Australia 2019: Melbourne Highlights

This time last year, I tagged along with my parents on their Australia trip. October marks the birthday month for several members of our family, and I’ve always preferred to travel to celebrate instead of hosting parties or gatherings. This year, we’re all celebrating apart because of the ongoing pandemic, and I thought it would be a good time to reminisce about happier times together. The future of international travel is just still so uncertain right now and will never be the same again, so I’m extremely grateful that I got to enjoy this trip with my parents.

For this trip, I used free RT tickets I won from a Philippine Airlines (PAL) raffle to join my parents and mostly mooched off on all their pre-existing travel arrangements, hotel rooms, and complimentary stays with friends. There are a lot of perks traveling with seniors. It was fun to revert back to kid status, not be in charge of any major decisions, and not have such a jam-packed itinerary compared to work trips. I appreciated the quality downtime in between sightseeing, cafe stops, and the meet-ups with their friends who hosted us for meals and sightseeing in various legs.

We flew in via PAL from Manila to Melbourne, then traveled by land to Canberra, made our way to Sydney, then took a domestic flight to Brisbane, where we flew back to Manila.

I won’t be giving details anymore of flights and how to get there as in my former travel guides, as these will probably change in the future post-COVID, but I just wanted to share an account of our trip to relive the experience, focusing on the highlights and memorable food and beer. Australia is an amazing destination for craft beer-lovers!

First stop: Melbourne, the capital and most populous city of the state of Victoria, located in the southeastern part of mainland Australia. Known for its vibrant culture and rich heritage, this city is a dream destination for many Filipino travelers. It’s consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world.

We stayed 6 days in Melbourne, mostly revisiting old haunts from when my dad was finishing his Masters of Law at the University of Melbourne 20 years ago. There are a lot of modern changes in the city, but I was glad to recognize familiar spots like the Flinders Street Station and Bourke Street Mall. The tram and train system is so highly efficient in Melbourne, that it’s really easy to get around.

We just settled in on our first day at the house of my dad’s AusAID batchmate in Cranbourne, caught up on sleep, got our bearings, and bought things we needed like train tickets and other essential snacks and beer for our first night.

University of Melbourne

Founded in 1853, the University of Melbourne is Australia’s second oldest University and the oldest in Victoria. The campus has well-preserved architecture particularly in the Old Quadrangle, the first building ever constructed on the campus.

The building was said to have been designed in the Tudor Gothic style. The colonnade at the Old Quad is just stunning. It looks like a hallway from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Other notable buildings, such as Baldwin Spencer Buildings, the Clocktower at the Old Arts Building, and Gatekeeper’s Cottage at the University of Melbourne, Parkville campus also feature period architecture.

From the campus, we took a walk down memory lane to nearby streets, retracing the steps to my dad’s old living quarters and the apartment in Queensbury where we lived for a couple of months one summer two decades ago, and other spots we used to frequent like the library and shops.

Tesselaar Tulip Festival

Our trip to Melbourne was during Spring season last year, just in time for the annual Tesselaar Tulip Festival 2019, which is held in the Dandenong Ranges from September/October.  

The family-friendly affair offered a gorgeous display of five acres of tulips, live entertainment, children’s activities, delicious local and international food, and market stalls, all set to the stunning backdrop of a rainbow of 900,000 tulips in bloom. 

It was a themed Irish weekend when we visited, and there were Irish pipers and dancers, Celtic arts, Irish coffee and beers, and a few people dressed as leprechauns and fairies!

We spent a pleasant afternoon enjoying the blooms before heading back to the city and checking in at CitiClub Hotel in the CBD for a sightseeing tour the next day.

Mountain Goat Brewery

After dinner in the CBD, my dad and I hunted down Mountain Goat Brewery, one of the recommendations listed in Lonely Planet’s Global Beer Tour Guide. The brewery located inside an airy warehouse was founded in 1997 and was one of the first independent breweries of Melbourne.

The place was a bit hidden in one of the dark backstreets in the Richmond area, but once we got inside, I loved the friendly vibe of the place compared to some of the pubs in the main CBD area.

Great Ocean Road Tour

The Great Ocean Road Tour is considered one of Australia’s most iconic attractions. This spectacular road trip through the breathtaking coastline with visits to pristine beaches, rainforests, charming seaside towns, and the 12 Apostles.

For convenience, we joined a day tour coach option with a guided commentary by the driver. There are other private tours available for this for those who want to stay longer in each coastal town or navigate on their own. I couldn’t help thinking that this would make an amazing motorcycle road trip.

The bus tour includes stops at a popular coastal town for morning tea, before visiting the historic Memorial Arch, through the quaint coastal resort towns of Lorne and Wye River, and the picturesque Apollo Bay for lunch in one of the many cafes in the area.

The tour also took us to viewpoints with towering limestone cliffs and walks along the beach at Loch Ard Gorge. We got a view of the Archway, Razorback, and Dumpling Pots and learned about the tale of the Shipwreck Coast.

We got to walk out to various lookouts with spectacular views and photo opportunities at the world-famous 12 Apostles, a collection of limestone stacks formed by erosion jutting out from the sea. I’ll try to share a separate article with more details and photos of this specific tour.

Street Art Walk

Melbourne has gained international acclaim for its diverse range of street art and associated subcultures. I went on a DIY street art tour to check out the world-renowned street art scene through the city’s laneways using this handy guide and location map.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, much of the city’s disaffected youth were influenced by the graffiti of New York City, which subsequently became popular in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, and along the suburban railway and tram lines.

The street art continues to evolve with the times, changing as much as Melbourne’s weather, so visitors will always find something new.

Crown Melbourne

Crown Melbourne is an entertainment and leisure resort complex located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne. There are some al fresco dining areas along the riverside, and the whole area seems very bike-friendly.

We met up with my mom’s friend Grace and her family for lunch here.

The complex contains a casino, a cinema, a spa, Kingpin bowling, Playtime arcade games, live theatre, concerts, nightclubs, bars, and lots of restaurants.

Holgate Brewhouse in Woodend

I decided to split one night from my parents and stay overnight at Holgate Brewhouse in Woodend, another historic spot recommended in Lonely Planet’s Global Beer Tour book. The brewery is an easy 5-min walk from the Woodend Train station in a charming, laid-back county town.

Holgate has been brewing beers in Australia since 1999. The beautiful red-bricked structure where the brewery and taproom is located also happens to have 10 guest rooms right above it, making it a perfect beer-cation getaway.

I’ve tried some of Holgate’s bottled beers in the Philippines like Norton Lager, Road Trip IPA, and Mt. Macedon Pale Ale, but nothing beats drinking beer fresh on tap.

The taproom serves all their signature beers and sells bottles and cans for takeout. I enjoyed a beer sampler before taking an afternoon walk around Woodend’s nature trails. The Temptress Chocolate Porter and dinner set was amazing as well. As a bonus, I met brewer Paul Holgate on my way out the next day and he gave me a quick brewery tour and peek at the new taproom. I’ll be writing a separate article on this unique stay too.

Brighton Bathing Boxes

The Brighton Bathing Boxes are one of the most photographed landmarks of Melbourne. These 82 distinctive wooden beach huts are painted with different eye-catching and vibrant colors and designs. I dragged my parents here purely for Instagram purposes. I didn’t know it was a long walk from the train station (I picked the wrong station to get off from) and that there weren’t any places to eat by the beachside (haha, sorry.)

These colorful beach boxes were originally set up in the early 1900s so ladies could change into their swimwear in privacy. The bathhouses have managed to retain their charm and classic architectural features even in modern times.

The simple structures retain classic Victorian architectural features with timber framing, weatherboards and corrugated iron roofs, and remain as they did over one hundred years ago. 

Today, these bathing boxes are visited by tourists mostly as a colorful backdrop for souvenir photos. Each box has its own distinct character. The most popular for photo ops is Box 2 which features the Australian Flag. There are a lot of other cool ones too. I liked Box 66 with the Great Wave off Kanagawa painted on it, and Box 38 which has a Space Invaders logo.

Luna Park

Luna Park Melbourne is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Philip Bay in St. Kilda, Melbourne. It opened on 13 December 1912. The main historic features of the park remaining include the iconic “Mr Moon” face entry and flanking towers, the Scenic Railway (the oldest continuously operating roller coaster in the world, and the carousel.

Other historic attractions inside include the Ghost Train (1934), and the fairytale castle-style Dodgem’s Building constructed to house the newly patented ride in 1927. The park was closed when we passed by, so we just enjoyed a windy afternoon at the St. Kilda beach nearby.

This was our last sightseeing stop before heading back to prepare for the next leg of our journey. From Melbourne, we took an overnight bus to Canberra, the capital city of Australia located 660 km north-east of Melbourne.

NEXT POST: Australia 2019: Canberra Highlights