2013 Aussie Holiday: 09 Melbourne/KL

"I travel a lot, I hate having my life disrupted by routine..." - Caskie Stinnett

Day 09: 30 June 2013

(Melbourne – KL)

(All packed up and ready to check-out)

(A Subway restaurant next to our apartment)

Today everyone woke up and had breakfast early. Once the bags were packed, we checked-out of the Stanton Apartment around 10:00 and drove towards Melbourne Airport. We filled-up the MPV before we returned it at the Airport car park. After vehicle inspection by Hertz personnel we signed off and will be getting back our deposit within 24 hours.

(A last minute shopping)

(Buying more souvenirs...)

We checked-in early and had ample time to do a last-minute shopping at the Duty Free Outlets in the Departure Hall. Our 14:30 flight to KL on MH148 was on schedule and journey took more than 8 hours.

(Alia exploring the duty free shops)

(Hana resting in the waiting area).

We landed safely in KLIA at 17:05 to a hot and humid weather.

(Yeay! our bags are packed and we are ready to go home...)

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Alhamdulillah…

👈👈 2013: Krabi, Thailand

2013: Melbourne, Australia 👉👉

2013 Aussie Holiday: 08 Melbourne City Tour

"Traveling is almost like talking with men of other centuries..." - René Descartes

Day 08: 29 June 2013

(Melbourne City Tour)

(On a free visitor hop-on hop-off bus)

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We had early breakfast and by 09:30 we drove out to city centre and parked at the Federation Square. From there we took the free Melbourne Visitor Hop-On Hop-Off Shuttle for an hour city tour of Melbourne with 14 stops.

(My reflection at the Federation Square)

(Walking through the maze)

(Are we in Hollywood?)

(A stuning gothic architecture of St Paul Cathedral)

(Finders Street Station, central hub of transportation network)

(Melbourne Visitor Centre, a one stop service centre)

Another way to tour the city is by taking the City Sightseeing Hop-on Hop-off. The bus stops at the same 14 stops but it costs A$35 for adults and A$15 for children.

(Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

(Iconic landmarks of Melbourne)

(Horse Carriage - another form of transportation)

After the free city tour we went to visit a laneway where we stayed a while there to admire unique graffiti on the walls. Melbourne is a prominent graffiti city of Australia with many of its lanes being tourist attractions, such as Hosier Lane in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography, and backdrops for corporate print advertising. The Lonely Planet travel guide cites Melbourne's street as a major attraction. Everything including; sticker art, poster, stencil art, and wheatpasting can be found in many places throughout the city.

Visiting the famous Hosier Lane)

(Most photographed street arts lane)

(A man deep in thought in a Museum)

We had our filet-o-fish lunch at McDonald and later shopped for more souvenirs. As we still have ample time we decided to go to Luna park and check out the rides there. Melbourne's Luna Park is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda. It opened in 1912 and has been operating almost continuously since then. This was the first of the five Luna Parks that were built in Australia, of which only Melbourne and Luna Park Sydney are still operating. The adults paid A$40/person tickets for unlimited rides and A$15/each for some rides for the toddlers.

(The entrance of the Luna Park)

(Hana on a carousel)

(Alia with her dad)

(Flying high on a Pirate Ship)

(Rotating Ferris Wheel)

(The Scenic Railway Roller-coaster)

The Scenic Railway was built in 1911 is the oldest continually-operating roller coaster in the world, and one of only three roller-coasters (the others being in Plymouth, UK, and Copenhagen, Denmark) that require a brakesman to stand in the middle of the train. For these reasons, it is regarded as an ACE Coaster Classic. Other rides are Sky Rider Ferris Wheel built 1971, Twin Dragon - a Japanese built Pirate ship type ride, The Ghost Train - a ghost train which retains its 1936 tracks, G-Force built 1983, Amazing Mirror Maze, Arabian Merry and Magical Carousels.

(Playing with the Snow man)

After much fun at the Luna Park we drove to Coles at St Kilda to buy provisions for tomorrow’s breakfast.

👈👈 2013: Melbourne/KL

2013: Mt Buller, Australia 👉👉

2013 Aussie Holiday: 07 Mt Buller

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing..." - Helen Keller

Day 07: 28 June 2013

(Mt Buller Snow Resort)



(A family photo in the morning)

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This morning we had a heavy breakfast and prepared for a 12-hour return journey to Mt Buller. We brought with us winter clothing to keep us warm and dry as it would be colder and snowing/raining in the mountain. It is advisable to dress in layers to trap warm air and give the flexibility for changing conditions. Waterproof pants and jackets are also available for hire from the retail outlets in Mansfield and at Mt Buller.

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(Travelling above the clouds)

(Misty morning)

(Hana at the Info Centre at Mansfield)

Mt Buller is 248km North-west of Melbourne and 1805m above sea level. In three hours we were out of the city and driving on Victoria High Country passing through Yarra Valley. Mansfield is the closest town to Mt Buller and a perfect spot to take a break. We visited the Information Centre and enquire about the weather forecast and road conditions in Mt Buller and whether we need to use wheel chains for the MPV to drive up the mountain. After Mansfield we followed the signs out of town to Mt Buller and paid entrance fee of A$38/vehicle at the resort entry gate at Mirimbah, a 20 minutes drive from the car park and the village. From the car park we hopped on a free shuttle bus to the Village Square.

(Gathering at the Village Square)

(Looking up the ski slope)

(Winter holiday destination)

The Village Square is the hub of Mt Buller featuring a great selection of retailers, cafes and restaurants. There is also a supermarket, ATM, souvenir shops and Information Centre. We had lunch of pancakes, nachos, sandwiches and soup at the food-court restaurants before we headed to the slope to play with the snow.

(Hana playing in the snow)

(Alia with her dad)

(Skiing down the slope)

Later, the kids and grandchildren took the Blue Bullet Chairlift at A$15/person to the resort upper slopes travelling above the beginner skiing area. If one is interested to ski or snow-boarding there are free discovery lesson classes at a certain time of the day or an intensive private lesson for a fee.

(Sara and Fitri)

(Colorful snow skis)

If one has time, there is a free self-guided map from the Clock Tower Information Centre and could set off in search of the Resort’s favorite little residents, the Mt Buller gnomes and gain fascinating insight into the gnomes at work, rest and play.
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(A beautiful sunset...)

By 16:00 we took the shuttle to the car park and drove back towards Melbourne. Tonight we had Sardine and fried eggs for dinner in the apartment.

👈👈 2013: Melbourne, Australia

2013: Lake Entrance/Melbourne, Australia 👉👉

2013 Aussie Holiday: 06 Lake Entrance/Melbourne

"Travel penetrates your consciousness, but not in a rational way..." - Milton Glaser

Day 06: 27 June 2013

(Stanton Apartment Melbourne)

(A hearty breakfast before the journey)

(Chatting with the neighbour)

We woke up early and had breakfast in the campervan. By 09:30 we checked out and started driving towards Melbourne which is about 350km away. The journey took us around 4 hours and at 14:30 we reached Melbourne Apollo, South Centre Road Tullamarine and returned the Campervan.
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(Lakes and rivers along the way)

(Driving through the tunnel across Melbourne)

After inspections and signing off, we moved all our belonging into the MPV and drove direct to DFO South Wharf for some shopping as it would be closed at 18:00. We had early dinner of seafood sandwiches at Subway restaurant in the DFO food court.
  

(Returning our campervan)

(A simple hippie campervan)

We arrived late and checked in Stanton Apartments in St Kilda Road. As the elevator was out of order we had to carry our luggage to the second floor.

(Hana and her grandpa at DFO)

(Direct Factory Outlet South Wharf)

Stanton Apartment offers 3-star accommodation in spacious two and three bedroom apartments located in the heart of dynamic, charming, metropolitan and tree-lined St Kilda Road business precinct. On St Kilda Road, are Melbourne's most famous historic monuments, parks and entertainment only minutes by tram to Melbourne Central Business District. We rented a spacious and fully furnished three-bedroom apartment for 3 nights at a rental cost of A$270/night.


(A large Master bedroom

(One of the smaller rooms)

After settling down we were feeling hungry again so we had a late supper of fried Maggi to fill hungry tummies.

👈👈 2013: Mt Buller, Australia

Batmans Bay/Lake Entrance, Australia 👉👉