Day 1 – eat and walk until The Edge
After almost 8 hours of flight, we arrived at Tullamarine Airport. First thing first, we got ourselves myki card at the airport which is like Touch ‘n Go used for trains, trams, and buses in Melbourne. We then took the Skybus to the city where we purchased the tickets at Klook. If you do not have a Klook account yet, sign up here and you will get RM15 discount.
Fun fact: The Melbourne CBD is a grid of streets known as Hoddle Grid. The main streets ie Bourke St will always be next to the little streets ie Little Bourke St etc
The first place that we went to was Higher Ground to fill up our tummy.
Higher Ground – recommended
The confit lamb rib tastes awesome as all the ingredients just blend nicely together. On the other hand, for the hotcake, we felt it was so-so but it is a huge portion as we can’t finish it. For a larger group, it would be perfect.
Address: 650 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Business hours: Mon-Wed 7am-4pm, Thurs-Fri 7am-1opm, Sat 8am-10pm, Sun 8am-4pm
Koko Black – recommended
Next, we dropped by Koko Black for a cup of hot chocolate before heading to State Library Victoria.
There’s a lot of chocolates for selection here, perfect for all the chocolate lovers. Even if you are not a chocolate lover, do drop by Royal Arcade for some nice photos.
Address: Royal Arcade, 4/335 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Business hours: Mon-Thurs 9am-6pm, Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 10am-6pm
State Library Victoria – recommended
The State Library Victoria is famous for it’s most photographed La Trobe Reading Room. Unfortunately, the photo-worthy area below was under renovation so I took photo from here.
Here’s a map of the library to guide you to the area above.
Address: 328 Swanston Street, Melbourne 3000, Australia
Business hours: Mon-Thurs: 10am-9pm, Fri-Sun: 10am-6pm
Eureka Skydeck – recommended
We ended the day by visiting Eureka Skydeck + trying out The Edge. You can purchase the tickets cheaper from Klook. If you do not have a Klook account yet, sign up here and you will get RM15 discount.
I would recommend to try The Edge for the experience although it can be a bit scary when the capsule moves out from the building.
Address: 7 Riverside Quay, Southbank VIC 3006, Australia
Business hours: Daily 10am-10pm
Day 2 – trying out the world’s best croissant
American Doughnut Kitchen – recommended
The next morning, we went to the Queen Victoria Market and tried out the American Doughnut Kitchen’s doughnuts.
We felt that the doughnuts are too sweet to our liking but you can give it a try.
Address: Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Business Hours: Sun 7am-4pm, Mon and Wed closed, Tue, Thu, and Fri 7am-3pm, Sat 6am-4pm
Lune Croissanterie – recommended
Next, on the way to Sea Life, we dropped by Lune Croissanterie for the world’s best croissant. In fact, if you Google ‘world’s best croissant’ you will find their website in the first page, if not at the top.
We felt that it was nice, but probably not world’s best. Do try it out and let us know your review by dropping in the comment section at the bottom.
Address: Shop 16 161 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000
Business hours: Mon-Fri 7.30am-3pm, Sat & Sun 8am-3pm
Sea Life – recommended
You can get the tickets for Sea Life at Klook. If you do not have a Klook account yet, sign up here and you will get RM15 discount.
It was nice seeing the penguins and you can even get up close with them by purchasing the ‘Penguin Passport Experience’ here. There’s also glass bottom boat + ray feed viewing and shark dive experience to get close with the sharks.
Address: King St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Business hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5.30pm, Sat & Sun 9.30am-6pm
We then went to Shrine of Remembrance and Royal Botanic Gardens to take some photos.
Shrine of Remembrance – recommended
There are tours at 11am and 12.45pm daily. Besides that, there are various events and exhibitions here which you can check it out at this website.
Fun fact: Every year on the 11th November at 11am, a ray of light would shine on the word ‘LOVE’ on the Stone of Remembrance
Address: Birdwood Ave, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia
Business hours: Daily 10am-5pm
Royal Botanic Garden – recommended
You can check out if there’s any events during your visit there at this website.
Address: Birdwood Ave, South Yarra VIC 3141, Australia
Business hours: Daily 7.30am-6.30pm
Day 3 – missed the tour bus…
The next day, we were supposed to meet up at the designated hotel for pick-up to Puffing Billy. However, we were slightly late and we forgot to update the operators on our Aussie mobile number. We checked with the hotel reception and it seems like the pick-up bus has left. The nice, handsome receptionist then called to check with the operator a few times but there was no answer. He suggested us to go to Federation Square where most of the tour buses depart and called a cab for us. Holding to our last hope, we prayed that the bus will be there to wait for the remaining guests. Once we arrived, we were able to find our operator and we were told that the bus will be back and depart after that.
When the bus arrived, we happily boarded the bus and went to Grants on Sherbrooke for a morning tea before boarding the Puffing Billy and visit the wineries in Yarra Valley which we bought the ticket from Klook. If you do not have a Klook account yet, sign up here and you will get RM15 discount.
Yarra Valley – recommended
Day 4 – the tastiest pie ever
Learned from our mistake, there was no hiccup in our journey to Grampians National Park. On the way we stopped by Halls Gap for a short break.
Halls Gap Bakery – highly recommended
As meal is provided, we were given pies, apple, drinks, and dessert slice. The pies were from Halls Gap bakery and they smell so nice even from outside. Don’t let just the smell convince you it is tasty, once we bit into the pies, it is piegasm. If you do pass by Halls Gap, I would highly recommend you try the pies from Halls Gap Bakery.
Address: Grampians Rd, Halls Gap VIC 3381, Australia
Business hours: Daily 7am-5pm
The van stopped for a short toilet break before we reached the destination and there was a field. The kangaroos are minding their own business while there are people playing baseball on the same field.
Grampians National Park – recommended
There are a lot of spectacular views in Grampians National Park and 2 of them are MacKenzie Falls and Grand Canyon of Grampians which requires some hiking.
The next blog post here will be my adventure of driving in Melbourne.
Have you tried the croissants from Lune Croissanterie or the pies from Halls Gap Bakery? Feel free to share your reviews in the comments section.
