Topic: The Aussie Thread

[Crosby Nick]

Were you captain Paul? I bet you'd be a true gentleman skipper like Sir Bobby, Gawd bless him.

[WEST HAM PAUL]

Can I have your autograph? 

Only if you ask nicely & pay for a ticket to Australia for me. Fair deal.



No I wasn't captain Nick

[Rusty]

Okay, i'll be heading your way on the 6th of August for a year (hopefully). Visa secured, flight booked and notice officially handed in at work.

My flight is to Melbourne initially so i'll be there for the first few weeks i'd imagine, and from there I don't have too many (i.e. no) fixed plans in place, which suits me perfectly. Last time I was over, in 2009, I travelled the east coast from Sydney to Cairns, so i'm primarily looking to see 'the rest', although i'll be travelling with a mate who hasn't been before so no doubt we'll end up on the east coast as well at some point.

Anyway, if anyone happens to have any tips on places to go, things to see, general pointers that might be useful to know for a clueless pom (particularly relating to Melbourne and the west coast) from a locals perspective they'd be much appreciated. I will be on a backpacker budget as well, just to point that out.

Ta 

Hi Grob,

I posted something about this in a different thread where someone was heading I think round Melbourne, Sydney and Christchurch - most of it should still all be relevant...

OK here we go...

First off, you'll love it - both Melbourne and Sydney are great places! (though don't let the Sydneysiders hear me say that)

Sydney is a more naturally beautiful place due to its location on the harbour, with great beaches, rocky outcrops etc as well. As mentioned above, it really depends what you are into - I would say that one of the best ways to see the whole harbour is by the public ferries, they are cheap and will take you to loads of places that would otherwise be a pain in the arse to get to by road. Bondi is the most famous beach but can be quite crowded and full of backpackers/tourists/bogans, I would recommend Manly as it has a lovely beach. Also for a non-beach ferry trip you could go through Darling Harbour (very pretty) and then out to Balmain, a lovely little suburb on one of the slightly more inland peninsulars.

I have been recommended that Taronga Zoo is very good, but have never been, ditto for the Bridge climb (apparently best to do it at dusk, when the lights are lighting up over the city, but costs a bit more). For nightlife etc lots of people head to Kings Cross where there are numerous clubs, though that area can be pretty scuzzy. The main sport there over summer is obviously cricket so if you're into that then you could try heading to the SCG, I haven't been but always wanted to, it looks great with the old pavillion there.

As for trips into NSW, I haven't really done any so can't comment, but have been told the Blue mountains are awesome and the Hunter Valley is great for wine tasting.


Now onto the best bit of your trip (AKA Melbourne).

It is a great city and has something to cater to pretty much any taste/set of interests. For sports, unfortunately you will be there outside AFL season, otherwise I would definitely recommend a trip to the MCG to watch some Aussie Rules (brilliant sport). If you like cricket there may be a state game on there, it will only cost $5 to get in and is a cool (but spooky) way to see the stadium - usually the state 4-day games only get a crowd of about 250, which in a 98,000 seat stadium is pretty eerie! There are also sometimes 1-day or T20 games on, which are good fun. Failing that you could just do a stadium tour which will include the museum of sport with some great memorabilia in there. If you play golf then there are numerous high-quality public courses you can get to easily - Yarra Bend is one of my favourites (partly due to the fruit bat colony that lives down by the river next to greens 10-11 I think. And they're pretty cheap compared to the UK - generally you should be able to get in 18 holes plus club hire for about $30 I think (not sure on the clubs as I always took my own).

For eating out etc there are numerous restaurants of various ethnicities in town - Chinatown on Little Bourke St, Lonsdale St for Greek (NB Stalagtite's on the corner of Lonsdale and Russell is one of the nicest kebabs you will ever taste), Italian on Lygon St, plus a variety of other good eateries dotted around. There are always plenty of shows/gigs on in town, usually there's comedy/theatre/dance - easy enough to find online through the Melbourne tourist info website. Plenty of nice places to go out just for a drink too - the laneway bars of Melbourne really are one of Australia's treasure, lots of them are fairly well-hidden and can be hard to find, but are usually worth it!! If you're there in the day then the Rooftop is great (in Curtin House on Swanston St, top floor outdoor beer garden), though there are plenty of other ones that you could explore. Also Match Bar on Swanston does great cocktails and has a lovely outdoor terrace that overlooks the State Library. Outside the CBD, there are other streets which have a high concentration of bars/cafes etc, the most famous/popular is Chapel St in South Yarra, probably about a 15-20 minute tram ride, there's also Fitzroy St in St Kilda, Brunswick St etc.

The Queen Vic market is also definitely worth a look, both foodie and non-foodie stuff, the reading room in the State Library I think is brilliant, the Aquarium is pretty cool, you can walk along Southbank and see the various waterfront places (including the Casino), Federation Square often has things on (you can also go to the NGV at Fed Square for both indigenous and colonial Australian art).

The Botanic gardens ("the Tan") are lovely open green space and a lovely place to hang out on a sunny day for a picnic or a stroll, or if you prefer beach then head down to St Kilda (the beach there isn't amazing to be honest) or further out to Brighton (much nicer).

If you like wine-tasting then hire/borrow a car and drive up to the Yarra Valley, there are loads of wineries out there, most of which have cellar door tasting, so you can pop along and try some of their wines - and increasingly there are lots of nice foodie places in wine country as well - Beechworth has some nice food places IIRC. Staying on the country theme, if you like wildlife then get up to Healesville animal sanctuary - loads of really cool animals there including all the cute Aussie animals, kangas, koalas, wombats etc as well as some other more exotic wildlife. Easy to spend a day there if you are an animal lover. Alternatively you could pop to Melbourne zoo, which is heaps easier to get to from town, but still pretty good for animals. (If you have time to get to Healesville then I would say its worth it!)

Getting slightly further afield, country Vic is lovely, and if you have access to a car then there are some lovely drives. Head west out of town and that takes you through Geelong towards the Great Ocean Road, you can see the 12 apostles (though there are only about 4 left now ) along with some other spectacular coastal scenery interspersed with cute little towns (most of which do great fish and chips). Alternatively you can head round the East coast of the Bay down to Sorrento, where you could get the ferry across to Queenscliff - it is not uncommon to see dolphins swimming alongside the boat and jumping out of the water! More inland you can head up into the Dandenongs, beautifully lush wooded hills with great views out over the city, and you can go on "Puffing Billy", and old steam train that runs through the hills inland, with some gorgeous views/scenery. If you REALLY love outdoorsy stuff then you could take a couple of days and do a trip down to Wilson's Prom and go camping (if you can borrow a tent off your relatives), loads of cool wildlife down there and a nice campsite with great walks for a range of abilities.

Anyway, all of that should keep you busy for the first week at least, after that you can start exploring the *really* good bits of Melbourne!

Oh and you can go punting in Christchurch - that's about all I remember from there

EDIT: forget the thing about missing the AFL season, you'll be there in August which will be the run up to the finals in Spetember. Good time to go catch a game - at the MCG you'll just be able to rock up and watch one (it should cost about $20-25) unless it's a final, in which case it will probably be sold out.

Also if you like street art Melbourne has loads of graffiti and there are walking tours of the city to see the best stuff.

[Rusty]

Not sure whether to post this in the unemployed RAWKites thread or here but I just lost ANOTHER job in Sydney. This one went from potential for sponsorship to fired in just 2 1/2 weeks. Been here 6 months and it's a familiar old tale. A lesser man would have went home but I'm enjoying the life too much.

Yeah rant over, back to the hunt tomorrow.

Just seen this - sorry to hear about your situation mate. Was it just that the company were making cuts? Or something else?

Good to hear you're sticking it out, does it affect your visa in terms of staying?

Either way, best of luck with the job hunt, I'm sure something will turn up!!

[Scaryscouse]

Were you part of that building firm that went tits up Damomad? Sorry to hear your predicament.

[OzBomber]

5.2 earthquake here in Melbourne tonight. Not sure how I'm going to cope mentally.

[Ultimate Bromance]

We will rebuild, never forget.

[pepe_carra_stevie_nando]

Brad Hardie on 6PR tonight, "I didn't hear a word that caller just said because the building is shaking. I think we might be having an earthquake."

Karl Langdon, "Are you sure there isn't anyone doing construction work near you?"

Brad, "I'm quite sure."

[WEST HAM PAUL]

Hopefully no damage or injuries. Melbourne's a great city.

Especially after the devastation of Christchurch in NZ. I was in Christchurch exactly the same month the year before & thought it was a lovely city & went up the cathedral which is (was) magnificent .

[Crosby Nick]

Hopefully no damage or injuries. Melbourne's a great city.

Especially after the devastation of Christchurch in NZ. I was in Christchurch exactly the same month the year before & thought it was a lovely city & went up the cathedral which is (was) magnificent .

There a new girl in our office who's from Christchurch. I described where I stayed when I was there (really nice family run guest house near the big park). She reckoned she knew of it (run by friend's parents) and that it was destroyed by the quake. Very sad if so.

What's the latest on the Melbourne quake then? Much damage? Everyone ok?

[leroy]

Was just chatting to my brother who lives down there and he didn't even mention it.  Looking at the ABC site though it was a long way out of Melbourne to the east.  Hopefully no on hurt.

[OzBomber]

The epicenter was in regional Victoria probably 150+km south west of the city. All we felt was rumbling and some shaking. As comparison, the Italy Earthquake the other week was 5.8 and killed 20 people and left thousands homeless. So maybe if the epicenter was in the city it would've done a little bit of damage. But everyone is fine, only thing hurt is my Facebook news feed which copped the full brunt of the quake.

[Rusty]

Yeah the general tone of comments on The Age website are that it wasn't anything serious...

[RedmeisterOZ]

Brad Hardie on 6PR tonight, "I didn't hear a word that caller just said because the building is shaking. I think we might be having an earthquake."

Karl Langdon, "Are you sure there isn't anyone doing construction work near you?"

Brad, "I'm quite sure."

Police have been turning hordes of helpers away from Collingwood, Northcote, Brunswick, Sunshine and Footscray. "It's ok, it was like this before."

[Grobbelrevell]

Snip

Sorry for the belated reply mate, only just noticed your post.

Thanks a lot for that, some really useful information in there. I'll definitely be looking to take in an AFL game before I leave Melbourne, that's a certainty.

[pepe_carra_stevie_nando]

Sorry for the belated reply mate, only just noticed your post.

Thanks a lot for that, some really useful information in there. I'll definitely be looking to take in an AFL game before I leave Melbourne, that's a certainty.

Make sure there is good teams playing so you get the best spectacle.

[Grobbelrevell]

Make sure there is good teams playing so you get the best spectacle.

Who would you recommend, mate? Bearing in mind I have absolutely no clue at all.

[pepe_carra_stevie_nando]

Who would you recommend, mate? Bearing in mind I have absolutely no clue at all.

Depends what weekend you choose. I would say pop into the AFL thread when you get down here and get recommendations on games to go to. You would get good football if you watch Collingwood (Man U of the AFL and their fans are feral), Hawthorn, Essendon (if they don't continue to slide) or Richmond if they are in form.

[Grobbelrevell]

Depends what weekend you choose. I would say pop into the AFL thread when you get down here and get recommendations on games to go to. You would get good football if you watch Collingwood (Man U of the AFL and their fans are feral), Hawthorn, Essendon (if they don't continue to slide) or Richmond if they are in form.

Well i'm gonna be in Melbourne from the 7th August, probably for two or three weeks.

I'll check out the fixtures when I get a few minutes. Cheers mate.

[Agger]

[pepe_carra_stevie_nando]

Well i'm gonna be in Melbourne from the 7th August, probably for two or three weeks.

I'll check out the fixtures when I get a few minutes. Cheers mate.

Just had a squiz. The best ones for you to check out would probably be:

Friday August 17th- Geelong v St Kilda

Saturday August 18th- Essendon v Carlton (massive rivals)

Friday August 24th- Richmond v Essendon

Sunday August 26th- watch my Dockers and get put to sleep. Particularly good for viewing after a big night v North Melbourne

The last round days/time don't come out until a couple of weeks prior but if you are still there definately head to Essendon v Collingwood which is another massive game and weather depending should draw around 70-80,000 fans.

I personally would recommend Essendon v Carlton as I went a couple of years ago when I was in Melbourne and it was awesome. 65,000 at the MCG on a Friday night was a brilliant atmosphere and it was a good game of football IIRC. The most we get over here is 42,000 for a Derby as that's all our stadium can hold.

Pop into the AFL thread just before you get here to see which ones would be best (form teams, weather etc.).

[Grobbelrevell]

Snip

Thanks for the tips mate, i've made a note and no doubt i'll see you in the AFL thread nearer the time

[Rafasacolytereturns]

Off to OZ in September for at least 12 months, starting in Perth and then moving around if I feel the desire to do so!

Any tips/Tricks/things to be aware of?

Also looking for a decent sport to play, do a lot of Cross Fit and football, anybody got any recommendations for eithe Jondalloop or Perth Central (will be getting  a motor sharpish if I can)

Cheers!

[pepe_carra_stevie_nando]

Off to OZ in September for at least 12 months, starting in Perth and then moving around if I feel the desire to do so!

Any tips/Tricks/things to be aware of?

Also looking for a decent sport to play, do a lot of Cross Fit and football, anybody got any recommendations for eithe Jondalloop or Perth Central (will be getting  a motor sharpish if I can)

Cheers!

Not really as it's no different to anywhere else. Although if you are up Joondalup way then you will be with a shit load of other ex-pats so finding a team to play for shouldn't really be a problem. I can't really help you with anything since I'm not from up that way.

[perth-red]

Off to OZ in September for at least 12 months, starting in Perth and then moving around if I feel the desire to do so!

Any tips/Tricks/things to be aware of?

Also looking for a decent sport to play, do a lot of Cross Fit and football, anybody got any recommendations for eithe Jondalloop or Perth Central (will be getting  a motor sharpish if I can)

Cheers!

No tips/tricks in Perth. Perth has to be the most relaxed place on earth. When you arrive you will be stunned by how quiet it is. Also you should be able to find a $20-$30 an hour job easy with no references.

Check out http://www.footballwest.com.au/ if your interested in playing footy.

[Rusty]

Both very amusing

[Rusty]

Who would you recommend, mate? Bearing in mind I have absolutely no clue at all.

From the list that PCSN put up, definitely go to Carlton - Essendon. Big rivalry, always pulls a big crowd (65-70k is common, may be more if both teams are pushing for finals) and over the last few years there have been some cracking games.

[Rusty]

Just booked flights back for a visit to Melbourne in late Nov/early Dec, for about 3 weeks. Looking forward to getting back, catching up with mates there, my parents will be over at the same time so might take them down the GOR and maybe a trip to Healesville wildlife sanctuary too.

Also if there's any cricket on I'll take my old man along to the G.

[nicholasanthony]

From the list that PCSN put up, definitely go to Carlton - Essendon. Big rivalry, always pulls a big crowd (65-70k is common, may be more if both teams are pushing for finals) and over the last few years there have been some cracking games.

The other one I'd say Richmond v Essendon, an underrated rivalry. Will also have a big crowd.

[Grobbelrevell]

From the list that PCSN put up, definitely go to Carlton - Essendon. Big rivalry, always pulls a big crowd (65-70k is common, may be more if both teams are pushing for finals) and over the last few years there have been some cracking games.

It's on my list 

Just out of interest, is it easy enough to get tickets? Can you pay on the day, or do they need to be booked in advance?

[Crosby Nick]

It's on my list 

Just out of interest, is it easy enough to get tickets? Can you pay on the day, or do they need to be booked in advance?

Going back a long time mate but I just bought tickets on the day for a game at the 'G'. Can't remember if I paid on the gate, think I might have gone earlier in the day for them but the place is so huge that I odn't think you should have any problems getting hold of tickets.

[OzBomber]

It's on my list 

Just out of interest, is it easy enough to get tickets? Can you pay on the day, or do they need to be booked in advance?

It will really depend on where both teams are on the ladder. Recent matches have pushed 70-80k, but even then you should be fine. The official MCG site will tell you in the week leading up whether or not you should book anyway.

[Grobbelrevell]

Snip

Snip

Cheers for the replies, i'll have to have a proper look around when I get a few minutes. Sounds promising though.

[nicholasanthony]

Going back a long time mate but I just bought tickets on the day for a game at the 'G'.

"The G", look at you, being all Aussie and whatnot.

[Rusty]

The other one I'd say Richmond v Essendon, an underrated rivalry. Will also have a big crowd.

Yeah I always like going to Dreamtime at the G, it's a great atmosphere. One of my favourite games of the year! (Especially as Richmond are almost always rubbish and we usually beat them )

[Rusty]

It's on my list 

Just out of interest, is it easy enough to get tickets? Can you pay on the day, or do they need to be booked in advance?

It's almost always possible to get tickets on the gate... only real exceptions I can think of are finals or ANZAC day

BUT - there can be queues which are a bit annoying, most times we would just book online beforehand and print the tickets, then you can just wander right up and not have to wait.

[Hyypia headers]

Anyone have any experience with YHA hostels? I'm looking at various places to stay and go around Victoria. From what have found so far YHA seems to be good value for money?

[WEST HAM PAUL]

Anyone have any experience with YHA hostels? I'm looking at various places to stay and go around Victoria. From what have found so far YHA seems to be good value for money?

Sorry not them but used Base Backpackers across cities in Australia & New Zealand. Good value , facilities & locations.

Stayatbase.com

[Hyypia headers]

Cheers, will have a look into it.

[pepe_carra_stevie_nando]

That was a great way to finish an Origin decider last night.