Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne, the 2nd biggest city in Australia (by population), a city that has it all. Melbourne is rich in culture, arts, and might be the city to have the best coffee (not a coffee drinker but according to many sources).

I have lived in this city for 4 years, many things have changed since my departure 6 years ago, but generally many of the things that I will be mentioning here will still be very similar (after all buildings don't have legs).

Shopping/Entertainment/Attractions

So where do I start, let's go with the main street of the CBD, Swanston St. This street starts from the University of Melbourne (North of the city) to Flinders St (Yarra River). This is the main street due to many factors, firstly not only that it connects to the biggest university in Melbourne, but also the 2nd biggest in the CBD which is RMIT. Right next to the RMIT university, is the State Library of Victoria. From the library to Flinders St would be hundreds of shopping malls and retail stores. Many people would probably be very familiar with the landmark situated in the corner of Flinders/Swanston, firstly the Flinders St Station, one of the 2 biggest train station in Melbourne, and Federation Square, an open space that frequented with buskers and events, while indoor has exhibitions and arts, the more well known would be ACMI, where they exhibit some rather well known films and shows.

Bourke St would be the main shopping strip, between Swanston and Elizabeth is where 2 of the largest retailers are. Myer and David Jones, right across each other and next to one another, rising 8 floors with food, retail and cafe. This is where you can find another 2 largest international brands, Zara and H&M.

Along the Yarra River on Southbank, is the biggest and one of Australia wealthiest casino operator, Crown Casino. They own over 400m in length of prime land along Yarra River, 3 hotels and plenty of restaurants, entertainment and nightlife. You can watch a movie, hit one of the nightclubs or dine in one of the fine dining restaurants. During the evening, a fire display along the Yarra River will start every hour on the hour from 9pm to midnight (8pm on weekends).

Right next to the casino is the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, many large events are held here, given its easy accessibility and location. Next to the MCEC is the DFO South Wharf, for shopping lovers that want a bargain from the big brands.

From the casino to St Kilda Rd (continuous road from Swanston St, changes name after Flinders St), is one of the tallest building and observation deck. Eureka has an impressive design with a gold plate top giving it a unique and easy recognising landmark. The observation deck is located on the 88th floor, a full floor dedicated to the observation and giving you a full 360 degrees view of Melbourne. A mechanically operated box pops out of the building with electronic blinds giving you an unobstructed view from top to bottom, but it is not for the faint hearted. On the 89th floor, you can have a dining experience in one of the highest restaurant in the world.

Next to St Kilda Rd, you will find the Arts Centre Melbourne and National Gallery of Victoria, an easy to recognise landmark by its fake Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower).

Across the road is where the Royal Botanic Gardens is located, a large piece of land occupied which includes the Government House and the Shrine of Remembrance.

Heading back north, on the Eastern edge of the CBD is the Parliament House, a place which many protests would conclude. Melbourne has probably some of the highest number of protests occurring, nearly once weekly on a large range of issues or topics.

Further up north of Parliament is the Carlton Gardens, the gardens aren't the most attractive attraction, but the IMAX cinema located here. The largest screen in Melbourne, screening some of the latest films in both 2D and 3D. Right next to it is the Melbourne Museum, they regularly have special exhibitions happening which is a nice place to spend half a day in.

If you are into markets, Queen Victoria Market is one of the most well known tourist attraction in Melbourne. Spanning across 2 blocks, you can find anything from souvenirs to fresh fruits to meat.

Sports/Entertainment

If you like sports, Melbourne is definitely not lacking any of it. 2 large stadiums are located here, the first is probably the most well known, Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is home to the football and National Sports Museum, and is used for concerts and other events as well. The second is Marvel Stadium, home to the soccer and rugby, but more well known for hosting large scale music events.

Next to Marvel Stadium is Docklands, a mixture of high end residential and hotels, mid range retail, and some tourist attractions. Probably the most well known would be the Observation Wheel, a project that was having a large range of issues and delays, but is now in operation and giving you a glimpse of Melbourne in a small cabin. Costco is located here as well, but a membership is required to enter.

Heading back to South Melbourne, before St Kilda, is Albert Park. Although not somewhere I go for a walk given the large scale of the park, they are well known for hosting the Melbourne Grand Prix. Melbourne Sports Centres (MSAC) is also located here, a multi purpose complex that has indoor and outdoor pools, gym, sauna/spa and sports hall.

Beach

When you want to hit the beach, St Kilda is probably the place that comes up. This stretch of beach is popular for tourist and locals, you can also find a market along The Esplanade, Palais Threatre which hosts musical acts, ballet and comedy shows. Next to it is Luna Park, a small scale theme park with a roller coaster and other activities. It is a well known tourist attraction due to its entrance which shaped like a face with the mouth being the entrance. Luna Park has a duplicate in Sydney as well, similar in size and come with the same unique entrance.

LGBT Nightlife

One of the most well known gay nightclubs is probably Poof Doof, they participate annually at the Sydney Mardi Gras parade and was given numerous best float awards. Poof Doof has a reputation being the "twink" club, mostly young clubbers which came under fire in January 2019 when a former photographer leaked a memo instructing photographers to only photograph certain types of clubbers (twink, drag queen, etc...) which was seen as discriminatory and they apologize saying the memo was distributed years ago which was only released by a disgruntled photographer when they left. Even though the memo is no longer a guide, it is still very apparent from all the photos and participants on their Mardi Gras float that they are targeting a very specific audience. I have been in Poof Doof twice before the scandal, some of the staff are not very friendly and probably discriminatory towards other races as well, but the crowd and music are good.

Sircuit Bar, located northeast of Melbourne in the suburb of Collingwood, is a well known gay bar attracts many LGBT clubbers. Around this area you may be able to find another gay bar however I cannot say whether they are as popular. Collingwood also houses one of the gay sauna, Wet on Wellington, it is one that I know of but I have not been in or done any research for other saunas or clubs in this area as I do not live near this area.

A former gay nightclub in St Kilda, called GH Hotel, was sadly demolished to make way for an apartment building. I remember that was the first gay nightclub that I went to and had good memories, great shows and free entry before 10pm, which gets crowded early in the evening rather than later at night. I remember watching Boylesque for the first time here in GH Hotel, a performance that is still stuck with me today and is one of the best I have ever seen. My first gay club experience was eye opening and I am grateful for having a memory of this place before they shut their doors.

Below is a short clip that I've found in my album when they performed in GH Hotel.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/f7ca04_62bca518fb3445aea91c558f61c4e0ee/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Public Transportation

Melbourne is well known for its trams, connecting the inner and outer suburbs. Even though they are great and have wide coverage of area, it is definitely not the quickest or best way for everyone. Train line runs through the city loop and off to the outer suburbs, going to further distances. Buses are a quick way to get around as well, some area has 2 buses going but with one going through the suburbs and the other through the freeway, obviously it would be better to choose the freeway bus which will cut down a lot of time when you are in a further outer suburb.

Pick up a Myki card, which can let you travel without the hassle of cash and making your life much easier when it comes to transit and such. They have a 2 hour and daily structure, a free tram zone in the inner CBD means you can ride the tram within the CBD for free, a bonus for tourists and people who live around the city. There's integration on Google Pay so you can add the card into your Google Pay account and tap using your phone (bring the card though just in case).

MykiPass is a cheaper way to travel if you will be staying there for a week or more, you can buy 7, 28, 30, 31, 35 days etc... on the Google Pay app or 7 days and 28-365 days on their website.

Do note that Melbourne has a zoning system, which means if you are staying outside of zone 1, you will need to pay more for each additional zone. If you are planning to travel between zone 1 and 2 daily, you'll need to buy a pass or ticket for both zones. Some have overlap zones, such as zone 1/2, or zone 2/3, so you will be paying 1 zone if you are travelling between zone 1/2 to zone 1, or zone 1/2 to zone 2 (vice versa), however if you are travelling from zone 1/2 to 2 to 1, you are paying for zone 1 + zone 2, since your zone 2 to 1 journey is 2 zones.