Day 6 | 8/7/2016

Queen Victoria Market

Cousin House

Day 7 | 9/7/2016

1. 12 Apostles Helicopter Ride (Full Video)

2. Melbourne Trip (Full Video)

Day 5  | 7/7/2016

Great Ocean Road Day Tour

Tour Price: 

$99 for one person

$94 for booking two or more people

$80 for a child (5-12 years old) & infant (0-4 years old)

On our first post, I had mentioned that we book the tour few days before, at Melbourne Visitor Centre (near the Flinders Street Station).

Just so you know, you don't need to worry to print the booking information because they will give it to you complete with an explanation where is the nearest place you have to wait for the tour bus.

FOR FAMILY:

If you bring a child with you, don't worry, they provided a child seat for them. You just have to informed them when you book the tour package.

This package include morning tea and biscuit, cafe style lunch, and National Park entry.

For more information about the tour, click here.

Pickup Point

Today will be a really long journey for us, because the tour start around 7.00 AM end at 9.00 PM. So we have to be at the pickup place around 6.30AM.

The thing is we woke up very early especially my mom, because we have to wait for a turn to clean our self out.

Our pickup point at Adara East (90 Albert St East Melbourne) which was few block walking from our apartment (very very early morning walk).

Take note that we are the first group that entered the petite bus (it's a mix of bus and a van).

Then, the tour guide/driver bus picked up all of the people until the bus was full, and then of course, we sleep because it took around one to two hours to arrived there.

Remember guys, they have their reason why they named it as a Great Ocean Road.

Great Ocean Road 

After few hours, we arrived at our first stop, Anglesea Visitor Centre!

This is where I found that this is the most peaceful tour that I have ever been.

We just like chilling around eating biscuit, with tea or Milo! (Australian have Milo okay)

You get a chance to enjoy the view or chit chatting with other tourist.

Then my tour guide also stopped at the side of the road, just for the purpose of taking picture of the view (very cool tour guide).

Kennett River Caravan Park

Yeap! I never seen any caravan before, so this is basically great but actually, the main goal we went there is to spot koalas in the wild.

We did spot the koala, but I thought its going to be near me where I can hug them so tight, but to bad, all of them are up on the tree. (Sob Sob Sob)

Spot The Koala!

Then we headed to one of the restaurant in the coastal town of Apollo Bay.
Guess what we are having today? Fish and chips, of course!

Maits Rest

Twelve Apostles - Visitor Facility
click here

Other options that we missed due to weather and lack of time is to visit London Bridge and Cape Otway up closed.



I hope you guys enjoyed reading this third post because I myself enjoyed writing and experienced this so much.

When I wrote this entry I feel like I want to fly there one more time, but maybe someday I will come back again.

You know, life is full of adventure, and I hope this small attribution will give you something valuable.

Well then, see you on the next post which will be the last post of Melbourne Trip.

Last post:
Melbourne Trip #1, https://aqaliliazizan.blogspot.my/2016/10/melbourne-trip-1.html
Melbourne Trip #2, https://aqaliliazizan.blogspot.my/2016/11/melbourne-trip-2-train-day.html

Day 4 | 6/7/2016

Selamat Hari Raya!

We did bring our baju raya, but its so cold I couldn't even wear it inside of the house.

My sister in law and family managed to took a family picture outside with their baju raya, but not for us because we were just too lazy and cold, LOL.

So at first we planned to visit our cousin and celebrate the festive, but something came out so we get to a Plan B.

Puffing Billy

Ticket price: 

There are three different prices, such as

Belgrave - Lakeside or Emerald / Lakeside - Gembrook | Belgrave - Gembrook | Belgrave - Menzies Creek / Menzies Creek - Lakeside

Click here for the price.

So, we travel from East Richmond to Belgrave by Train (Using MyKi), and they were some works going on along the train, so we need to stop at this one shopping mall, and take the bus to Puffing Billy.

And when we arrived there, we need to walk a little bit, but overall it was a good day to walk and see new things.

Then, we purchased ticket from Belgrave to Lakeside at 11.10 AM. 

So it was like 9.00 AM or 10.00 AM if I'm not mistaken.

While we waiting for out train to arrived, we decided to grab some food! 

It was hard for us, because we didn't know whether the restaurant served Halal food or not,

but logically, fish is technically like a save food for you to eat, because you didn't have to worry about how it were slaughtered and so on.

So yeah, we decided to eat at this one restaurant that served fish and chips!

Although we have been here almost 3 days, but it was my first time eating fish and chips, and it was a really good one.

They served huge amount of food.

I get like 2 fish, coleslaw and french fries in one plate, and to top it off with a hot chocolate, just mind blowing.

After  eating, we ran over to Belgrave station and took the train.

You know what, this experienced of having out feet linger around in the air, was freaking me out but exciting as well.

I may look really happy, but that scared of height are still within me.

We stopped like three times, well to go the restroom of course because it was freezing cold and it was a bad idea to let the feet lingered around.

But, it was a good experienced though! I'm totally recommend you to visit Puffing Billy.

First, because you can get that Harry Potter vibe and second, which this is the first time that I know about a train that let you sit at the window and let your feet be free in the mid air.

Thumbs up!

Brighton Bathing Boxes (Brighton Beach)

After that pleasant experienced, and the day was still bright, why not we brighten our day with Brighton Beach (sounds cheesyyyy).

Please take note that it was a bad idea to went to a beach during winter, but we didn't know when we will be coming back again, so just hoping for the best!

Brighton Beach is very popular attraction for tourist because of their colourful beach house.

Clearly during summer, this place will be such a hit for them to just chilling around and all of that, I know because I would love to do that.

So, again we went there by train, you have to take that Belgrave Station, and went back to Richmond/Flinders station and arrived at Brighton Beach.

It took a bit of time, but don't worry just enjoy the scenery outside of the window.

So we stayed there until night, and to add on to our adventure, it was raining and like heavily pour.

Thank God, my mom brought a umbrella, but still, you can't run from the wind.

Flinders Street Station

Remember on the last post I told you guys about the food sold in that station?

That day, we decided to taste it.

We kind of do our research, like looking which stalls served most of the people, and it was Lord of the fries! Click here for more info about it.

Well, most of their menu already sold out at time, but we are so lucky to get to taste a bit of it and because we are too hungry, my younger brother bought churros at Spanish Doughnuts (Click here).

I'm so in love with food, so this two combination are just too die for.

Walk around the city

Again, we walk around the city, looking for restaurant to dine in, and buy groceries once again.

I don't know why, but their supermarket seems very interesting for me.

And yeah we headed back home by train and walk a bit, and have to sleep early because... tomorrow will be a tour date.

Great Ocean Road Day Tour coming soon at the next post!

It's my first experienced taking a night and long hour flight. Furthermore, it was a fasting month! Having a food on a plane for 'sahur' and looking out at the window and witnesses a sky full of stars are just too memorable. 

Finally, we arrived at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport! It was the smoothest flight I have ever been, although it was not that pleasant for me to sleep in, but it was worth a journey. 


We were so warmed up inside of the airport, but the first moment we step out, it was freezing cold, if I'm not mistaken it's 11 Degree or something.

Fitzroy Gardens surrounding with maple leaf!

St Patrick's Cathedral. It got that Harry Potter castle vibe kind of thing. I Know its only few hour walking around this country, but I noticed that they sure like 7 eleven stores because it is countless. But, that is so important because we purchased our sim card at the store.  They have a variety of choices but I bought Vodafone for $2 (sim card only), and you have to recharge around $10, and it will last according to how much you used it.  I do recommend you used OPTUS since it was quiet save rather than Vodafone. And if you want to buy more credit, don't say 'top up', they used a different approached like 'recharge my prepaid'. Extra Info: If you are iPhone user, don't worry they have the 'thing' that you can open up the sim card slot. Then, we just entered one shopping mall at a time.  Since we were fasting, we can't eat and it was so hard to resist because the smell of food just lingered around.  Although it just for a while, it was such an experienced. Then, we went back to the receptionist and check in. But, our apartment is few blocks away from that receptionist place, so... we have to push our baggage and walked few blocks to there. I don't remember that we went out again for 'berbuka' after that since we bought a groceries, so yeah, it was good and interesting start at Melbourne!  Moving forward to the next day, where my family have to wake at 3 am for sahur. Day 3 | 5/7/2016

Morning view of the city Since it was raining and too far to walk from suburb to the city, we took a cab (which not advisable if you are on budget).

Jellyfish Jellyfish They have 14 stations such as Rainforest Adventure, Seahorse Pier and of course Penguin Playground! My dream came true when I met this lovely and cute little penguin below. Too cute too handle.

St Paul's Cathedral

We just hope for a better day tomorrow!Let me tell you, they will be no mercy, closing time means closing time!

And if you want to recharged your card, I think in every train station they have a machine where you can do so.

Then we took a taxi to went to our apartment and we decided to stayed at the apartment because it's a family trip. 

We stayed at: 

City Edge East Melbourne Apartment Hotel,

179 Powlett Street, 3002 Melbourne.

It took around one hour to arrived there, and because we arrived on the morning, we are too early because check in start at 2 pm. So, we put our bag at the receptionist and went for a walk!

We get changed and put on few clothes before headed out. It was a new environment and it's time to start walking around the city.

I may look so happy in the picture, but it was so freaking cold! Anyways, we live on the east side of Melbourne which was called as a suburb. So it's so far from the city that we have to walk almost half an hour to one hour to the city.

But it's clearly a great walk, along the way, we get to witness a lot of things and environment of the city itself.

1. Melbourne Sea Life Aquarium

This is the only place that we managed to discover fully because we woke up late and doesn't familiar with the differences in timezone. Do take note, that most of the shop and attractions in Melbourne closed at 5PM.

For more information about Sea Life regarding ticket prices and all, click this link: https://www.melbourneaquarium.com.au/tickets/.       

Saving tips:

By the way, they have a discount for students, local/international (Don't forget to bring your Student ID). 

2. Flinders Street Station

After an indoor activity, its time for some action! Again, it was freezing cold, and we actually planned to go to Queen Victoria Market but they are closed on Wednesday, so yeah, walk around the city until hungry, then 'berbuka puasa'.

Flinders Street Station is one of the train station in Melbourne and the main one if I'm not mistaken. It was lovely, there is a lot of great food stall in there, and convenient because after this we aren't taking any cab (save a bit of money).

Then we went to Melbourne Visitor Centre, this one is located near to the station, St Paul Cathedral and Federation Square.

So yeah, just three places that we managed to visit before everything closed down.

My younger brother aka the tour guide decided to go Melbourne Visitor Centre for a while to booked a tour and purchased MyKi (like touch and go in Malaysia) for public transportations such as trains, trams, buses and V/Line commuter services.

Prices for MyKi:

1. MyKi Visitor Pack - Full Fare for $14 per person. 

By the way, there are few trams that are free in the area, and you do not need to touch on your MyKi. Just make sure to look out for Free Tram Zone!

For tour price, I will share on the next post.

After that, we decided to go to Melbourne Museum, and along the way, we planned to visit Old Melbourne Gaol first. But, unfortunately, they are closing, so yeah we didn't manage to visit that.

The same things happened when we arrived at Melbourne Museum, although we arrived around 4PM, that one hour is not enough for us to cover all the museum.

After another and another rejection, it kind of makes us feel frustrated. Not to the country, but because we are not able to explore lots of things in one day.

Usually, we managed to cover all of the places in that certain country, but this time, it's quite hard and different due to weather and time zone. 

3. Berbuka at Blok M Express

This restaurant is recommended by my brother friends, which absolutely great if you are looking forward to eating Indonesian cuisine.

Address:

Blok M Express

380 Lt. Bourke St.

Melbourne, Victoria.

(Near H&M)

We didn't take any picture because we are too hungry after that long walk (indeed very long walk).

For more information, click this link: https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/blok-m-cbd (They provided a menu as well on the site).

I ate Nasi Goreng Lamb and Es Teh Manis, in total is $13.50. But fret not, the portion is huge and enough for two persons, if you are not that hungry like us.

After that fantastic meal time, we headed to H&M and just a few second walking at the entrance, they are closing down. 

Thankfully, we took a train back to the apartment. Their train system is easy to understand, but it takes a while to know how the tram works.

Well, that's all for today post, next one will be up soon and I will be sharing that 'feel' when celebrated Hari Raya outside of Malaysia for the first time.

Thanks for spare your time reading this first post, I do really appreciate it a lot, adios!