MacsTravel Blog

Melbourne was a bit of an afterthought.

In our initial planning we had intended to travel to Uluru with Lisa and Pete between visiting Patty and Graham in Adelaide and Sarah and Ian in Sydney and the Blue Mountains. When it became obvious that we would have to connect through Melbourne from Adelaide we decided on a short layover. As it turned out it was much too short. It would have been so nice to fit in a visit to honorary Canadians Kate and Darren Meadows in Geelong. Not to mention spending more time in Melbourne and Victoria at large.

Our trip here was not without incident for our travelling companions. Lisa, whose job as a contract writer is literally about paying attention to details, left her carry on suitcase somewhere in the airport, an oversight discovered just as she prepared to board the plane. She and Pete set a new land speed record retracing her steps through the Adelaide airport before collecting said bag at security and making a beeline to the gate as it was closing. Apple Watch rings closed.

Welcome to Melbourne!

First Day

We started with a late afternoon walk from our hotel through the CBD down to the river. Our destination was the Melbourne Olympic Park area which includes the famous Melbourne Oval (capacity of 100 000 for cricket) and the tennis complex where the city hosts the Australian Open Grand Slam.

The walk to the Yarra river was terrific. Melbourne is super accessible with an expanding metro system and a matrix of trams which add character and convenience to getting around the city. We opted to walk. It was a little unseasonably cool, which was great.

While the facilities in the Olympic park area were impressive we were most taken by the scores of sculls on the water. The Melbourne Rowing Club is a big one and it was great to see the 4’s and 8’s sliding smoothly up and down the river.

After exploring the riverbank and Olympic Park we set off back to the CBD and the laneways of Melbourne. These are trendy side streets which feature stores (most were closed at this time of night on a Tuesday), cafes and restaurants and lots of graffiti art. Patios were full and the atmosphere was positive and friendly.

The Great Ocean Road

We had an early start on Wednesday, or as I now call it, a double flat-white morning.

Pete had booked a (small) bus tour of the highlights of The Great Ocean Road. We joined a small group at 7:30 and headed out. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but we came away from the experience totally impressed. The locations were not crowded, our guide was terrific and the sites were in many cases awe inspiring.

And yes, there were more warning signs.

Our trip was essentially divided into three sections: the Surf Coast, the Green Coast and The Shipwreck Coast.

The surf coast is all spectacular beaches, rolling and crashing waves, and incredible holiday homes perched in the hills.

The second section of The Great Ocean Road turns on land into rolling hills and pockets of temperate rain forest. It’s a straight shot 5000km north from Antarctica with prevailing winds carrying moisture and relatively cool breezes into these hills so the terrain is green in most places and lush in some!

You can continue along the shoreline from the Surf to Shipwreck coast on a fabulous new footpath, but it is over 100 km long. Apparently it is well worth doing.

We stopped for a ramble through Melba Gully, a location that was apparently the inspiration for Stephen Spielberg’s set design for the original Jurassic Park film. I think the pictures illustrate why.

The Shipwreck coast is well named: over 200 verified wrecks and over 800 ships unaccounted for. The coastline was more rugged than the Surf Coast. Instead of impossibly beautiful beaches with long waves rolling in we saw towering sandstone cliffs, pounding surf and spectacular rock formations. The two sites we explored were the Loch Ard Gorge (named after one of those shipwrecks!) and the Twelve Apostles Marine National Park.

Loch Ard was spectacular. Signs warned of snakes and one couple did spot a tiger snake (not great). We were fortunate to see this little dude instead.

You don’t go to Loch Ard Gorge for the short-nosed echidna, enchanting as they are. You go for the cliffs. Incredible.

The Twelve Apostles, just down the road from Loch Ard, was equally breathtaking. Although there are no longer 12 due to erosion (which gives and “takes away” when it comes to iconic seaside sandstone vistas) the views along the shoreline were spectacular.

Queen Victoria Summer Night Market

Sometimes the best travel experiences are the ones that are unplanned. As our tour of the Great Ocean Road wound down our guide happened to mention that the Queen Vic Summer Night Market, running Wednesday nights only, might be a great place to grab a bite.

That was an understatement.

Jammed with food stations, beverage vendors, unique clothing and artisan stalls and featuring a funky Hawaiian jazz-fusion band, it was just fantastic! The perfect end to our all too quick stopover in this great city. We will be back!