Following 12 days in New Zealand visiting
Auckland,
Napier,
Wellington, and
Queenstown, and 7 days in
Sydney, I finished off the Australian leg of my trip with 6 days in Melbourne. My final full day coincided with the first day of the 2020 Australian Open. This city is amazing from a pedestrian perspective. It was so easy walking around and when I grew tired of walking (I walked 12-16 miles per day), there was always a tram or train line nearby.
1) When I arrived in downtown Melbourne, the temperature was over 100°F (38°C+).
2) Fortunately, a cold front came through that evening and after some storms & much needed rain, it cooled off and remained quite comfortable for the rest of my trip.
3) I stopped by Axil Coffee Roasters on my first morning for a flat white before heading up to the Queen Victoria Market.
4) Melbourne CBD
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6) Queen Victoria Market
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8) Melbourne CBD
9) Carlton Gardens
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11) Royal Exhibition Building
12) Beautiful homes in the Carlton neighbourhood
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14) Fitzroy is a fantastic neighbourhood!
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21) I’m not vegan (or vegetarian) but this vegan Mex bowl at The Fitz Café was delicious!
22) Fire Services Museum of Victoria
23) Gordon Reserve
24) The Hotel Windsor – a landmark Victorian-era hotel in Melbourne. It’s where I stayed!
25) Old Treasury Building
26) Treasury Gardens
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28) Fitzroy Gardens
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33) Back downtown in the CBD
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38) Degraves Street
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42) Hardware Lane
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45) Chinatown
46) Melbourne is known for its arts scene, including its many theatres
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49) Loved the ceiling in this arcade as I walked by.
50) Flinders Street Station – more photos from inside a little later
51) Crossing the Yarra River on the Princess Bridge
52) Alexandra Gardens
53) Swan Street Bridge
54) Pioneer Women’s Garden
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56) King’s Domain
57) Shrine of Remembrance
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59) Wonderful views from the top of the Shrine of Remembrance
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62) Wandering around South Melbourne
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64) St. Ali Coffee
65) Crossing from the South Wharf to the Docklands via the Webb Bridge, an attractive pedestrian bridge over the Yarra River on the Capital City Trail
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69) The Docklands. This area has some impressive new buildings and architecture. I will say the energy here felt less than elsewhere in the city, perhaps because it is relatively new? It sort of reminded me of Sydney’s Darling Harbor/Quarter/Square since both have lots of new waterfront developments occurring, though the vitality of Darling Harbor seemed higher than The Docklands. Having noted that, I’m still a fan. I enjoyed wandering around the area on this beautiful day!
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82) On the way to the tram to head back downtown.
83) I took the tram to Spencer Street and switched to a different line to head down to St. Kilda. Here you can see an elevated train on one of the regional rail lines as I wait at the Batman Park/Spencer Street tram station.
84) Rather than take the tram all the way to St. Kilda, I exited a few stations early at Fraser Street so that I could walk along the waterfront to St. Kilda.
85) Catani Gardens along the waterfront.
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88) I headed out on the pier to check out the views of Port Phillip Bay
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94) St. Kilda Beach & Baths
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99) Luna Park
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101) St. Kilda
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103) Heading to the St. Kilda Botanical Gardens
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109) Now back at the St. Kilda tram station waiting in the plaza for the next tram to the CBD.
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111) Despite walking 16 miles on Friday, I woke up Saturday morning rather early and spent some time checking out some of the arcades and laneways. It was still early so there weren’t many people yet. First a flat white at Brother Baba Budan
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113) McKillop Street
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115) Elizabeth Street
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121) Block Place
122) The Block Arcade
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126) Centreway Arcade
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128) Back on Degraves Street
129) The Royal Arcade
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134) After spending Saturday morning exploring the arcades and laneways, I headed off to Richmond for brunch at Fifty Acres. Great weather for al fresco dining.
135) It may not look great, but it tasted fantastic! This is a vanilla bean porridge and I would definitely order it again. Delicious!
136) Continuing through Richmond
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139) Swan Street in Richmond
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143) Church Street in Richmond
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146) Church Street Bridge crossing the Yarra River from Richmond to South Yarra
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148) South Yarra
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155) Prahran
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163) It was warming up quite a bit so I stopped for a refreshing acai bowl.
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169) Grattan Gardens
170) Prahran Square – a recently opened public square on a former parking lot (two levels of parking were built underneath and capped with this new public space)
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172) The historic Prahran Market
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174) After wandering around the Prahran Market I stopped by Amici Bakery Café for a refreshingly chilled glass of white wine. Happy hour started at 2 pm!
175) Then off to the Prahran station to head back downtown.
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177) Back downtown at Flinders Street station
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180) Leaving Flinders Street Station
181) An impressive view when leaving Flinders Street station
182) Flinders Lane
183) Melbourne CBD
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186) Stopped by Seven Seeds in Carlton for a flat white
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192) Back in Fitzroy on my way to Collingwood
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196) Lune Croissanterie in Fitzroy
197) Interesting building with old trains on the roof with a burger restaurant up there.
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199) Collingwood – Lots of beautiful old brick industrial buildings/warehouses that have been converted into lofts in this neighbourhood.
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201) Proud Mary in Collingswood
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208) Abbotsford
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214) Carlton
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216) Carlton – Lygon Street
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221) Old Melbourne Gaol
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223) State Library of Victoria
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225) View down La Trobe Street
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227) Parliament House
228) Drummond Street in Carlton
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232) Cumulonimbus in the distance means storms are brewing!
233) On Monday morning, my final full day in Australia, I stopped by Patricia Coffee Brewers prior to making my way to the Australian Open. The name was special for me as it’s the name of my late grandmother. Turned out this place had the best flat white from my entire 14 days in Australia!
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236) And now off to The Open!
237) Very exciting to be here. If I’d known what was in store for the rest of 2020 with COVID, I would have extended my trip an additional week to enjoy more of the Australian Open. Regardless, I’m glad I was able to attend the opening day. This makes Grand Slam number 2 for me, after first attending Wimbledon back in 2017. Now I need to do Roland-Garros and the US Open!
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244) Naomi Osaka in Rod Laver Arena
245) Serena Williams in Rod Laver Arena
246) Roger Federer in Rod Laver Arena
247) I had tickets for the afternoon matches in Rod Laver Arena and had a grounds pass for access to the outer courts that evening… unfortunately rain and storms moved in and rained out the evening sessions. Go figure they’d been in a drought and the one day I needed it to remain dry so that I could see as much tennis as possible it ended up raining. At least I saw the afternoon matches.
248) The next morning it was sadly time to end this amazing vacation and return home to Chicago. I hopped on the tram to travel across downtown to Southern Cross station to catch the airport shuttle.
249) But one last stop for coffee & breakfast at Higher Ground across from Southern Cross.
250) Southern Cross
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252) Traveling on the Dreamliner from Melbourne to Los Angeles.
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254) Nice view of Santa Monica after taking off from LAX to ORD (little did I know less than 8 months later I would be a resident of California… though Northern rather than Southern CA)
255) And back home in Chicago.
I absolutely cannot wait for another visit to New Zealand and Australia. Next trip is likely to include a little more Auckland, a lot more South Island, a few more days in Sydney and perhaps Melbourne, but also Tasmania and over to Adelaide. These two countries are such gems! Those of you living there are lucky!