173.-176. Day 07.03. - 10.03 Melbourne / St. Kilda

Thursday 07.03.
We arrived in Melbourne, or rather a suburb, and parked María there for the next few days. Since we booked 2 nights at the Flinders Hostel, we took the train to the city center, the CBD (Central Business District) in Melbourne. With our backpacks, we went to the hostel and got a 8-bed room on the 14th floor. Then we explored the city for the first time, with bar hopping and tapas eating, so we had a little snack in every pub. It was pretty funny and we were a little tipsy.

In the evening, we went to a small bar where several backpackers were celebrating. But it was rather boring there, so we walked further through the city and found a fancy rooftop bar, on the 15th floor in the middle of Melbourne. After a cocktail, we went back to our hostel bed.

Friday 08.03.
In the morning, we hiked a sightseeing path recommended by the guidebook through the city. This path led past the conference center, an art exhibition, government buildings, and the theater. There was an exhibition for women in the workplace at the conference center and we chatted a bit with female firefighters.

On the way back, we passed by a few outdoor shops, where we, as always, looked for new items and found some. After dark, we went to the EUREKA SKYDECK, at the top of the Eureka Tower. With over 300m in height, we had an impressive view of Melbourne at night.

Afterwards, we went to the Moomba Festival and went on a water roller coaster and got pretty wet. That was also a lot of fun. The whole festival reminded a bit of a fair in our hometown, just without a beer tent including alcohol and that you can ONLY win stuffed animals at the individual stands.

Saturday 09.03.

After checking out, we took the train to St. Kilda, a beach district of Melbourne. There we booked an apartment through Airbnb.

We spent the afternoon walking a lot in the Botanic Gardens and on the beach. In between, we also took a little nap in the shade. Since I had cracked skin on my heels, we couldn't go for a walk in the evening, but we didn't miss out on a delicious dinner in the neighborhood.

Sunday 10.03.
In the morning, we took the tram to South Melbourne to the Markets, a Sunday special with mussels and live music. It was quite similar to the Queen Victoria Markets, just smaller. The tram passed by the Formula 1 track, the Australian Grand Prix, which takes place in Melbourne the following weekend. In the evening, we took a walk on the pier in St. Kilda to see the penguins returning to their nests as darkness fell.

It was pretty impressive how many there were in total.