Melbourne Revisited

One of the more colorful laneways of Melbourne

With my visa expiry date quickly approaching and days in Oz quickly coming to an end, I found it fitting to take a trip to where I started my Australian adventure: Melbourne.

After a slight flight hiccup, my friend Jess and I arrived in sunny Melbs eager to explore ‘the place to be.’ We checked into our holy hostel aptly named the Nunnery and were ready for our week away.

The majority of our days were spent getting our bearings, mastering the tram dodge and meeting up with friends I’ve met while traveling around Oz.

We also spent a lot of time perusing the laneways, appreciating the impressively bright street art and pretending we were hipster enough to take a coffee at the Euro-style cafes and random poetry slams we came across.

We stumbled upon an alley market/poetry slam on our way to the night market

One of the highlights of the week was our visit to the Queen Victoria Night Market.  We joined the Melbourne masses to enjoy food from all over the world, listen to live music and have a few cheeky beers.

Queen Victoria Building Night Market

Another fun outing was our trip to the Carlton Brewery as part of birthday celebrations for a friend. The factory was unexpectedly shut down the day we visited (of course), but the tastings and costumes at the end made the tour worth it.

Skydiving outfits for a brewery tour? Okay.

And pint glass costumes

My last night in Melbourne was spent out at St Kilda to finally see the wild penguins come in at sunset. I didn’t have time to visit Phillip Island (Penguin Island), but seeing a handful of adorable penguins wobble over the rocks by the beach satisfied my cute quota.

Melbourne from St Kilda at sunset

Wild penguin!

I’m so happy I got to spend some quality time in the toasty state of Victoria before setting off for Asia. Did I mention I’m leaving for Bali TODAY? Time to cram as much into my last seven hours in Australia as possible.