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
Grampian 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 Baroka Lookout
1 Night at Apollo Bay
1 Night at Port Campbell
1 Night at Warrnambool
GOR would be mainly for the shoreline rocky formations. Motels are in general cheaper but with less material comforts.
2 Nights at Halls Gap ( Grampians Getaway - I highly recommend )
- Halls Gap Zoo, Boroka Lookout, Reed Lookout, MacKenzie Falls, Splitters Falls ( unfortunately tiny trickle in winter )
Yarra Valley
Yering rain and rainbow
3 Nights at Balgownie Estate Yarra Valley
Visited Healesville Sanctuary ( recommended ) , Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery, Redwood Forest, Yering Station ( 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
Drove back to Melbourne CBD and stayed 4 nights.
Melbourne Zoo, Legoland, Docklands, Sea Life.
( Sea Life and Legoland tickets can be bought online TOGETHER for a deep discount, also buying tickets a day in advance has a slight discount than purchasing on the very day of the visit.)
-Legoland Melbourne is an indoor theme park with free parking, way less packed than the one in Osaka, good if you have young kid(s).
-Melbourne Airport Viewpoint is beautiful , there is a grassless clearing for parking vehicles but it is porthole ridden, go slow, 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.
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:
- * 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 be 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:
-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.
