Melbourne

Over half of the population of Melbourne has a parent who was born oversees. Waves of immigration have brought settlers and influences from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

It is the biggest metropolis we’ve seen since Perth and as difficult to navigate and find anything, just like any city centre I suppose. We spent the first at least two hours looking for a hostel in the city centre only to be told that we would have to pay hundreds of dollars for parking and that’s if we could fit our van under the height restriction in the car park.

We ended up staying in an inner suburb of Melbourne called St Kilda. Known for its seedier side (we wouldn’t want it any other way), St Kilda was home to our Victorian-style hostel called Olembia Guesthouse, which was a really friendly and homely place and ended up being our home for the following two days.

Our time was spent mainly exploring the streets, laneways and arcades, which were easy to get to either by foot or the tram that sprawled the city. Visiting the National Gallery of Victoria, a collection of international art, followed by the Queen Victoria market which is supposed the be the biggest market in the southern hemisphere (which apparently used to be part of Melbournes first cemetery – an estimated 9000 bodies still remain under the carpark).

We never managed to see any of the clubs or much nightlife in Melbourne, purely for the fact it was almost zero degrees outside when we were there, and as we were staying a fair few miles out of the centre, where the action was, we decided to save it for Sydney.