Our primary reason for visiting Melbourne was to see the Melbourne Flower Show - however we had an extra day to have a look around Melbourne to see what we could see.
We arrived in Melbourne at lunchtime Tuesday catching a transfer bus from the Airport to the bus depot which was just across the road from our hotel. Our hotel, Quality Hotel Batman's Hill on Collins, was in a very convenient spot - across the road from the railway, walking distance to the trams including the free city circle tram. We could also walk to the Casino and the South Bank.
The hotel room was small, but clean. Quite okay for our purposes of a short visit. The rooms were not soundproof so having noisy neighbours in the other rooms would have been a problem as we could hear door opening and shutting and voices in the hall. As a plus the food was very cheap compared to Sydney prices and their was a small restaurant downstairs (menu photo above) where we had a couple of our meals and it was very reasonable. There was also another dining room. The staff were friendly & helpful with directions.
That afternoon we walked to the South Bank and visited the Eureka Skywalk (photos in previous post), we also had a look at the Crown Casino and along the South Bank of the Yarra River. We also caught the free city circle tram to get our bearing of the city. It is a great service - although it can get very squashy at the popular stops and in peak hours.Other trams were easy enough - we could get tickets from the railway for as many stops as we thought we may need.
The following day (Wednesday) we went to the Melbourne Flower Show and were lucky enough to get a good weather day. (photos in previous postings) On the way back we did some shopping at the outlet shops across the road near the Railway Station. That evening we went to the Casino for dinner and watched a show.
On Thursday we did some shopping at the markets and had a look at some of the shops before catching a tram to St Kilda Beach just for the experience. It was not a good weather day but it had fined up a bit for us to visit the beach which was walking distance from the tram stop. The tram took us past the Docklands area. That evening we had dinner at a hotel bistro walking distance from our hotel. Their prices were reasonable as well.
On Friday we only had to walk across the road to the bus depot to catch our bus transfer back to the airport for our return flight. We flew by Jetstar which is always a bit of a worry to me - however I have to give them some credit points because when I arrived at the airport I had forgotten to pack my garden secateurs (still in their packaging) in my suitcase and they were picked up as dangerous tools by the security. I was sent back to the check in where I was to ask them to return the item to my suitcase. The checkout suggested that since my luggage was underweight I could put all of my hand luggage through as check in as I had it in a zip up bag. There was no extra charge and I was very impressed with their service. We arrived home via train from Sydney Airport with no hassles so in all our Melbourne Experience was a good one.
