my 2 weeks in melbourne

It was so great to have time to catch up with my good friend Sosan and spend time with her and her baby, Aria, as well as Matt and their dog Prima! Originally, I was planning to stay for a week or so but ended up extending my stay for 2 weeks just so I could spend some more time with Sosan and Aria!

Unfortunately I didn't take as many photo as I would like to because my little camera was dropped on the lens in April so the camera doesn't focus well on scenic photos :( so a lot of the photos that I took while I was out and about in Melbourne are out of focus, which really sucks because I just got the camera before coming to Oz! However, I was able to get a few shots one night with my SLR... you'll see the difference haha.

Anyways, my first weekend in Melbourne, we went out for some shopping at Chapel Street and it was a really nice and sunny day. There are so many great boutiques and unique shops along this street.. you could probably spend a day here just going through all the shops. Then they got Matt's mom to babysit Aria and we went out into the city for a few drinks. We were all wanting something casual but then it turned out to be a really fun night! W cruised around the city for a bit trying to decide where to go and to find some parking and then we decided to start with a couple drinks at Transport at Federation Square.

Federation Square - Meeting Place

Night out with Matt and Sosan

Then walked along the Yarra River over to the Crown Casino (www.crowncasino.com.au) to check out some places there. The Crown Casino is huge, with high end shopping, restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs and of course a big casino, all under one roof! It's a pretty nice place for some night life and we went into a bar called The Pub and they played pretty good music and we just had a few more drinks and danced and had a good time!

For most of the 2 weeks I was there, the weather wasn't the greatest. It was cloudy, rainy and cold! But we still made an effort to go out into the city a few days during the week.

I loved the little alleys and streets filled with cafes and restaurants and there are so many of them throughout the city. The public transportation system was great too. It was so easy and efficient to get around everywhere. We went to Melbourne Central for some shopping. Another day we went to the Queen Victoria Markets for some cheap purchases and then we went to the Docklands as well for a bit of outlet shopping.

One of the little alley ways with cool cafes and restaurants

Melbourne Library - didn't get a chance to go in to have a look though

Melbourne Central

Queen Victoria Markets

For the rest of the days we didn't go to the city, we just relaxed and chilled at their home when it was really rainy, or else we would have a browse around nearby neighbourhoods. It was nice just to be around a familiar face and catch up. I could have went out for some exploring on my own, which I had planned to but the weather was pretty miserable during the time I was there, so I was happy to just relax with them. And also, it was a nice break from the quietness of Old Bar! I did get a chance to do a day trip tour to Phillip Island to see the famous Penguin Parade (I'll put that in a post on it's own).

Cute little Aria and Prima

A treat that Sos and I had while out for a coffee

Matt and Sosan got me into watching Masterchef and now I'm hooked on it. My last weekend in Melbourne we went out for Matt's brother-in-law's birthday. Went to the Crown Casino again but this time we went to a club. The music was just alright, nice club but I don't think we had as much fun as the weekend before. They took me to an AFL (Australian Football League) game, which is really big in Melbourne. It's a pretty easy game to pick up and like - a bit different to Rugby. Had some Italian food at Lygon Street after the game for my last dinner with them and then dropped me off at the airport!

Another night out at the Crown Casino - Fusion Nightclub with Matt's sister, Beck and bro-in-law, Daniel

At the AFL game at Etihad Stadium

I had a really nice time in Melbourne, and I will definitely have to go back again when the weather is nicer and perhaps to go see the horse races where we get a chance to get all dressed up and wear those cool hats! I also want to go back to do the Great Ocean Road trip.

Federation Square

One of the skylines along the Yarra River

the 'oz experience' - lakes entrance, wilsons promontory, and melbourne

We stayed the night at Lakes Entrance at a more average hostel called the Riviera Backpackers. It was an early night because we had to be up and on the bus by 6:30am.

Once we grabbed some toast to go and were on the bus, we made our way to the lake just during the start of the sunrise and it was really beautiful. I wish we could have stayed and watched the sun come up but unfortunately we couldn't because we were on a bit of a schedule.

Then we were on our way to Raymond Island, a nearby town that had a 5 minute ferry ride to Koala Island where we could see some koalas in the wild. We spotted 19 koalas but I'm sure there were more around just well hidden in the trees. It was quite tricky to spot them. The first one I "spotted" was a tree branch.. haha, but then I did spot one later one! We also so a baby koala (aka joey) it was so cute! There were a lot of mosquitoes out too and they were eating us alive.. I was lucky that I had a couple girls around me that the mosquitoes (aka mozzies) liked more than me so I only got a 3 or 4 bites. I also got to see some black swans when we were on the ferry.

After some koala spotting, we were on the road again and we stopped in Foster for lunch (which is about 2 hours away from Melbourne). But, we have one more stop before we arriving in Melbourne, which was Wilsons Promontory National Park where we went on a short wildlife walk. We got to see some emus,  and lots of kangaroos! I thought the coolest thing was to see the kangaroos hopping away just meters away from us.

So then we were on the road again, to our final destination - Melbourne! I think we were all pretty excited about it so we were awake and chatting and playing some road trip games. I was pretty excited to see Sosan and Matt and their baby girl Aria! We arrived in Melbourne at about 6:30pm and I got off at the Backpackers with a couple other girls who were staying there, and waited there for Matt and Sosan to pick me up! And in no time, they were there and Prima, their dog came along for the ride too!

My first night in Melbourne was pretty easy going, we stayed in and watched the Royal Wedding with Matt's mom and sister.

More about Melbourne in the next post..

the 'oz experience' - in thredbo, mount kosciusko

After driving through the Snowy Mountains we arrived in Thredbo around 5pm and stayed at the Lakes Inn (I think that's what it was called), which opened just for the Oz Experience groups. It was our group and the other group on the same trip pass but coming from Melbourne and going to Sydney. They probably don't open until the winter season starts because it's in a ski town.

A few of us girls jumped into the hot tub which was relaxing just before dinner. Then we got read and had some dinner and some drinks. Played a few rounds of 'Shot-Ski' where 4 people had to take shots from a ski. The 2 people in middle couldn't use their hands and the person at each end of the ski could only use one hand to control and lift the ski up so we could all take the shot. Me and the girls from the bus did one together.

A few drinks into the night, we all called it a night and got our rest for our hike the next day.

We left the Inn around 8:30am and got to the base of Mount Kosciusko by 9:00am and got on the chair lift by 9:15am to start our hike to the top of Mt Kosciusko! It's about a 6.5km hike from the top of the chair lift to the top of the mountain. Our guide said it would be about 13 km or a 3 to 3.5 hour hike return. It is located in the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park. With a height of 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia.

It was quite a breezy hike. There were a few small snow patches here and there. Lots of huge granite rocks around. It was beautiful scenery and it was different from what I'm used to with the Rockies.

We made it to the top! Yay!

At the summit!

After the hike we made our way to Lakes Entrance. Along the way we stopped by the Snowy River and there was a great rainbow which made it even more picturesque with the fall colours and rain clouds.

On the other side of the bridge