What to do in Melbourne
Annual events
South Australia uses to call itself the Festival
State but Melbourne has an impressive number of festivals
too. If you're there at the right time try to catch some of
these events;
Australian Open - if you're
a tennis fan catch this one in January at the Melbourne Tennis
Centre.
Chinese Newyear - you haven't
seen Newyears celebrations until you've been to Chinatown
to see how the Chinese do it.
Formula One Grand Prix - held
early March at the Albert Park circuit.
Grand Final - on the last Saturday
in September the Australian Football League (AFL) comes to
an end with the Grand Final,
International Comedy Festival
- held every April.
International Film Festival
- stars in July.
Lygon St. Festa - an Italian
festival held in November in Carlton, lots of food and music
and a waiters race.
Melbourne Cup - first Tuesday in November,
this is a major event, see further down this page for more info.
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
- lots of Eating & drinking to be done the last two weeks
in March.
Melbourne International Festival
- this kicks off in October and actually includes several
festivals with the cream of arts, music and a big streetparty
on Brunswick Street.
Melbourne Music Festival -
loads of music every February.
Midsumma Festival - gay and
lesbian festival from late January to early February, not
a bad party but no match for Sydney's Mardi Gras.
Moomba - a ten day festival
in early March, very big and lively.
Jazz Festival - held every
January, a must for jazz music fans.
Queer Film and Video Festival
- films and videos produced by gay artists.
Royal Melbourne Show - held
in September at the showgrounds in Flemington.
St. Kilda Festival - a whole
week of arts, culture and food every february.
St. Kilda FIlm Festival - Australian
made films and videos, held every May.
Botanic gardens
Considered to be the best in Australia these gardens are
well worth a visit. Free entry and free guided tours are another bonus.
Captain Cooks's cottage
This is the original house in which James Cook
was brought up, taken apart in England and, brick by brick,
reassembled in Melbourne and refurnished as it would have
looked in 1750.
City tour
Melbourne Trams
© Tourism Victoria
Discover Melbourne's many highlights on a private tour.
See such famous landmarks as the Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne Arts
Center, Parliament House, the MCG and much more. Discover the world
class shopping and acres of parks and gardens. More
info....
Flinders railway station
Gardens
Victoria was not called the Garden State for
no reason, you will find gardens eveywhere!
Go to jail!
Just for the day, that is. The Old Melbourne
Gaol is an impressive yet gruesome building built of bluestone
in 1841. This is where legendary bushranger Ned
Kelly was hanged and you can still see some relics of
this, though his head was stolen a few years ago.
Goldrush tour
Sovereign Hill
© Tourism Victoria
GOLD… GOLD… GOLD! The goldrush played an important
role in shaping Melbourne into what it is today. Experience the heady
days of Australia's goldrush era on a private tour. Travel to Ballarat
and Sovereign Hill, a replica of an old-gold mining town, where you
can pan for gold, explore an underground mine, watch a gold ingot being
poured and much more. Also visit the Ballarat Wildlife Park to see some
of Australia's native animals. More
info....
Grampians National Park
Grampians National Park
© Australian Pacific Touring
Renowned for rugged mountain ranges and stunning wildflower
displays, the Grampians National Park is one of Victoria's most popular
visitor destinations. See kangaroos and emus in their natural environment.
View spectacular waterfalls cascading down cliff faces. More
info…
Great Ocean Road
The Great
Ocean Road is without a doubt one of the world's greatest
coastal drives with its dramatic scenery of striking contrasts. The
region boasts powerful seas, golden beaches, peaceful townships, giant
cliffs and lush forests. A visit to Melbourne is not complete without
a drive along this coast. While you can drive your own car along this
coast the advantage of a tour is that you can enjoy the scenery and
do not have to keep your eyes on the road. Your tourguide will tell
you the the legends of the 'Shipwreck Coast' and treat you to traditional
Aussie billy tea. More
info on this tour...
Markets
The Queen Victoria Markets
have been running for over a century and are high on the agenda
for most visitors to Melbourne. Wander around by yourself
or go on one of the tours that are run here for a more in-depth
look at things, phone 93205822 for info.
The Esplanade Arts and Crafts Markets are
held on Sundays.
The Camberwell Sunday Market is also very
popular for browsing through the trash and treasure.
Melbourne Aquarium
See the Barrier Reef without even leaving the
city! Inside the Melbourne Aquarium there is a floor to ceiling
coral tank.
Melbourne Cricket Ground
If you're a sports fanatic this is a must do
on your itinerary. Better known as the MCG or simply the G
it is a great sporting venue and has hosted many great events
since the first cricket test match was played here in 1877.
It played a central role in the 1956 Olympics. Every year
on Boxing Day tens of thousands of people head for the MCG
for the first day of the international cricket test match.
Plenty of other Aussie Rules Football games throughout the
year also pull in crowds of up to 80,000 people.
Melbourne Cup
Visiting in November? Great timing! On the first tuesday
of November the entire country grinds to a halt when at 15.20 in the
afternoon the whole of Australia focuses on Melbourne when a group of
horses thunder down a 3200 metre stretch at the Flemington race track
in an effort to win the Melbourne Cup and billions of dollars in gambling
money changes hands around the country. Most Aussies will take at least
half the day off to place their bets, have plenty to drink and just
enjoy the excuse to stop work for the day because of this event that
actually only runs for about three and a half minutes. A ticket will
set you back about $100.-
A very popular and easy way of betting on the Cup is the office sweep
where everyone just puts in five dollars and gets allocated a horse
at random with the money being divided between the winner and the two
place getters, this way it does not matter if you don't know anything
about horses or the way the betting works and you still get the adrenaline
rush of hoping to win and have a great excuse to take time off work
to follow the race (with a few drinks ofcourse).
If you are a tourist traveling in Australia do not expect any mechanic
to fix your car this afternoon, a huge array of services normally available
in a western country will disappear during this day so it is best to
plan ahead, stay put and join in the fun.
The Melbourne Cup is a long time tradition, the inaugural
running of the Melbourne Cup was held in 1861. There were 17 starters
and a crowd of around 4000 watching the race for the coveted prize -
not a cup, but a hand - beaten gold watch and 170 pounds. The eventual
winner, Archer, had been walked to the track from his stable in New
South Wales, a distance of 500 miles (800km). Archer raced again to
win his second successive Melbourne Cup the following year, and cement
the first place in Melbourne Cup lore.
A horse still remembered today is Carbine who ( with a "huge"
66 kg. jockey) ran the distance in a record 3 minutes and 28 seconds
in 1890.
Still his fame is nothing compared to Phar Lap who, out of 51 races
in his career, won 37, one of them the 1931 Melbourne Cup. This horse
gained so much fame that after dying in Mexico his heart was preserved
and is now held at the National Museum in Canberra, his skeleton in
a museum in New Zealand and his stuffed skin in the museum of Victoria
in Melbourne.
Melbourne Museum
Things to see in the southern hemisphere's largest
museum include Phar Lap, the legendary Aussie racehorse, an
Aboriginal Centre, a living forest gallery and the Australian
gallery.
Melbourne Observation Deck
View from the top
© Melbourne Observation Deck
The Rialto Towers in Melbourne is the tallest office building
in the southern hemisphere and from the 232 metre high observation deck
you get an awesome 360 degree view of Melbourne. The deck also has a
licenced bar and restaurant for lunch and dinner. More
info...
Melbourne Zoo
The Zoo in Melbourne was the first to be established
in Australia and is one of the oldest in the world
Penguin Parade
One of the most popular things to do in Melbourne is to
go and see the penguins on Philip Island. You can drive there yourself
but you can also go on a tour to Phillip Island Nature Park - close
to Melbourne, yet abounding with wildlife, see the little fairy penguins
coming home from the sea, koalas high in the treetops and the spectacle
of thousands of Australian fur seals swimming and lazing in Seal Rocks.
More
info...
Puffing Billy
Puffing Billy Steam Train
© Australian Pacific Touring
Journey into the properous heart of picturesque wine country,
to the Yarra Valley. En-route ride aboard Australia's oldest steam train,
the Puffing Billy. Meander through the scenic mountains and valleys,
arriving at Fergusson's Winery. Enjoy lunch and the company of local
winemakers.
More info....
St. Kilda
The Esplanade of St. Kilda is a great place
for a stroll, bike ride, roller bladeing, you name it. The
Esplanade Hotel, locally known as the Espy, is always a great
place for a drink or a meal. You can take a boat cruise from
here to go and see a fairy penguin colony or go on a sunset
cruise with barbeque and drinks. The rest of St. Kilda has
gone through a few changes over the years, from fashionable
seaside resort to seedy junkie, hookers and drugs scene, to
the current situation where the seedy side and the more affluent
side mixes. A colorful area but not the safest place to walk
around by yourself at night.
Yarra river
The Yarra has a nickname as ' the river that
flows upside down' , this refers to the water being not too
clear but it is just mud rather than pollution. You can enjoy
this river by walking along it, hire a bike and go for a ride
on the many bike paths or get on a boat cruise. In the upper
parts of the river there is some rapids for some good canoeing.
Windsurfing
You can hire wind surfers at Elwood beach and
Middlewood Beach, ring the hire place on 95256475.
Wine tasting
The Yarra valley is not far from Melbourne and has many
good wineries producing excellent wines. Touring the wineries and sampling
the wines is great fun but unfortunately drinking and driving don't
make a good combination, fortunately there is a tour that can chauffeur
you around all the best wineries and get you home safely. More
info...
The complete package
If you're not sure what to do or where to stay,
why not book a complete package!
This four day package offers you 3 nights accommodation at a choice
of either a Deluxe, First class or Tourist class hotel, roundtrip seat-in-coach
shuttle bus transfers to and from Melbourne Airport and a day tour of
Melbourne city and Phillip Island to see the famous Penguin Parade.
There is also free time to take in the fantastic shopping in Melbourne,
or perhaps take a day tour to either the Dandenong Ranges and the Yarra
Valley, or the picturesque Great Ocean Road. More
info...
