Noemi Zoé

Sydney to Melbourne

02 | 17

Big city life -

east coast Australia (part 3)

 

 

On the 17th of February at 7:40 am I arrived in the sunny city of Sydney. In Sydney I stayed at the amazingly modern YHA at Railway Square. Since I had a lot of time left until I could check in, I did put my backpack in the luggage room and went on a huge walk to explore the city. I started at Darling Harbour continued towards the beautiful Queen Victoria Building and George Street. Than I stopped at Starbucks, grabbed a coffee and a sandwich and ate it in sunny  Hyde Park looking at the beautiful St Mary's Cathedral.

 

Afterwards I walked past the impressing Art Gallery of New South Wales towards the huge Royal Botanic Gardens and Mrs Macquarie's Chair where I had an amazing view over the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Those two where also my next aim. So I made my way to the Opera House, Circular Quay and The Rocks where I visited the Museum of Contemporary Art.

 

 

As I came out of the museum I decided to take the Manly Fast Ferry to see Manly, but as soon as I was on the ferry it started raining and storming so so badly that I couldn't really do anything there. So I took the next ferry back to Circular Quay. As I arrived the sun was about to set and the rain had stopped, so I went back to the Opera House and watched the sun setting over the Harbour Bridge. Than I finally went back to the hostel and had some dinner.

 

 

The next day I had planned a pretty big walk again. I started at Rose Bay Park, did the amazing Hermitage Foreshore Walk, passed by Hermit Bay, Milk Beach, Steele Point, Shark Beach, Nielsen Park, Beach Paddock, Parsley Bay Beach with its cute bridge and finally arrived at Watson Bay. I continued to the Camp Cove and the cute red and white striped Hornby Lighthouse. Than I went down towards the Gap and the Macquarie Lighthouse. That is also where I ended my walk as it was a super hot day and I was so exhausted. But since I only had three days in Sydney I needed to continue my sightseeing tour. So I took the bus towards the super crowded Bondi Beach. I walked past Bondi Icebergs as I wanted to do the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk, but as I passed Tamarama Beach and reached Bronte Beach it started raining really badly so I took the bus back home to the hostel.

 

 

I did not really plan anything for my last day in Sydney, so I decided to go and see Potts Point. First I had a delicious crêpe and freshly pressed orange juice for breakfast and a little rest while I got my nails done. Afterwards I basically just strolled through the streets and ended up at the Woolloomooloo Wharf where I took the bus back to the hostel and packed my backpack. I was up quite long that evening considering that I had to get up at 3 am to catch my flight to Melbourne, but getting up wasn't as bad as I thought it would be since I was really looking forward to seeing Melbourne.

 

 

I arrived in freezing cold Melbourne at 7:30 am and took the Sky Bus to the city. From my point of view this was the easiest and not too expensive way to get to the city from the airport and the other way around. As there was a huge temperature difference between Sydney and Melbourne the first thing I did was to get all my warm clothes (sneakers, sweatshirt and jacket) out of my backpack and put them on. As I arrived at the bus terminal I opened Googles maps and searched my way though to the Nomads hostel where I stayed for the next three nights. Than I went on a little sightseeing trip. I started at the hostel, passed by the State Library of Victoria, continued to the Carlton Gardens with the Royal Exhibition Building and the Melbourne Museum in it. Afterwards I strolled through pretty Fitzroy and had a fancy breakfast at Industry Beans. As I restored my energy reserves, I continued my walk. I passed by St Patrick's Cathedral and ended up at the Fitzroy Gardens where I had a look at Sinclair's and Cooks' Cottage and the Conservatory.

 

 

Afterwards I looked at my phone and looked up the things I still wanted to see. So I continued to Hosier Lane, which is a really nice street to walk down and take in all the cool street art. Than i crossed the street, walked around Federation Square and enjoyed ten minutes of sunshine.  At around 5 pm I took the tram back to the hostel, had a shower, changed clothes and grabbed me some sushi. Than I decided to go to the Eureka Skydeck to watch the sunset - my favorite part of the day. The sunset up there was just amazing! As it got dark I made my way back to the hostel, as I had to get up early the next day.

 

 

So as I already wrote I had to get up early the next day, because I had booked a Great Ocean Road daytour with Wildlife Tours that started at 7 am. Our first stop was Surf Beach where we enjoyed our morning tea and watched the surfers at an iconic Aussie Beach. Than we continued to the historic Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch where we quickly stopped to take some photos. Afterwards we winded our way  along the coast with gorgeous views to a wildlife viewing spot to watch some awake (!) and wild koalas and beautiful coloured native birds. Our next break was at the sea side town of Apollo Bay to enjoy a delicious restaurant lunch. Than we continued to the Otways Rainforest to see some of the tallest species of trees in the world. The next stop was to view the beautiful limestone stacks that form the mighty 12 Apostles. The next highlight was Loch Ard Gorge - towering limestone cliffs - where our driver told us some amazing shipwreck tales. The last stop was at the impressive London Bridge, where we enjoyed a short walk and the last sunrays of the day.

Than we had a one and a half hours drive back to the hostel.

 

 

The next was my departure day, not only for Melbourne, but for whole Australia. My flight departed at 4 pm, so I still had some time left to explore Melbourne a little bit more. So I packed my backpack, brought it in the luggage room and walked through the Royal Botanic Gardens and to the Shrine of Remembrance. At 12 am I took the Sky Bus to the Tullamarine Airport and catch my flight to Frankfurt via Singapore.

 

 

And last but not least, I've got a video of my whole east coast trip for you. Enjoy watching it!

 

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