A short trip to Melbourne

RyanJ

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Visited Melbourne CBD twice and always in winter, the last being 6 yrs back, and usually spanned no more than a week. This time in June I’ve decided to spend more time as well at Yarra Valley, Great Ocean Road ( GOR ) , and Grampians area ( technically state of Victoria rather than Melbourne ) to have more mix of countryside over CBD. June is the winter season, sunrise is about 7+am, sunset around 5pm.

Just gotten back yesterday.


Itinerary :

Download ETA App on phone to apply for an ETA, AUD$20 service fee per pax, near instantaneous approval at least for SG citizens.
Landed in Melbourne CBD, spent 2 nights.

Took taxi from Melbourne airport ( Tullamarine ) to CBD, bill came up to almost AUD 80. There is also Uber which we did not install, the system is abit different from our Grab, long queue and some PIN is involved, not sure how it is done, but likely cheaper than calling a cab.

Explored Queen Victoria Market ( QVM ), Melbourne Central, Chinatown, Old Melbourne Gaol, State Library Victoria.
On the last day of the hotel, picked up a rental car from a nearby Europcar branch a street across and headed towards GOR.

Great Ocean Road & Grampians
Sunrise at Boroka Lookout, Halls Gap, Grampians
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Sunrise , Gog and Magog and rainbow , GOR
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Twilight skies at a beach near Marengo Caravan Park, Apollo Bay, GOR
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1 Night at Apollo Bay (1)
1 Night at Port Campbell (1) (2)
1 Night at Warrnambool (1)
GOR mainly for the shoreline rocky formations. Motels are cheaper with less material comforts.

2 Nights at Halls Gap (1) ( Grampians Getaway - I highly recommend )
  • Halls Gap Zoo, Boroka Lookout (1) , Reed Lookout, MacKenzie Falls, Splitters Falls ( unfortunately tiny trickle in winter )


Yarra Valley
Yering rain and rainbow
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The Redwood Forest, Warburton
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3 Nights at Balgownie Estate Yarra Valley
Visited Healesville Sanctuary ( recommended ) , Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery, Redwood Forest, Yering Station (1) ( 2nd time here ) , TarraWarra Estate, Mount Donna Buang, Warburton La La falls, Maroondah Dam Wall Lookout. Did Puffing Billy before so I skipped it this time but do remember to book their tickets months in advance online. Oakridge and Chandon are nice wineries which I have previously visited, if you like sparkling, Chandon has nice selection.

Melbourne CBD
Docklands sunset
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Drove back to Melbourne CBD and stayed 4 nights at Mantra on Russell (1) (2)
Melbourne Zoo, Legoland, Docklands, Sea Life, ACMI (1) (2) Skydeck (1)

( Sea Life and Legoland tickets can be bought online TOGETHER for a deep discount, buying tickets a day in advance has a slight discount )

-Legoland Melbourne is an indoor theme park with free parking, good if you have young kid(s).

-Melbourne Airport Viewpoint is beautiful, the entrance is very near the exit of a roundabout.

-Arthur’s Seat at the Eagle Summit station area is really really bad for sunrise/sunset photos as the surrounding trees mostly encroach the vast city scape, I believe the immediate two lower lookouts before the summit to have a slightly better view. I am not sure if you can hike for better view but it was sunset and getting dark. Such a pity, so much potential for sunrise and sunset, and it was quite a ride out of CBD. Gondola rides only operate in good light and closes by 4pm, and that might be the only reason to visit if at all.

* I have done St Kilda pier and Philips Island precovid for penguin watching, tiagong St Kilda pier is now ? fenced , and Phillips Island no longer allows use of cameras for phototaking, these are measures erected to protect the penguins, hence you need to set your expectations straight if you plan to make a visit *

Retrospectively I would love more time at Grampian but waifu is a more citified person so overall it is a give and take. If you love nature, Grampian has plenty of wildlife and especially birds, spotted more Superb Fairywrens there than Yarra / GOR.

Cameras :

Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Sony mirrorless, the photos with watermark frame are from Xiaomi, GPS tagging of photos is particularly useful for reference.

Lenses : 14mm f1.8, 35mm f1.4, 24-105 f4, 200-600mm f5.6-6.3.

Telco:

No issues with Simba roaming.
Some mountainous areas especially those look outs may transiently not have signals, but getting in and out is usually quite straight forward with minimal forks at least for the ones we visited, but just be mindful there might be data/GPS signals at certain stretches.


Driving:

Grampians Getaway, Staying in "pyramidal" houses
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- * If only hanging around Melbourne you probably do not need a car.
- Got my vehicle from Europcar, some bits of discount from my Accor membership, "guaranteed model” was abit of BS since I got a different make/model instead.
- Driving is fairly straight forward, similar to Sg, do not accidentally drive into tram paths since some have a divider and can only switch lane after a junction.
- Some windy roads such as the bits coming down from Melbourne to Apollo Bay, the areas at Healesville, some of the lookout points at Grampians, but still more manageable than mountain passes in Japan and Scandinavia.
-Navigation with either Google Map or Waze is fine.
-Personally I feel Melbourne CBD to be easier to navigate than Sydney.
-Traffic at peak hours can be fashionably bad.
-Parking especially in those MSCPs are expensive, easily run AUD20 an hour or more, but outside of CBD most places we encountered at GOR Grampians Yarra area are usually foc ( do check signages to see how many hours you can park for free )
- Road hoggers on 1st/right lane on expressways are annoying, even heavy / long vehicles join in the fray, sg suddenly doesn't seem so bad.
- Hook turns are not common but something to take note of in CBD area if you do encounter one.
- The last pump station that is the nearest to car rental return at Melbourne Airport is the BP Melbourne City Airport station, you will need to return vehicle with a full tank at the airport carpark.


Dining:

Korean 'oppa' making dakgalbi for customers.
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Serving delectable blue cheese mussel pot at QVM
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A young chef at Balgownie Estate
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-Tap water is foc in most places, and in some eateries even sparkling is free, which is a great policy that Sg should implement all across.
-There is GST, generally no service charge.
- Food portions are generally larger than Sg.
- However there is a 15% surcharge on PH, 10% surcharge on weekends
- Card may incur additional charges.
-Hotpots spicy soup broth are generally spicier than Sg.
-Surprisingly I had more misses with steak than hits. Medium rare seems to be an issue. Maybe bad luck.
- Because larger portions cum stronger SG dollar, cafeteria and restaurant dining is comparatively less painful in Melbourne/Victoria than Sg.
 
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RyanJ

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Melbourne Central
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Tipsy Photo Bomber
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2 staffs doing live streaming in a grocery store, Little Bourke St
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Very sweet gal at a Mexican restaurant
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Monster Energy promoters.
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QVM
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Skateboarding with really supportive friends that cheered on despite repetitive falls and contusions.
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Quiet concentration, thoughtful evening shadows.
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RyanJ

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Fairywrens r my favs, more often seen at GOR / Grampians / Yarra forested areas

Splendid Fairywren - Female
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Superb Fairywren - Dull male
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Superb Fairywren - Bright male
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Black Shouldered Kite in flight looking at me, at Yering Station.
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The next frame still looking, and it was gone..
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Silver Gull fight, someone had a small ?chick in the mouth, at Port Campbell
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Willie Wagtail at Port Campbell
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Eastern Yellow Robin at The Redwood forest
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Barking Owl - Healsville Sanctuary
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Wedge-tailed Eagle - Healsville Sanctuary
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RyanJ

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Singing Honeyeater at a carpark near GOR
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Australian Magpie - they are everywhere
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Peacock at Healesville Sanctuary ready to take off
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Helmeted Guineafowl in Healesville Sanctuary
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Noisy Miner
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Little Wattled Bird - GOR
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? Little Wattled Bird - Melbourne Zoo compound
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Emu
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Common Myna
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House sparrow
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RyanJ

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Morning view from balcony, Mantra on Russell.

https://g.co/kgs/uBrZj8b

A panoramic stitch of more than 10 shots. Unfortunately didn't expect to see hot air balloons , I probably woke up too late. By the time I setup the camera, only 2 were left.
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Federation Square
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Melbourne Airport Viewpoint :
Google Map location - https://maps.app.goo.gl/DMKuz15J6W4U4YRW9

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Little Bourke St.
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State Library Victoria - Architecturally magnificent

https://maps.app.goo.gl/VPWXadajrp9LM8eL6

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Old Melbourne Gaol
https://g.co/kgs/pCqHfTC
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Trams
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ACMI Museum exhibit
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RyanJ

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Red-browed finch at Halls Gap, thought I screwed up on the entire photos for this fidgety fella but turned out to have 1 useful pic.
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Magpie Lark - very common even in CBD
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Kookaburra, can even spot them in citified areas.
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Australian Raven, at Lake Pertobe Warrnambool
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Australasian swamphen, Lake Pertobe Warrnambool
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White browed Scrubwren at Mackenzie falls
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DW

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Great pics, especially of the birds. I always like the small cute common sparrows.

Keep em coming
 

aarontansp

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Singing Honeyeater at a carpark near GOR
54563669647_bd06bb7261_h.jpg


Australian Magpie - they are everywhere
54589550451_21dd1f4063_h.jpg


Peacock at Healesville Sanctuary ready to take off
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Helmeted Guineafowl in Healesville Sanctuary
54590026195_0f3df8d93a_h.jpg


Noisy Miner
54588301409_fd2fa8774b_h.jpg


Little Wattled Bird - GOR
54564544451_eec9133e61_h.jpg


? Little Wattled Bird - Melbourne Zoo compound
54588301354_1e1a222a7b_h.jpg


Emu
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Common Myna
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House sparrow
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House Sparrow SG no more, eaten and chase by crows
All missing now. Last time a lot.
 

RyanJ

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Great pics, especially of the birds. I always like the small cute common sparrows.

Keep em coming

Thx! I only took raws, will be processing them ++
There are so many birds during hikes and trails, even spotted a lyrebird in the wild.

House Sparrow SG no more, eaten and chase by crows
All missing now. Last time a lot.

Yes. Outclassed by the larger urban birds : (

Pro cam skills

Thx, still scratching the surface.
 

RyanJ

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Spike

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I am always impressed by your photos, Ryan..

Too bad @mryang is not around anymore.. he likes bird sightings.
 

RyanJ

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Notice quite a few dutch angles. Are several of these taken from inside a vehicle?

No was outside. Was trying to fit the ice cream truck at foreground with a 14mm against rushing to airport to retune the car.

Shooting from the other side of the truck might be better but was dark / not illuminated.

I should have gone to the view point maybe 30min earlier, only saw 3 planes, didn have much time to wait for the next few planes and skies getting too dark.

I am always impressed by your photos, Ryan..

Too bad @mryang is not around anymore.. he likes bird sightings.

Thx Spike 👍

Oh ya have not seen him around.
 
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