Melbourne

At Christmas, I declared that I would like to start exploring a bit of Australia. After being here for nearly a year, we had not really left New South Wales (with the exception of Canberra but not sure if that counts!)

Flights were booked and I used one of my fastly growing Accor contacts to get a cheap room in Melbourne. First mistake was booking Easter weekend without realising it was Easter weekend. A quick 2 day break could have been a longer bank holiday weekend and Australia's "budget" airline Jetstar were going to charge over $500 to change the flights. So plan A remained as plan A.

I had heard lots of positive comments about Melbourne with nearly all our UK visitors preferring it to Sydney. The city did not disappoint.

The city centre is purpose built and unlike Sydney (& Newcastle) has nothing that could be called "natural beauty" but what it lacks in this area, it makes up for in others. The world's largest tram system brings life to the City. The new modern trams quickly move locals around the city whilst the old trams take tourists on the continual loop around the centre. Old British buildings meet modern new buildings and, unlike Sydney, seems to work well. And of course, the famous Lanes with the cafe's, bars and shops add to everything that makes Melbourne famous.

It is early Autumn and Melbourne felt like a nice Scottish summers day. It was warm in the sun and cool in the shade. It was nice not to have to worry about sun screen and getting too hot!

Of course we ate, we drank, we shopped, we explored and we even went to the Immigration Museum.

2 days were far too short though and I hope to get back to explore Melbourne again soon.

Photo's are here