So today's the day I'm back out on my own! I've had a brilliant and hilarious 2 weeks staying with my aunt and she's been very good to me, I'm full with food to my eyeballs! That didn't stop her trying to give me even more food to leave with! This woman has a problem I swear... So after packing my backpack once again and ditching a few heavy things in the wardrobe until January I loaded up her car and we headed off to St Kilda, my next stop.
So St Kilda from Frankston is about an hour away but it's really close to the city, it also has a really nice beach and it's basically backpacker Central! Surprise surprise, Lewis was staying in the hostel I had booked and had highly recommended it so I was looking forward to it! It's called X Base and is a huge red building, sounds easy to find right? No.
Now my mum and dad can vouch for me here. My aunts driving is bordering terrifying! So mix that with city driving and it equals in your nerves being shot to shit! We were up and down roads, swerving lanes and 'dropping a U-ie' left, right and center! As I still haven't got a phone sorted yet because EE is one I the worst networks going, I wasn't able to use my maps so I took a trip back to the 90's and had to use an actual book of maps (who knew they even printed these still!?). Well it was an old map wasn't it AND the roads had changed! We eventually figured it out and without hitting anything I had arrived.
I'd got here around lunch time so I went to explore St Kilda and get my bearings of where I was. The hostel is in a great location! It's just off Acland street and right near the beach and Luna Park!
I'd met a girl, Jodie, in my dorm room who had been competing in a cheerleader competition and was heading into the city to meet her friends for dinner and a trip up Eureka tower and asked if I would like to tag along. So I did! We met in Federation Square, which is pretty much synonymous with Melbourne as it's right opposite Flinders Street station and St Paul's cathedral, then went to China Town for dinner.
Eureka tower stands tall on the edge of the South Bank next to the Yarra River. It's the tallest building in Australia and has a sky deck on floor 88. It was built to represent the gold boom in Australia in the 1800's and has 24 carat gold infused glass on the top of the tower with a red stretch to represent the blood lost during the battles of that period. Its a very striking building and for me one of the best sky scrapers I've seen. We bought our tickets and took the speed elevator, taking only 38 seconds, to the sky deck. At the top you could see the whole city glittering in the night sky. Its a wrap around deck with floor to ceiling windows and spaced out along the windows were 'telescopes' (I put that in air quotes as they weren't actually telescopes because they didn't have glass!) which directed you to the land marks of Melbourne!
We booked The Edge which was extra but it's a main attraction of the tower. It's a box made entirely on glass which moves out 3 metres from the 88th floor! Now I thought, I've climbed ladders on cliffs in Mesa Verde and I've climbed out on rocks in the Grand Canyon surely a secure viewing box would be nothing! Probably one of the scariest out of them all!! As you step into the box the glass is misted over, it then juts to life and starts moving out the side of the building! As it reaches it's end the walls begin to flicker and then all of a sudden the misted glass goes clear and you can see the entire 87 floors beneath you, the dwarfed cars and street lamps. It's enough to make you squeal!! But once you get over the initial 'IM GOING TO DIE!' Its a really fun experience! Walking around on the glass floor, staring up at the stars above and looking out across the city, it's definitely the best view of the city there is!
We finished the night by the casino, there are fire towers outside which do a flame routine every night every hour. So we sat on the South Bank watching the fire dance against the night sky. Oh, I also became a cheerleader! The guys tried to enrol me into becoming a 'flyer' which is the one they fling into the air! I couldn't tell if it was a joke or not... That was until she whipped me up onto her shoulders! So yeah, that makes me a cheerleader right!?
One of my aims for making this blog was to give people thinking about going travelling a real account of what it's like. Maybe I've been lucky in the fact it's only just happened now, but today was the first day since being away I truly felt on my own. I'm not going to lie, it scared the shit out of me! It's something I have never experienced before and luckily I have an amazing best friend to help me realise that these days are going to happen, you'll panic like crazy but they pale in comparison to the amount of good days you'll have and all I can say is focus on those good days because the bad ones last a few hours! So what started off as a bad day actually turned into a pretty awesome one! Day 54...
I'd heard about 'walking tours' which are free in most major cities. I'd never actually tried them out before but I thought, what the hell do I have to lose!? I'd missed the morning one but there was an afternoon walk which worked out perfect as I wanted to visit the Shrine of Remembrance and Botanical Gardens. I hopped on a tram and headed back into the city!
The tram system in Melbourne I must say is pretty good. I'm getting my tram fix I didn't get in San Francisco! I'm a tramaholic! I got off right at the Shrine. I'd noticed it the first time I came into the city. It's a large building which sits at the end of Queen Victoria Gardens. I was hitting two birds with one stone as the Shrine is opposite the Botanical Gardens which was next on the hit list. It must be the old soul in me, but I really love visiting historic buildings and walking around parks and gardens! Something about them is just so relaxing... Anyway, the shrine was first.
The Shrine is to commemorate those Australians who fought in the war and was build in 1934 as a place for Australians to grieve as the majority of soldiers bodies were buried in distant graves so they were unable to visit. There are also 4 gardens, each symbolic to a part/movement in the war.
The Botanical Gardens were opposite the Shrine so before I made my way to the walking tour I took a stroll round them!
As I walked through Federation Square and up towards Bourke Street (shopping central!) I remembered, I HAVE NO HAIRDRYER!? #firstworldproblems I know! But there's not a chance I could live without one, so I did a quick detour into target picking up a bargain! Then made my way to the public library!
Ok, so like I said, I'd never been on a walking tour before so wasn't sure what to expect... They're brilliant! It took about 3 hours and our guide was so enthusiastic and fun she made the tour all the more better! We did a large loop around the east of the city discovering lane ways (which is the heart and soul of Melbourne, dodgy alley ways hold the best restaurants and bars!), gardens (which the city is designed to be no further than 15 minutes away from at one point), the old jail which she shared stories on infamous inmates, historical Melbourne buildings which played vital parts in the Gold Rush, two of the coolest bars in Melbourne! Section 8 being one which was made from all recyclables and was covered in street art! One of the final stops which has to be my favourite spot in the whole city was Hosier Lane, the state government actually commission street art which I think is pretty awesome when most tear it down. Despite there being hotspots all over town of pop up street art, this commissioned lane is by far the best, every inch was covered by amazing art!
We finished the tour by the art centre, the guide had told us about the penguins you can see come out at St Kilda pier (for free! After I paid $50 down at Phillip Island!!) so before leaving I arranged to do that tomorrow night with a girl from the tour, we'll see how it compares!! It was now back to the hostel because Sunday lunch was served! When your away from home you really do start to miss the little things, this was sold as 'Better than yo mama's!' So it had to be good right!? WELL... It ain't Col and Linda's Sunday dinner I can tell you that! But it wasn't too bad, plus they had the worlds smallest Yorkshire puddings!?
Lol what even is that!?
x
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