Is February Good time to go Melbourne?

[exhibitj]

is that soccer?

If i'm not wrong, its like a olympics style event only for the commonwealth countries.

Went to Melbourne in end May, winter just starting and the weather was great. The temp was ard 15 deg in the day, but night can go to 6 deg. But mostly you get great sunshine there in the day.

Visit the Great Ocean Rd, the sunshine coupled with the cold antarctic winds offer a great contrast in feel. I gena the UV rays coming, but the wind's so chilly i was literally jumping ard! Plus the awesome scenery, and the sunset shots there are :thumbsup:

Hope you have fun, though when i went in end may, the trees were almost bare already! So no maple leaves then...

 

[tOGGY]

If you go to Phillip Island, then go to Wilson Promotory too. Beautiful place. But do not just spend a night there. Unfortunately, it is also very popular and you have to book the chalets in advance.

 

[Haze]

I think agar agar i know where to go liao
eg.Philip Island, Wil Prom, Grampian, Great Ocean Road, Mt Dandenong Range, St Kilda beach.

^_^

 

[Haze]

May i know, for Autumn, where is a must to go in mel?

 

[soma]

May i know, for Autumn, where is a must to go in mel?

In mel the must to go is still in mel.:bsmilie: :bsmilie:

 

[weg]

in melbourne, would it be better to rent a car to drive out or are the attractions near the city centre and easily accessible by public transport?

 

[dude]

in melbourne, would it be better to rent a car to drive out or are the attractions near the city centre and easily accessible by public transport?

Rent a car. Melbourne city doesn't have much going on, and most tourist attractions are out of the way. Places like Philips Island, Grampians (half burnt by bushfires now), Great Ocean Road etc are several hours away. Anyway, a road trip is always fun!

Alternatively, if you only want to travel around Melbourne city and the surrounding suburbs like St Kilda's or Boxhill for example, tram, bus and trains are the easiest way to travel.

 

[weg]

icic ... for such road trips, will it be easy to find accomodation along the way?

 

[syl]

Commonwealth Games end on 26 March. Formula One will be on directly after that, i.e. 31March - 2 april. During GP season, prices of hotel rooms and other accomodation at least 50% over normal price and very difficult to source. Usually fully booked. BTW, I'm flying down that week and wish to go to the Great Ocean Road (alone) for some shooting. Want to come? But primarily I'm going there to watch the GP (bad habit of mine - been doing that for the past 8 years). I LOVE MELBOURNE !!!!

 

[GDSNP]

Why Feb? You like flies?

 

[Benign]

Haze, thought you said you coming in April?

I checked liao. This place: Bright is stunning in Autumn http://www1.visitvictoria.com/displ...00097561-640C-1A66-88CD80C476A90318/vvt.vhtml

Or the area around it

http://www1.visitvictoria.com/displ...76A90000/lk.Centre3_2/pg.VVHomepage/vvt.vhtml


Rent a car, spend a couple of days driving around the countryside. I am sure you like it. Change of scenery and pple.

Drive carefully

 

[clie]

Feb is too hot. Go during the Moomba festival and the Grand Prix.

If you are going by the great ocean road, lorne and port fairy is nice.
Philip island isn't fantastic, unless you like waiting in the cold for penguins.
As for grampians, its recommended you carry light.
Yarra Valley is okay, vine yards not as impressive as those in SA.

You can skip Geelong. However, Bendigo and Ballarat is okay if you want to experience some history.

As for Melbourne city, if you like Vietnamese you can go to Footscray or Springvale. Italian go to lygon st, carlton. Jazz, al fresco dining, little collins st. Strip bars at Kings st.

Do try to to plan for Tasmania. Its beautiful. Tasmanian Oysters at barilla bay are the best. Creamy. If you are in hobart, go to the salamanca sunday market and if you like carpetback steak (oyster in the middle of the steak), its balls & chains. Make a trip to cradle mountains, port arthur. Nothing much at Launceston, unless you are into cadbury.
Btw, after your trip do tell us what you think of the island of tasmania with the road from hobart to launceston. Hint. a female anatomy.

 

[Jemapela]

Although Melbourne experiences 4 distinct seasons, Melbourne is still a nice city to visit all year round.

Since this is ClubSnap, I'm assuming that you're going for there to try take pretty photos especially of the scenery. I'm retarded at scenery shots as compared to Watcher (wow! excellent shots), but I'm surely correct to say that on bright sunny days colours are more vibrant. Hence, February (last month of summer) weather should provide you with enough sun. Moreover, during summer, Melbourne enjoys longer daylight hours. The sun sets late, and the skies turns black at about 9:15pm!

Summer can be hot (as high as 43C this year) but not everyday. If I have observed correctly, Melbourne's weather alternates every 3-4 days. That means, you have 3-4 days of fine sunny weather then 3-4 days of cloudy rainy weather with gradual changes in between the alternation.

Check this link to see the weather forecast (and gradually observe the alternation):
http://weather.ninemsn.com.au/weather/national/VIC.asp?location=Melbourne

The popular saying that "Melbourne has 4 seasons in 1 day" is partly true. It may be cold in the morning then hot later in the afternoon, or vice versa, hence the feel of summer and winter within the same day.

Even though it's summer now, the difference between day and night temperatures can vary a lot (unlike Singapore). Yesterday's (3 Feb) day maximum was 25C and the night minimum was 15C. At the time of this writing, my room temperature is 19C. (I need a blanket tonight.) On hotter nights, you may have 27-29C. (You need a fan or else sleep naked.) These temperatures are for the current summer.

Another thing about the summer is that the winds may be chilly (but not always). Standing out in the sun provides warmth but the winds may be air-con cold. You may not feel yourself sunburning because of the wind. On the real hot killer days, the wind feels like a roasting oven. The guys may walk around topless, and the gals walk around in bikini tops.

 

[Jemapela]

If you're like most shopaholic Singaporeans, and really going to Melbourne to shop for clothes, you should be flying on the plane right now!

Many stores have sale on now, some since Boxing Day. Moreover, the clothes stocked would be more suitable for Singapore wear. It's quite pointless to buy winter clothes to be worn in Singapore.

If you're a beach-lover, this is the season for bikinis. Without exaggerating, spring/summer is the time when stores literally bloom with bikinis (like flowers) but you find almost none during autumn/winter.

When summer draws closer to end, you can expect stores to drop their prices to "dispose" of their stock. Already Aussie labels like ValleyGirl and Supre have replaced most of their summer stuff with autumn/winter clothing in their stores. (I know, I walked in yesterday to shop-shop for clothes for my models.)

When I said "dispose", some really dispose. Comparing the usual price and the sale price, you sometimes wonder if the store assistants were drunk when they price-tagged their merchandise.

However, I must remind you that as a tourist, the exchange rate is not in your favour, and hence you may not feel that it's cheap or cheap enough to splurge. To me, I don't feel as much heartache opening my wallet.

As an example, you may feel that A$7 (roughly S$9) for a plate of chicken rice is expensive. It's really because you're bringing your income (based on Singapore's cost of living) to spend here.

 

[Jemapela]

If you have more budgets with you, recommend you to have a meal at flower drum in chinatown...

heard the pecking duck is good, one of the best chinese restaurant too, but very very $$$...

Flower Drum has been ranked as the best restaurant of the year for 3 years (if I remember correctly) already.

I haven't eaten there because I don't think I can afford it. It's not the place you would go to everyday unless you print money.

Worry not, the majority of Melbourne's cafes and restaurants (40%) serve Chinese cuisine. The distant 2nd place (12%) is either Greek or Italian (I can't remember). You will have no difficulty finding tasty (and generally cheaper) Asian food especially in the city.

I would, however, recommend that you also try the Italian and Greek food.

If you have Italian, I would recommend pasta (not pizza although their pizza is also good). If you can, order seafood pasta (usually comes with medium size prawns, calamari and mussels). You will probably taste seafood so fresh, you would believe Singapore imports semi-rotten seafood.

If you have Greek, try their lamb souvlaki (a round piece of bread wrapped with lamb and fresh lettuce, tomato, onion and tzatziki). Souvlaki is very popular among Aussies especially with a beer.

 

[syl]

Flower Drum has been ranked as the best restaurant of the year for 3 years (if I remember correctly) already.

I haven't eaten there because I don't think I can afford it. It's not the place you would go to everyday unless you print money.


Hi Jemapela,
Going OT but I've eaten there - its not that expensive - just don't order the abalone and such like dishes. Go for the chicken, beef, pork, fish dishes & you'll be OK.

BTW how long would you recommend that I should plan for if I want to go to the Great Ocean route to take photos. I'll be driving alone and just a keen hobbyist. Unless you want to come for the ride? Anyone else interested?

 

[Watcher]

Flower Drum has been ranked as the best restaurant of the year for 3 years (if I remember correctly) already.

I haven't eaten there because I don't think I can afford it. It's not the place you would go to everyday unless you print money.


Hi Jemapela,
Going OT but I've eaten there - its not that expensive - just don't order the abalone and such like dishes. Go for the chicken, beef, pork, fish dishes & you'll be OK.

BTW how long would you recommend that I should plan for if I want to go to the Great Ocean route to take photos. I'll be driving alone and just a keen hobbyist. Unless you want to come for the ride? Anyone else interested?

I preferred going to Kum Ting, although I know of its rep(utation)

As for the period, I would recommend at least 2 days 1 night. You start off early, like 7-8am in the morning, go through Geelong by around noon, reach Apollo Bay by around 3-4pm which gives you time to stop and take pictures at places like Otway National Park (alternatively, stop at Cape Otway). Stay over night, start off early and reach the 12 Apostles by around 8-9am; alternatively, you can stop at Princetown, and try to go there for sunrise, and go back to check out later. Drive a little further to Port Campbell and make your way back.

Alternatively, you can take the inner, non-scenic route all the way to Warrnambool or even Port Fairy around early afternoon, and loop back to Port Campbell for the night before making your way to the 12 Apostles early in the morning and then take the scenic route back to Melbourne. If you intend to go to the Grampians, you would have to allocate more time.

 

[Jemapela]

Hi Jemapela,

BTW how long would you recommend that I should plan for if I want to go to the Great Ocean route to take photos. I'll be driving alone and just a keen hobbyist. Unless you want to come for the ride? Anyone else interested?

Hi syl,

I'm interested, and privately messaged you.

 

[yehosaphat]

I'll be planning a trip to Melbourne with my wife too this coming end April to early May! And after reading the hype about Autumn in Melbourne... all the more want to go ah!

My tentative plan is to go there for self drive for about 7-8 days:
2-3 days in Melbourne city
3-4 days in Great Ocean road
2 days in Yarra's Valley

For those who went there before, would appreciate if you could give your comments on my plan! Thanks in advance! :sweatsm:

 

[yehosaphat]

And of course the ultimate qn..... what lens to bring! Any advise from the below?

1) 17-40mm 4L
2) 10-22mm
3) 50mm 1.4

You think I will need tele in Melbourne?