Winter in Melbourne

[KT1031]

the 1500 didnt include the souvenir shopping.

i book my airtixs there and we actually book all the trips over at their tourist service centre.
choose the backpacker trips. they are cheaper. and i feel the tour is more personalize. the tour guide really bring us to some of the super ulu place. rmb he brought us to a forest that have glows worm in the soil. look lyk stars.

 

[nemesis32]

anmas... sorry, hasn't been checking forum for a while.

If you plan to go in June/July, i think June still not very cold... but July will be the peak of the winter season. if you visiting Mt Buller, July will be the best period for skiing etc..

If you taking day or 2-3 night trips to Mt Buller, it starts real early usually around 6am... so make sure u stay somewhere nearby as cabs are expensive.

 

[sliverclidge]

Tumpang thread

I am going Melbourne for 9days covering the CBD, Mt Beauty/Falls Creek, Great Alpine Road, Phillip Island and Great Ocean Road. Will be renting a car there.

As i am driving there, i read that there is this turning for tramps, i don't really understand what kinda turning is this...

The the high mountains, i plan to stay at Mt Beauty and make a day trip up to Falls Creek for some snapping... i dunno how to ski, hence, other than skiing, are there other activities there? Is it worth going for the skiing course? Is there a place were we can store out camera gears while we are playing those activities? Oh, is it advisable (i.e. SG driving skills) to drive up to Falls Creek or better just take the shuutle bus up.. ?

Will be staying a night at the Yarra Valley too, any vineyard recomendation? Heard that since its winder, mostly all the plants are already harvested... won't be great for photo-taking...

Oh, there is this ferry from Sorrento over to Queencliff (i think), and i read somewhere that rented car cannot take the ferry, is it true? how would they know if i were to go ahead and take the ferry? :bigeyes:

Hehe.. thanks in advance fro all your replies..

 

[awhw]

Have a look at this animation on the infamous Melbourne hook turn

 

[canon freddy]

All the advice given by CS is very good. I only have this to add - when you drive along the Great Ocean Road, drive westward because the sea is on the same side of the road you are driving on. If you drive eastward, you would have to cross the road to get to the scenic sites. Kind of inconvenient if you are stopping at many places.

 

[KT1031]

Drop by mt gramphian if your are on GOR.

i sat on the summit for 2hrs. it's really magnificent & relaxing

 

[digitalpimp]

I remember my first time in Melbourne.:bsmilie:

Didn't do proper research and I just went straight to the airport and hopped on the plane by myself (I love trips alone.:bsmilie. Guess what, it was winter and I didn't bring a single jacket with me. As soon as I got off the plane I started cursing myself for being so stupid. I can't even fish my wallet out of my pocket because my fingers were frigid hahaha.:bsmilie:

Anyways, I think 8 days will be action-packed already (I stayed for 7 days). I wasn't into dSLRs back then, but I got a couple of good shots with my hybrid camera without getting weird stares and frowns from the locals. You are gonna love the architecture! The city area is riddled with dark alleys so I suggest you shy away from them just to be sure. I stayed at The Sebel. I can't recall how much I paid, but I pretty much remember the rates being cheap.

Hope it helps.

 

[kaxdd]

The dark alleys in Melbourne city is painted with amazing graffitis, so do take your chance to take some pictures. Not forgetting Lygon Street where you will find rows and rows of Italian restaurants and eateries. Do try out Koko Black and Lindt Chocolate cafe. Trust me, you wont regret going into one of these.

 

[kaxdd]

Btw, I'm in Melbourne now, doing my Honours. So you can look me up if you want to and I can tour you around the city. Temperatures right now is between 6-17 degrees, but do not be fooled. The chilling winds will bring you down if you do not bring the right type of clothing.

 

[Reim1o]

I live in Melbourne too. If you guys come visiting on weekends I would be happy to be a tour guide.
The best alley in Melbourne IMHO would be in Degraves st and Flinders Way.
This is the location:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=degra...ent=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl

 

[Due biglietti]

The best alley in Melbourne IMHO would be in Degraves st and Flinders Way.

sincerely agree. I miss the coffee at Degraves...
Check this out too...great food, coffee...and a fav spot for wedding shots.

 

[shawn207]

accomodations wise, you can save quite a bit by booking thru websites that offer good rates. try wotif.com, or the visa hotel club promo http://www.hotelclub.com/visa/en/. i got quite good rates for paris, london and spain hotels for this summer so i guess the rates should be good for australia also.

as for food, melbourne is rather pricey unfortunately, but you do get larger portions, and if you choose the places to eat carefully (ie. research thru travel guides) then it would still be worth it

if you are just getting around the city centre then you could just walk, its not that far. i stayed at little bourke street, and i walked all the way across the river to the convention centre area.

hope this helps

 

[DrSpock]

All the advice given by CS is very good. I only have this to add - when you drive along the Great Ocean Road, drive westward because the sea is on the same side of the road you are driving on. If you drive eastward, you would have to cross the road to get to the scenic sites. Kind of inconvenient if you are stopping at many places.

Just one word of advise, if you are taking the scenic route of the GOR do start off as early as 7-8am cos it's a long windy, winding 5 hours route, abeit the stopping for photos, before reaching the 12 Apostles in evening for sunset view and the sun sets early during winter usually around 5-6pm, if I remembered it correctly. After that it's be a 3-4 hrs drive back in pitch black darkness.
The other alternative is first to drive straight to 12 apostles using the short cut thru Colac (3 hrs) then drive slowly back the scenic route from Port Cambell to Anglesea then at least from there it's another 2 hrs drive back to Melb or a dinner stopover at Geelong. Enjoy your Winter & bring lots of raincoat for your cam!

 

[jjohn8171]

I m in Melbourne. It's cold, but not temperature . It's more windy cold over here. A windbreaker would help much better than multiple layers of sweaters. It also rains alot. Not real hard rain like Singapore, but just drizzles and light showers, pouring for a while, then stop, then pours again. A windbreaker with water proof hoodie would be good. Umbrella is useless, unless you want to fly like Marry Poppins.

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[harnamsc]

I'll be heading to Melbourne in September this year to settle certain matters before I migrate there for good. Can I ask if anyone has taken the Greyhound Bus tour of GOR? The ticket price is steep but the cost of renting a Hertz car for a few days is even steeper. Besides which I'll be travelling to Brisbane for a few days too.

Also someone suggested I head to the Grampian National Park to do some hiking, as I love to go on one-day-hikes. Greyhound and SkyBus don't have any buses going there and travelling by taxi will render me bankrupt (Aussie taxis are infamous for their rates). Is there a train or tour that goes there? And is it suitable for a day trip or is it more for serious trekking/camping that will take a few days?

 

[justarius]

I'll be heading to Melbourne in September this year to settle certain matters before I migrate there for good. Can I ask if anyone has taken the Greyhound Bus tour of GOR? The ticket price is steep but the cost of renting a Hertz car for a few days is even steeper. Besides which I'll be travelling to Brisbane for a few days too.

Also someone suggested I head to the Grampian National Park to do some hiking, as I love to go on one-day-hikes. Greyhound and SkyBus don't have any buses going there and travelling by taxi will render me bankrupt (Aussie taxis are infamous for their rates). Is there a train or tour that goes there? And is it suitable for a day trip or is it more for serious trekking/camping that will take a few days?

Went recently on self-drive on GOR from Adelaide to Melbourne and I must say it's a really good experience if you can rent a car, as you can move along at your own pace to set up shots; look for alternative angles; etc. 1 day for GOR is really too short IMHO; I took 3 days and wished that it could be longer!

Mt Grampians have both (long or short hikes) but the key sights are actually vehicle accessible.

 

[sshayndell12]

Vodka bars. They are scattered around the city and Chapel st. This is the perfect way to warm yourself up and have fun while doing it! The party does not need to stop just because the sun’s gone on vacation! Lets boogie on down!

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[harnamsc]

Went recently on self-drive on GOR from Adelaide to Melbourne and I must say it's a really good experience if you can rent a car, as you can move along at your own pace to set up shots; look for alternative angles; etc. 1 day for GOR is really too short IMHO; I took 3 days and wished that it could be longer!

Mt Grampians have both (long or short hikes) but the key sights are actually vehicle accessible.

Thanks for the advice, I thought GOR was simply a long road with a viewing deck of the famous cliffs and rock formations at the end? Sorry for my ignorance as I've never been there before. What places would you recommend stopping at?

 

[justarius]

Thanks for the advice, I thought GOR was simply a long road with a viewing deck of the famous cliffs and rock formations at the end? Sorry for my ignorance as I've never been there before. What places would you recommend stopping at?

There are the usual coastal formations: 12 Apostles, the Arch, London Bridge etc and beaches, lighthouses. Along the way you will also pass by Otway National Park, which is good for walks. Do visit the Otway Lighthouse as well if you have time; along the road to the lighthouse we saw a few koalas hanging off trees by the roadside.

Nice towns you want to stop by include Port Fairy and Apollo Bay; nice to spend the night.

The Grampians is not on the Great Ocean Road per se, but is enroute if you are travelling from Melbourne to Adelaide (or vice versa).

 

[Due biglietti]

For cheap deals on day tours, or other selected activities check out:

http://www.halftixmelbourne.com/

some day tours were almost 50% off. not sure abt the discounts nowadays...