6 Days in Melbourne - What Emma and I got up to

Emma and I recently had an amazing 5 night stay in Melbourne so I thought I’d share our itinerary.

In true melbourne style it was freezing for some of our days even though it was January so my first tip - pack for every season!

We flew with Rex from Brisbane to Melbourne return. Our flights were less than $500 for both of us return. I would fly Rex anytime. They were on time, their communication was excellent (our gate got changed and Rex sent me a text to let me know), their inflight service was great and the price was unbeatable. We had luggage and snacks included in our fare too.

When we got there we jumped on the skybus into the city which I booked beforehand but you can buy tickets at the bus stop right outside the terminal (adult ticket was $34 return).

Our hotel was on Williams St so it was easy for us to walk to the hotel or catch the tram. We stayed at Wyndham Melbourne.

So what did we get up to?

Arrival Day 1

Hardware Lane for authentic Italian pizza

Myer for shopping and a visit to Brunetti to pick up some pastries and then later the Myer Christmas windows

State library - this place is beautiful. It’s free and definitely worth a visit

Lygon Street for dinner at a Turkish restaurant

If heading to Lygon St, their popular restaurants get booked out so I recommend booking your table! We didn’t do this and couldn’t get into many places.

Day 2

We headed over the river to The Lume where we saw Monet Live before walking next door to DFO where we shopped

In the evening we headed to Queen Victoria Night Markets which was ridiculously busy and filled with food from all over the globe.

Day 3

We went to Melbourne Zoo

We stopped at the daytime Queen Victoria Market

We shopped again but this time at Spencer St DFO

We saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Day 4

We went on a tour to Phillip Island to see the penguin parade. I will say that we purely wanted to just see the penguins but I couldn’t find a tour that would take us just to the penguin parade so we ended up doing a 10 hour tour. We didn’t love it that much BUT we did love the penguins so it was worth it for us.

Day 5

We did a laneways walk (I just googled and found one online)

We visited Flinders St Station and Federation Square

We went up to the Skydeck and could see amazing 360 views of Melbourne and beyond

We stopped at the casino for a drink and a little gambling

We went to Sealife

We had cocktails at the Ice Bar

Day 6

We headed to Melbourne museum for an exhibit

We checked out and headed to the airport on the Skybus

During our stay we loved eating at Hardware Lane and tried quite a few different restaurants (we had a rule to eat at new one each time). We also dined at Brunetti as well as taking away delicious pastries.

Also we got around on the trams. Inner city Melbourne has a free tram zone and our adventures were inside that zone most of the time. If you need to go further (the zoo was further as was Harry Potter and the casino) you can buy a MYKI card at any 7/11 store. To get around I used Maps on my phone and it would tell me which tram to catch which made it all super easy.

There is so much to do in Melbourne I’d love to go again.

Got any questions? Feel free to ask me I’d also love to hear of anywhere I should go next time that I missed on this trip!

Tallebudgera Creek Camping

We chose to travel with friends for Easter 2014 and headed to Tallebugera Tourist Park on the Gold Coast.

This was our set up from one side.  The site we had was really spacious and we had a couple of big shady trees to cool our area which was really handy on the day we had 35 degrees.  The grass was green and healthy and there was plenty of room for the clothes line and the kids totem tennis etc.

What's to do?

Plenty!  A short couple of minute walk or ride under the bridge in one direction and you have the surf beach for swimming or the surf club for an afternoon drink or dinner.

The view from the deck at the surf club

In the opposite direction, the creek and all it has to offer.  

The water is the most gorgeous colour and so clear you can see the bottom.  We spotted so many fish and a stingray too.  Emma loved playing on the beach here and swimming in the calm water.  She also had a turn at stand up paddle boarding and Nathan loved kayaking along the creek.

We took a daily bike ride to the point where the creek and the ocean meet.  We would watch the sunset and enjoy the view to Surfers Paradise and Cooloongatta.  It was a very easy ride for everyone (very flat) and the kids often brought their scooters or you could walk.

Burleigh Mountain gave us the perfect place to walk each day and the scenery was beautiful.  

We rode to Burleigh Heads as well, a great ride especially along the waterfront.  We found some great places to stop for coffee or ice cream and we ventured over to Burleigh one night for dinner as well.  It is so close and offers an array of activities, dining options and shopping.  

On Saturday morning we drove to Burleigh and went to the local farmers market where we picked up some delicious organic meat and fruit and vegetables.  Oh and the organic sour dough bread was to die for!

The kids were catered for well.  It was during school holidays so I would expect this from a good tourist park.  They loved the activities on offer.  You did have to pay for some of the activities although this I don't mind if they are good quality.

The kids made canvas art, made candles, had face painting, went to discos, watched big screen movies, rode bikes and go carts and swam, swam, swam. 

We also enjoyed the wood fired pizzas that were on offer a couple of nights during our stay and the crepes from the crepe van.

There really was so much to do and see during our 10 days that we were not bored for a minute.  The kids came home asking how long until we visit again which is always a good sign! 

Travel Tip TIme - Preserving holiday memories

Do your kids love to collect shells when you go on a beach holiday?  Mine do and over the holidays they have found some really gorgeous ones to add to our collections.  The trouble is often the shells come home and end up broken or shoved anywhere or thrown away.  So we started collecting shells and making a memento of them.  

Photo source here.

We collect our shells (and sometimes sand or rocks) and while we are away I buy a nice jar or vase or holder of some kind.  When we get home we either label our jar like the one above or I write with a sharpie on the bottom where we were when we collected the shells and the date.  Then we have something nice to display that is unique and very memorable.  Many stories come to mind when you pick up a shell out of the jar or look at them through the glass.  We have five jars/vases like this around our home from various places and I love being surrounded by them and their memories.

Sometimes you have to think outside the box when it comes to holiday souvenirs if you want to avoid the cliche magnets and tea towels.