LYD1A KERR

Melbourne is a vibrant, welcoming, and busy city in Australia. Filled with countless restaurants, cafes, bars, and activities – there’s always something to do.

We’ll be in Melbourne for the foreseeable, so I’m going to regularly update this blog post with my favourite activities we’ve gotten up to so far!

1. Royal Botanic Gardens
2. Yarra Bend Park
3. Skydeck with Edge Experience
4. The Night Markets
5. Melbourne Zoo
6. Cycle the Bay Trail
7. State Library Victoria
8. Shrine of Remembrance
9. National Gallery Victoria (NGV)

Royal Botanic Gardens

One of the first things we done when we got here was wander around the Botanic Gardens. As big nature lovers, this place was a real haven.

We have since revisited countless times for an evening stroll, talking random paths as we go along.

Yarra Bend Park

I feel like this is a hidden gem no-one seems to mention, but Yarra Bend is a big park just on the edge of Melbourne, accessible at various points by public transport.

We’ve been able to get the bus to Bellbird Park, and walked to the Flying Foxes viewpoint, to find hundreds if not thousands of bats chilling in the trees in the day time.

At sunset, Bellbird Park is the perfect place to watch the bats leave at dusk to go hunting in the city for the night.

We’ve revisited during the day time by getting the tram/bus to Studley Park and walking along the Yarra River towards Dights Falls. Big fans!

Skydeck with Edge Experience

For Christmas, James bought me tickets for the Skydeck, and included the edge experience. So we decided to make a date night out of it and go out for the evening.

This is the tallest building in Melbourne, visible from most places with an iconic gold plated exterior, and offers 360 views over Melbourne.

We enjoyed a drink here, and admired the views.

We were given a buzzer which went off when it was our turn for the edge experience. No phones were allowed inside the box, so you leave all bags and belongings at the door.

Once inside, the box rolls out of the building and the floor becomes see through, which was pretty cool and only terrifying when I thought about it too much. I was mainly distracted by a child who was screaming their head off in the box with their mother who was trying to hide their own fear.

Overall, I really recommend it!

The Night Markets

Every Wednesday, the Queen Victoria Market stays open late for the Night Markets. Conveniently we went right after our Skydeck experience.

For dinner we chose the Sri Lankan curry vendor, which was delicious and quite reasonably priced.

We strolled around the shops and I was very tempted to buy some jewellery, but I managed to resist.

Melbourne Zoo

After spending a lot of time searching for jobs, we decided to take a break away from it all and have a day out. And Melbourne Zoo was the perfect option!

We got the tram 58 directly to the zoo, which was incredibly convenient.

Once there, we spent around 5 hours going to every single exhibition they had to offer. The orangutang’s were definitely my favourite as I was honestly shook by their appearance, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in real life before?! Wild.

Cycle the Bay Trail

What better way to view the stunning Australian coastline than on the back of a bike?! To do it from the back of a tandem bike, of course!

On a sunny Sunday, we rented a tandem bike from St Kilda cycles when we realised it was the same price as hiring one bike.

What we didn’t realise was that learning to both gracefully mount and cycle on a tandem bike required a real talent and communication skills.

But once we got going, we went down the cycle path all along the coast stopping off at:

• Brighton Beach for the famous colourful beach huts
• Hampton for lunch along the high street
• Half Moon Bay with incredibly clear water
• Rickett’s Point Marine Sanctuary for the seabirds and rock pools

We took our time exploring each area, taking the cycle in small sections.

While it was beautiful, I recommend getting more distance under your belt first, then taking your time to cycle back. Only because we had an hour to get the bike back before the rental shop closed, and google maps suggested the ride would take us 52 minutes. We got there just in time, but not without two very sore bottoms.

State Library Victoria

This library made me feel homesick for studying, which was a feeling I was not expecting! Entry is free and the public is welcome to explore the library, various exhibitions and take the stairs or the lift to admire the architecture from a viewing platform. I’m tempted to take my laptop there and spend a morning blogging, what a life.

Shrine of Remembrance

The Shrine of Remembrance is a striking monument in the heart of Melbourne. Inside, there are various exhibitions detailing personal stories about the wars. Entry is free, and you can climb to the balcony for a panoramic view of the city.

National Gallery Victoria (NGV)

The NGV is an iconic gallery, just outside of the Free Tram Zone (annoying!). However, there are free exhibitions inside, which are well worth a visit.

I’m personally looking forward to this list getting longer in the coming months, stay tuned for more!

Love, Lydia x

P.s. if leaving Melbourne is more your style, check out my guide on day trips from Melbourne using public transport!