MELBOURNE

Hey Guys,

It's time! The first blogpost is online and I'm happy that you're stopping by!

As the headline already reveals, I'm dealing with my trip to Australia in my first blog post. Last October 2016 I decided to travel to Australia for 2 months (March/April 2017). The reason for this was that my best friend has been doing a Gap Year in Australia since then. In order not to see her for a whole year, I decided to fly to Australia in any case. Since I didn't have any plans for my semester break anyway, the backpack was packed (to experience the real backpacker life) and the trip started.

For the flight to Melbourne/Sydney you are going to find many different connections (from Frankfurt, Germany). But I decided for the shortest one. So I went from Frankfurt to Abu Dhabi and after a 2-hour stay further to Melbourne. The total flight time was 22h. The airline I chosed was Etihad. The service, the food as well as the plane were really great which definitely improved the mood. Personally, I love to fly, but the flight was really long and on top of that I flew alone which was pretty boring. What did I learn from it? Never fly such a long distance alone again!

I don't know about you guys, but I cant really sleep in any transportations, which is really annoying! Since I wrote an exam on my departure day, I had to get up early. I arrived in Melbourne at 6am in the morning. Since Nelly (my best friend) was still on Bali at that time and arrived at 23 pm at night, I had to spend my time alone until then. The first day in Australia was very exhausting as I couldn't sleep properly for 52 hours. But it was definitely worth it! Because I thought to myself: "Hey, you are in Australia! And the feeling was really impressive! To leave the cold Germany behind me and land at 35 degrees in Melbourne!

Melbourne is an incredibly beautiful city! It really has everything to offer! From music, street art and great theatres. You can find everything. Melbourne offers a well connected city centre. In the so-called "CBD - Central Business District", which surrounds the city centre, you can have a wonderful meal and go shopping! In the CBD one could use all transports for free. This area was called the "Free Tram Zone". If the stop was "green" and marked with the "Free Tram Zone", then you were aware that you can use the connection here for free of charge! That was really good, because the tickets in Australia are a lot more expensive than here in Germany! This all has to do with the fact that the minimum wage in Australia is much higher! Generally I also found the standard of living
in Australia is a lot more pleasant.

View of the CBD - Central Business District

One of my favourite activities was to ride the Sightseeing Tram 35, which goes through and around the CBD. In the tram a CD was played and there was a continuous report about Melbourne and its history. You could get on and off at any time, because this sightseeing experience was free!

Sightseeing Tram 35

Modern and Old

Docklands Port, Melbourne

Sunset

Federation Square

Somewhere in Melbourne

Parliament House, Melbourne

What you should definitely take advantage of in Melbourne are the museums, which were almost all free. For example, most of the museums had free entry from 10 am to 5 pm. Those, who are interested in the history of Melbourne should visit the Immigration Museum. Other recommended museums are the Melbourne Museum and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

Wherever you have to go is the Street Art Area near Federation Square. Here you will find different kinds of arts! It's really incredible! And if you're lucky, you might meet one or the other artist and watch him creating a beautiful creation. The Street Art Area is something very special in Melbourne and you could say it is a landmark of the city!

Favoriten one

Melbourne also offers some parks where you can have a nice rest! My favourite park was the "Treasury Garden". This is right next to the Parliament House of Melbourne.

Treasury Garden

What is Australia without its infamous beaches? Melbourne has beautiful beaches as well! One of the most beautiful and famous beaches is "Brighton Beach". For sure its not the only beach, but a place of interest. The reason for this are the "Brighton Beach Boxes". These are very small beach houses that have been painted in different colors and enrich the beach colorful!

Brighton Beach Boxes

Nelly and me

If you walk down the beach (direction City center), you get to the "Suburb" St. Kilda. There are also beautiful beaches and restaurants here. St. Kilda is known for its small marina and the wonderful view to the skyline of Melbourne. In addition, there is something really great about St.Kilda! At a small quiet place, also called "Phillip Island", you can see very small dwarf penguins.