Melbourne Vacation’18 (19th – 25th Aug)

Total costs:

Scoot Airlines: $954.02 (2 pax)
Stay cation: $364.78 (AIRBNB + hotel)
Car rental (APEX): $176.34 (3 Days rental; inclusive of zero excess, unlimited KM and roadside cover)

Landed Melbourne Tullamarine Airport Terminal 2 at approximately 11 am. Headed off to purchase Optus prepaid SIM card and Myki card before I set off to city region.

There are two transport alternative to get into the city:

Alternative 1 [Cheaper option]

Take bus route 901 (SmartBus) that connect b/w Broadmeadows station and Melbourne Airport. Pay using the Myki card when boarding bus and alighting (similar to Singapore bus transportation)

Trip take approx. 20 minutes; Freq every 15 mins till 9pm on Weekdays, every 30 minutes till midnight on weekends (except Sunday till 9pm)

At Melbourne airport, all Route 901 services depart from bus terminal outside Terminal 4.

Alternative 2 [Costlier option]

Take skybus (24 hours/ 7 days) at A$18 each (separated ticket; cannot use Myki card). At Melbourne airport, Skybus stops at T1, T3 & T4. In the city, skybus stops at Southern Cross station, near corner of Bourke & Spencer St. skybus hotel transfer service provide free transport b/w Southern cross station and selected hotels.

Purchase Skybus either online or at ticket booth at Melbourne Airport and Southern Cross station.

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ALL ABOUT MELBOURNE CITY

Well… How many days should I stay at Melbourne city? That would be the most common question asked. Personally, I would advice a full 3 days 2 nights at Melbourne city to sufficiently enjoy the MUST GO attractions & shopping sprees in the city region. For shopping wise, I would strongly recommend outlet store at DFO South Wharf and their big departmental stores which are pocket-friendly.

Next big question would be, where should I stay at Melbourne City? This question could be solved by listing down in Google map of all the possible attractions/place that you would like to go , and through it you’ll roughly know which area would be the best for you.

For instance, I had mapped out all the possible places below, and obviously it would be encouraged for me to stay near Melbourne Central station or Southern Cross station.

STAY-CATION in Melbourne city:

I would recommend either Airbnb or hotel in the Melbourne city. Of course, it would be encouraged to book Airbnb for large group (3 or more). For my case, it would be beneficial to book hotel for just two of us.

I booked Great Southern Hotel and Ibis Melbourne Swanston Street Hotel on two different occasions, as I am travelling out of town in between the trip for a couple of days before coming back to the city for few days.

Both hotels are affordable at a cost of $208.87 for 4 nights in total, after a discount of $54.99 for being an active hotel website membership.

Transportation in Melbourne city:

Being a pocket-friendly traveler, We depended entirely on the tram, train and legs for the entire trip in the city area. Both the tram and train network are easy to figure it out within minutes. However, we took the Skybus from Great Southern station to Airport. The cheapest option would be taking a public bus, but it comes with a price of uncertainty of the bus frequency.

[1] Melbourne’s Free Tram Zone & Paid zone:

To determine if the zone is a paid/free one, the tram usually will made an announcement for the next stop or you could even look for the signage at tram stops to determine if it’s a free or paid zone.

Myki card can be used for tram paid zone, which requires you to tap card at the paid zone. (no worries, follow the local will do).

The Free zone is listed here, which covered most of the tourist attractions.

[2] Victorian Train Network:

***Before I move on to the detailed itinerary, the places that I indicated for both Melbourne City and Road trip to Great Ocean Road, I didn’t went for all due to limited time as well as my chilling and no-rush mood for this trip. Generally, if you are planning to go all the areas for Melbourne city + Road trip to Great Ocean Road, I would suggest a 4 days 3 nights in Melbourne city,

NOTE: Before I move on to the detailed itinerary, I need to clarify that I did not went to all places in Melbourne City and road trip to Great Ocean Road which I had listed below. Reason being, limited time and my chill-ax mood for this trip.

Generally, I would suggest 3 days 2 nights in city and 5 days 4 nights in Great Ocean Road (for road tripping) to cover all places that I am going to mention below. Add additional 2 days 1 night at Philip Island which I have skipped.

However, if you are keen to know which areas I went:

Melbourne City: I went to all areas as listed below except for Immigration Museum and Brighton Bathing Boxes. Further, I also spend half day at Geelong, which is a town out of city area.
Road trip to Great Ocean Road: I missed out on The Bay Island, Loch Ard Gorge, Triplet Falls, Teddy Lookout, Bell Beach.

Recommendation for Melbourne city:

1] Old Melbourne Gaol (2-hours duration with a tour around): 930am – 5pm (daily except xmas & Good Friday; last entry at 3.30pm). Fare: A$28.
Transportation: 2-mins walk from Melbourne Central station or FREE city tram No. 35 on corner of La Trobe & Russell streets

2] Queen Victoria Market (2-hours duration ): 6am – 3pm (Tues & Thu)
Transportation: 7-mins walk from Melbourne Central station & Flagstaff Station or FREE tram no. 19, 57 or 59 to Stop 7 (Elizabeth St) or Tram 58 to Stop 9 (Peel St).

3] State Library Victoria (30 mins duration): 10am – 9pm (Mon – Thu); 10am – 6pm (Fri- Sun).
Transportation: Melbourne Central station, directly opp. Swanston St. Entrance or tram stops near entrance on Swanston Street & La Trobe St.

4] DFO South Wharf (half day duration): 10am – 6pm (Mon- Thu, Sun); 10am – 9pm (Fri)
Transportation: Tram No. 96, 109 or 12, stop opp. Clarendon St. Entrance of Melbourne convention and Exhibition Centre. OR Tram No. 70 stop at end of Flinders St, walk towards Yarra river and cross New Seafarers pedestrian bridge to reach South Wharf. OR take train to Southern Cross station, which is a short stroll from South Wharf.

5] Immigration Museum (2-hours duration): 10am – 5pm (Daily); Adult $14; concession [full time student/healthcare worker) free.
Transportation: FREE tram No. 48, 55, 70 or 75 to Flinders St. and Market St. OR train to Flinders St. or Spencer St Station.

6] St Kilda Beach and pier ((2-hours duration) : Take tram No. 16 from Swanston St, No. 96 from Bourke St., or No. 12 from Collins St. to St. Kilda.

7] Brighton Bathing Boxes (1-hour duration): Take train to Brighton Beach Railway station, then walk approx. 500m to the bathing boxes.

8] Winter Night Market (2-hours duration): Click on this link to get more information on the opening period for this market.

9] Luna Park Melbourne (2 hours duration): Click on this link to get more information of theme park opening hours and transportation

Road-tripping in Melbourne

This was my virgin road-trip, and being the cautious me, I only decided to rent 3 days car rental out of the Melbourne City as my boyfriend is the only driver, which was kinda short and I would had recommended longer road-trip around Melbourne if given the opportunity again.

There are two famous/popular areas for short road trip, which includes the Penguin Philip Island and Great Ocean Road. Due to a short car rental duration, I could only opt for one of the two; Great Ocean Road.

If you are in the same situation as me with 3 days car rental, then you can decide based on what attracts you more, scenery views or attractions ? Choose Great Ocean Road with magnificent nature views and choose Philip Island for a kid-friendly trip.

Car rental

After a thorough research for various car rental companies, I decided on Apex car rental as there are no fee for driver below 25 years old, and their charges are quite reasonable as well. Furthermore, they provides direct insurance for zero excess and roadside cover at an affordable cost.

The car was also in good conditions and the whole process of taking the car was quick and easy. Do look out for their car deals section (which include zero excess) which I had missed out for my Melbourne trip when booking the car.

Great Ocean Road – Road Tripping

Drive via M1 from Melbourne City toward Great Ocean Road, and you can start your journey at Bay of islands. I would save the hassle and let the professional elaborate on each attractions that I had listed on the map (as above). Leave the city area by 9.30 am so that you can reach the first destination by ~1 pm.

However, I started off my road trip with Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park and skipped the Bay of Island (due to insufficient time). After which, we headed to all the scenery attractions and continue remaining the next day.

Meanwhile, I could provides some useful information to ease your convenient in getting around Great Ocean Road and back to Melbourne City:

Personally, it would be great to split them up into two days to avoid rushing and take time to absorb each of the serene nature. I would also recommend staying at an Airbnb instead and utilize the approx. $62 discount off by signing up using this link.

Stay around Loch Ard Gorge/The Twelve Apostles and enjoy a great sunrise near Twelve Apostles for next day.

I stayed at a farm stay for my first road trip night, which was definitely a great stay and I recalled the pitch dark outside the house, with lightning and heavy rain in the midnight. It was cosy cuddling with blankets in the couch, but we missed out on the star gazing due to poor weather. We also aren’t blessed with a sunrise as we rest in the car awaiting for the sunrise 😦 [Well… too bad I’m unable to upload video of the farm stay inside through this site]

DAY 2 -3 [ROAD TRIP]

After finishing the Great Ocean Road sightseeing, we headed to triplet falls, but give up walking out of the car as it was raining and I’m plain lazy. (yeah, so no photo for that)

Next up, we headed to Kafe Koala & General Store to grab our lunch. This place is famous for bird feeding; you can purchase bird feeds in the general store by asking the cashier.

After late lunch, we headed out to feed the birdies. It took me quite some time to adapt with all the parrots surrounding me; yeah, I was yelling for the first few minutes. As a tip, it would be recommended to wear a jacket with hood as the parrot’s claw are quite sharp, which may hurt your scalp.

At the same spot, look up the trees to spot any Koalas resting above. With the help of local, we spotted two Koalas up the trees. I probably spend an hour feeding the birds and getting amused by their actions over here.

After departing here, we headed off to our Airbnb site which was an hour and half to the destination.

The AIRBNB give a very fresh and IKEA feel, totally loving it. Apparently, the toilet have a door that is connecting to the owner’s house (which made me kinda insecure initially; but everything was fine, no surprises when I was bathing.) The owner was kind to recommend some popular breakfast nearby, which we went to one to had a takeaway the next morning before heading to our next destination, Split Point Lighthouse.

We did not opt for the Lighthouse tour; free & easy. Next up, we headed off to another town, Geelong.

Keep at least 2 hours venturing around Geelong town, there are plentiful of places to walk around here; from beach to shopping malls and pier. Due to limited time, we had to head off early to return car at Melbourne city. We love the town so much that we went back to Geelong again by train the following day.

After we returned the car in the city area, we spend another 3 days 2 nights at the city area and Geelong.

With that, we bid our goodbye, had a budget lunch in the transit area before catching our flight. This trip had my many first tries; from first road trip to car rental to my first Caucasian country that I had visited (apparently, I told myself many times that I will never step foot to a Caucasian country; well… they seem huge & intimidating to me, idk why). I’m so grateful that I took the first step and change my mindset about Caucasian country, and I’m craving for my next Australia trip right after this trip ended.