So about a week ago I took a trip to Melbourne and country Victoria. Fist time out of WA since moving here. It was partly to go see a goofy doesn't matter Canada USA hockey game, but that was really just the excuse. It was a great trip and I have to highly recommend both Melbourne and Victoria at large.
First Melbourne. Like I said I was there to watch the US crush our Canadian brothers in hockey. But that only took on day. The rest of the time I explored the city. And Melbourne is cool. The downtown has great tucked away alleys called laneways that are home to very cool bars, shops, and restaurants. Very cool areas to explore. Victoria is also the second leading state in Oz when it comes to craft beer so we were able to do a beer tour of the city(think classy pub crawl) and tour the brewery of the second largest brewers in the country. Both highly recommended. My host in the city was a coworker who showed my a gin bar where I had a religious experience. I thought I liked gin. I did not know enough about gin to have an opinion.
No post about Melbourne would be complete without talk of her tram system. A series of streetcars that traverse the city in a highly effective and relatively cheap transit system. An important part of Melbourne's fabric. My only complaint was some stops were straight up dangerous. Most were sizeable above grade platforms in the middle of the street with fences to separate people from cars. A few however are simply 1m wide sections of the road with painted lines to delineate it. In the middle of a large 8 lane road. There was a fence to separate you from the cars at least, but they could have easily bursted trough it at the speeds the road moved at. Really insane stuff.
The second part of my trip was a road trip along the great ocean road. My coworker buddy, myself, and one of my buddies friends piled into a Subaru and off we went. First off the great ocean road is fantastic. Cut into the hills right above the southern ocean. Ever 10-30kms a small river would empty into the sea and a small town would sit in the valley. Insanely scenic. We stayed a night in Apollo's Bay which is a larger tourist town on a very nice bay. Fantastic beach, but alas the Victorian winter meant it was cold and rainy. Bit of a shame.
Day two we cut up into the national forest just north and drove some insane logging roads in a very hilly area. Reminded me a bit of SWVA but the plants were all wrong. Way too many germs. When we rejoined the Great Ocean Road it was in the area of The Twelve Apostles. They are very cool I think sandstone formations right on the water. The way the weathered resulted in awesome formations, including 7(there were 12 originally I think) large sandstone pillars in the surf. The sea in this area is the site of a lot of shipwrecks because of powerful currents and the very rocky cliffs.
The last bit was into the dairy region just off the ocean. Drove through beautiful pastoral areas and discovered an awesome local distiller. Had some local cheese and then the next morning back to the city.
My first trip outside of WA since moving over was a rousing success. Melbourne is cool, and country Vic is cool. Much more of a temperate climate.
Pictures!! Random pullover on the Great Ocean Road, some Apostle's, and the national forest we explored.
