We finally arrived in our last Australian destination from Sydney, and the drop in temperature showed how far south we had travelled from the sands of Airlie Beach. We had planned this trip to visit our uni friends, Charlotte, Sarah, and Dan, who had been studying in Melbourne for third year, but decided that while we were in the Southern Hemisphere, we may as well make a trip of it, and so The Best Summer of Our Lives was born. My eyes had certainly been opened to an alternative lifestyle, one that didn’t revolve around the soul destroying daily grind of 9 to 5 office work, broken up by fruitless weekends in the same smelly self-professed ‘clubs’ that I had sneaked into at 17.
Street Art & Cafe Culture in Melbourne
We stayed at Sarah and Charlotte’s house, which they shared with an odd mixture of people, including Chris, who we immediately liked, and a man called Big Fat John. BFJ looked like Meatloaf and we caught him googling ‘boobs’. Having been on the road for almost two months, I was very excited by the prospect of Sarah’s toiletry collection, and it was a welcome relief to stay in a real house for a few nights.
As it was Charlotte and Sarah’s last days of their year abroad, we spent the time visiting their favourite haunts. These consisted of their favourite clubs (Eurotrash and Cookie), the dumpling place they went to afterwards, and the McDonalds they went to when they were hungover the next day.
It’s always interesting to visit other University campuses and compare them to Edinburgh. Melbourne had much of the red brick grandeur of our city, but with a more metropolitan vibe. We became pros at using the local trams, and checked out the best Melbourne had to offer.
Things to see and do in Melbourne
We squeezed in a visit to Melbourne University library, museum (free entry with student cards, and we all managed to pass the same one between us and get away with it), and the edgy alleyway street art.
Satisfied with our sightseeing, we ended the day sipping mulled wine in a riverside outdoor bar. Festive beverages in July – welcome to Australia!
Food and Drink in Melbourne
We spent a day soaking up Melbourne’s café culture and The alleyway eateries give the city a much more European feel than Sydney or Brisbane.
On a budget? So were we, but we still managed to treat ourselves by eating $1 Tapas at a rooftop bar called Naked For Satan.
Heading home after our tasty day, a double rainbow crowned the streets!
Day trip from Melbourne to St Kilda
A highlight of Melbourne was our day out in St Kilda, a cute seaside resort that reminded me of Brighton.
After much deliberation, we chose a patisserie from the many that made up the flesh of the main street and ate indulgent pastries. As we sat munching, an adorable Dad strolled past with his trio of toddlers, all bundled up in those puffa jackets that make children look like waddling bubbles, in a trolley!
We strolled the boardwalk under a sunset of pinks and purples, looking for penguins.
Char and Sarah had gotten minuscule tattoos to commemorate their year in Melbourne, and C got one at the same place, East Brunswick Tattoos. She paid the same amount for her hand drawn bird design that Sarah and Char paid for these crosses, that I think are supposed to represent the Southern Cross (constellation, not train station).
‘They’re not matching, they’re just the same’
On our final day, Char and Sarah headed back to UK and C and I checked into Nomads, our go-to hostel franchise, before our flight to Malaysia.
And so our tour of East Coast Australia had come to an end. I had been infected with the Aussie way of life, or rather, the backpackers’ mindset. No worries, just goon and sunsets. I would definitely be back. But now, it was off to the final leg of our adventure – South East Asia was calling!
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The Educational Tourist says
I love the street art! That edge of a building that is sticking out of the ground is so cool! Australia is high on the list of places I would like to visit. These are great places to see!
Love the guy who calls himself Big Fat John. What a scream.
Thanks for the great post!
Natalie, The Educational Tourist
Natalie Deduck says
It´s amazing to catch up with old friends… I totally understand how important those days were for you. I just got back from a Eurotrip with friends I didn’t see for one year… Now enjoy South East Asia, I´m sure you will have a blast there!
All the best,
Nat
Simone says
Oooh glad you’ve liked Australia! We stayed in Nomads in Melbs too, it’s a good hostel (we enjoyed the free goon) haha and I’m glad to see you’ve got the Aussie slang down pat 🙂
Enjoy SE Asia! x
Simone
wwww.theaussieflashpacker.com
Heather Cole says
Love the street art, so vibrant, and yes the whole place reminds me of Brighton a bit too! 🙂
Chris says
I always love to see other peoples impressions of my home city!
Having not seen it in almost a year, it’s made me a little nostalgic…
Did you take a peek inside the State Library, another beautiful building?
We often forget about the Penguins in St Kilda!
chrysoula says
It looks thet you had grrat fun in Melbourne. I would love to visit one day!
Milosz Zak says
How brave of you to get tattoos! My parents totally indoctrinated me against any kind of body art, so it wouldn’t be something for me. It looks like Melbourne is very similar to some of Canada’s cities, at least in appearance, if not in the high cost of living.
Practically Perfect Mums says
I spent a few months in Australia and loved the way of life. Would be great if we could emilate that more relaxed lifestyke in the UK
Practically Perfect Mums says
I spent a few months in Australia and loved the way of life. Would be great if we could emulate that more relaxed lifestyke in the UK
Kate says
One of my favourite places in Australia. I mainly lived in Brisbane, which was a great location on the east coast but I went to Melbourne three times. I loved going to St Kilda on the tram and Degraves St for a coffee as well as all of the street art. Your photos are great and this post makes me want to go back!
Julia says
Really enjoyed the street art pictures 🙂 I’ve always wanted to go to Melbourne… Those tattoos are very cool. I like it when they’re subtle.
Rachel says
Melbourne is one of my favorite cities in the world! I arrived there and felt that I could be right at home there–there’s a special vibe about it.
Nic from Roaming Renegades says
We really can’t wait to visit Melbourne, it looks like it is really the sort of place we will love. So much culture and of course neighbours!!
Conor from Bean Abroad Travel says
The street art there looks absolutely amazing! I’ll have to head over there to check it out sometime :-).
Revati says
Oh my GOD! This post took me bacj into some amazing memories! I loved my time in melbourne, and especially in St. Kilda, when a friend and I left the boys to go have a great time without them! Sigh.