didn’t want to stand outside in the heat. Of course, the heat in the tram wasn’t all that great either (which we knew would be an issue, but we made that decision when we took the bus first). But – we’re here now, so we make the best of it and enjoy the ride.
We end up ditching the tram by the Parliament House because the tram stops there for 5 minutes or something. Nah – we’re getting out of that heat and walking – way better. the little lanes we want to visit are about a 10 minute walk and we’re way happier out on the street.
Melbourne has all these little lanes running between major streets. Some of the pedestrian only ones have themes or have some special significance. Like, for instance, the AC/DC lane. I’m all excited about this one, since the band is from this area, figure it will be totally cool. Well…it WAS totally cool, when you read about how it first came about, and the artwork there depicting the band, etc. Now, it’s just a run down little lane cluttered with advertisement posters and the AC/DC Lane sign. Bummer!
While AC/DC is a disappointment, Hoosier Lane is not. It definitely lives up to its billing as a center for urban art. Virtually every square inch of wall space is painted with murals, portraits, graffiti type art, you name it. It is quite an eyeful and there are some incredible artists showcased up and down the little lane (alleyway).
Pretty cool! Except that its literally pretty HOT! We’re sort of spent by now – so we head back up through the CBD to the apartment to cool off in the A/C until later!
Its time well spent in the apartment since we do have to pack for our flights. So, once that is done, and we have determined we are still not so hungry, we’ll just finish our leftovers, we do decide to hit the streets for one last drink. We end up stumbling upon this great little dive called the Horse Bazaar. It’s crazy divey! An after work drinking crowd is there – which is fine – but at night you can tell it gets nuts – there is a DJ and they have story nights and all sorts of activities.
Very fun – and we spend out last few Aussie dollars on a beer and wine while we sit and people watch for a bit. Back at the apartment, we polish off our remaining food and hit the hay, ready for our really, really, really long flying day ahead of us.
It was an incredibly great trip – the entire thing. On our last evening, we still can not believe we have been traveling for so long and are actually heading home. It seems like yesterday we were just leaving for Hawaii. We never say never, but if we don’t get a chance to come back, we’re really glad we got to see all we did and can’t imagine a better way to really explore New Zealand and Australia!
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