I'm rather enjoying my staycation-of-sorts in Melbourne. No alarm clocks / no set schedule -- very relaxing!
Today I did have to do some chores --- primarily laundry --- the apartment has a washing machine but no dryer --- fortunately there is a big laundry rack on the balcony -- and a sunny day -- so everything was dry before the sun set (although my jeans are a bit crunchy -- may have to iron them).
In the afternoon I took a tram to St. Kilda -- about 8 km SE of where I'm staying. St. Kilda is home to Melbourne's most famous beach (sadly it doesn't compare to Sydney beaches) and is also known for its bohemian culture (arts, music, etc.). It also has an amusement park (Luna Park), which is often compared to Coney Island.
The area is very pretty -- very touristy though. The streets are lined though with some very cool houses / cottages --- I didn't have my camera with me -- so only have bad phone pics.
Public transportation in Melbourne: trams, buses, and trains. You have to buy a "myki" card (a reusable smart card) in order to travel around -- the card itself costs $6 -- and then you can load it with any amount of money. Rather expensive card for tourists to have to buy if they are only in the city for the weekend (strangely there isn't anything like a 1 day pass). When you get on a tram, you tap your card on a reader -- and you can then travel for the next 2 hours on that fare ($6.50 or something). They have transit cops who randomly check to make sure people aren't freeloading. I had 2 cops get on my tram while enroute to St. Kilda --- and I guess the reader that I swiped my card against wasn't working (it beeped at me -- so I thought all was good) -- so I had to endure a 2 minute lecture from the transit cop -- rather amusing in some strange way.
Tomorrow I'm meeting up with a couple of Melburnians that I met in Alice Springs on one of the tours. Australians are very friendly / hospitable -- I've had loads of invitations over to people's houses, etc. -- from people that I've talked to for < 15 minutes.
Weather: sunny, 46 - 63F
Miles Walked: 4.8
Pic Notes:
Today I did have to do some chores --- primarily laundry --- the apartment has a washing machine but no dryer --- fortunately there is a big laundry rack on the balcony -- and a sunny day -- so everything was dry before the sun set (although my jeans are a bit crunchy -- may have to iron them).
In the afternoon I took a tram to St. Kilda -- about 8 km SE of where I'm staying. St. Kilda is home to Melbourne's most famous beach (sadly it doesn't compare to Sydney beaches) and is also known for its bohemian culture (arts, music, etc.). It also has an amusement park (Luna Park), which is often compared to Coney Island.
The area is very pretty -- very touristy though. The streets are lined though with some very cool houses / cottages --- I didn't have my camera with me -- so only have bad phone pics.
Public transportation in Melbourne: trams, buses, and trains. You have to buy a "myki" card (a reusable smart card) in order to travel around -- the card itself costs $6 -- and then you can load it with any amount of money. Rather expensive card for tourists to have to buy if they are only in the city for the weekend (strangely there isn't anything like a 1 day pass). When you get on a tram, you tap your card on a reader -- and you can then travel for the next 2 hours on that fare ($6.50 or something). They have transit cops who randomly check to make sure people aren't freeloading. I had 2 cops get on my tram while enroute to St. Kilda --- and I guess the reader that I swiped my card against wasn't working (it beeped at me -- so I thought all was good) -- so I had to endure a 2 minute lecture from the transit cop -- rather amusing in some strange way.
Tomorrow I'm meeting up with a couple of Melburnians that I met in Alice Springs on one of the tours. Australians are very friendly / hospitable -- I've had loads of invitations over to people's houses, etc. -- from people that I've talked to for < 15 minutes.
Weather: sunny, 46 - 63F
Miles Walked: 4.8
Pic Notes:
- 2: Australian coinage - $2, $1, $0.50, $0.20, $0.10, $0.05 -- fortunately no pennies; the $0.50 coin is huge; in NZ -- the $2 coin is bigger than the $1 coin --- confusing
- 3: I just knew that you wanted to see a pic of my laundry
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