Australia - Melbourne 2010

Melbourne April 2010



Took a 7 hr flight finally arrive in Melbourne. The time difference is 2 hrs earlier compare to Singapore. Example Singapore time 4pm there is 6pm. Bought the Skybus return ticket (Aud 26) at the booth just outside Melbourne International Airport. The bus will transport you to Southern Cross terminal and transfer to a smaller bus to bring you to hotel. The ride from Airport to Southern Cross Station takes about 20mins.




























Interesting ice machine found along the corridoor of Atlantis Hotel.


















Shopping area at Elizabeth Street and Swanston Street

Shopping close 5pm Sun to Thur except Friday late night shopping till 9pm. Now you really know what it means Thank God Is Friday :)

The familiar brands are Cotton On and Espirit. Their supemarket is call Coles. No doubt there are outlet malls there but still expensive. Anyway still nice to drop by and window shop at DFO (Direct Factory Outlet) located at South Wharf behind the exhibition centre.



The Royal Arcade

















KoKo Black Chocolates - A must to try but prepare to burn a hole in your wallet.





Located at The Royal Arcade



























Tourist Horses on street.


They offer to take a picture on the horse - Aud 5









The Block Arcade

Nothing much but nice interior











Bridge Rd Precinct - famous for factory outlet but still expensive

Took Train to Richmond station












Chapel Street Precinct

Also nothing much

Took Train to Windsor Station

Southern Cross Station

Purchase a metcard, whole day Aud 6+, unlimited rides on Train, Tram, Bus on that day only.

Interesting - Train door don't open itself, have to manual push it.

Free City Tram

Operates
Sun - Wed : 10am to 6pm
Thurs - Sat : 10am to 9pm
The tram is located in the middle of the road.

Look for this red round sign - indicate City Circle Tram Stop

Enviromental free no coupon on floor.....with this electronic parking device :)

Public Toilet

The 24hrs Entertainment - Crown Casino

Save you from the boring night. For info, there is no free internet access in Melbourne except Mcd but super slow........

You can take a tram 109 ,96, 112 from the stop outside Southern Cross Station

Dockland

A nice place with nice water front view. A good place for photo and food.

Queen Victoria Market

Open Tue & Thur - 6am to 2pm
Fri - 6am to 5pm
Sat - 6am to 3pm
Sun - 9am to 4pm
Imp: Mon & Wed - CLOSE
You can take free city tram alight at Queen St and walk up.

You can all things there from confectionery, wet market, clothes, home decor etc

Is like a super big pasar malam - thing are cheaper here then other place

We bought this nogurt 1 kg - Aud 25, in airport is selling at 1 kg - Aud 32

This is worth is 1 set of accessories at Aud 10!

You can have your name on the candy!

Even toys can be found

Day Tour - Puffing Billy Train

In melbourne day tour should not be missed

A morning tea in the park

Our puffing billy tour with Grayline was good!

The bus driver making billy tea by swinging it 360 degree!

Day Tour - Winenies @ Yarra Valley

Nice Split Roast Lunch @ Fergusson Winery

is a worth is lunch as you can have free flow of wine and roast meat (Lamp/Beef)!

The Guided Tour - Domaine Chandon

After the fruit are harvest they are brought into the tank to separate the juice and skin. After that the juice are transport into the pressure tank and ferment for around 2yrs. The different between Champagne and Red Wine are Champagne ferment twice.

After 2 years the base wine are pour into a heavy glass bottle and seal it with a cork and let it rest on its side in a wine rack for 3 months. Yeast are added for 2nd fermentation. Need to turn the bottle every 2 or 3 days to allow proper blending. The neck of the bottle is remove to remove the yeast.Sugar is then added to top up the difference and allow it to age further for another 3 months before launch. Sugar will create the sparkling effect.

Guided tour comes with 1 full glass of wine and food to enhance the taste.
A very nice relaxing scenary place for a afternoon gathering

Day Tour - Warrook Farm

Koalas Conservation Centre

They are always on top of the tree. They are chosy in what they eat (a few types of eucalypt out of 800 in Aus) and they sleep 20hrs

We saw a lot of tree are bare because of them!

Day Tour - The Great Ocean Rd

A must go place for scenary lovers. But beware of your buttock...as it is a super long ride from 7am to 9pm (reach hotel).


There are too many beautiful photos to be loaded, sorry I can only upload some...the rest is for you to explore :)

Finally end the beautiful day with an evening meal at Waves restaurant - Port Campbell