TRAVEL // Melbourne, Australia Pt. 2

Hello there!

Here is the final post on my trip to Australia. I love doing these posts because it gives me an excuse to finally go through my photos and look at how much I saw and did. I'd like to say I saw everything I wanted to this time round but spending time with family was a priority. However, I did get to see lots of exciting things and beautiful places - not that it's hard in Australia!

Like I said in a previous post, by the time I got to Melbourne I was freaking out a lot about my interim report and spent quite a lot of time locked up and working on it. It's not easy doing a 32 page research paper whilst you're on holiday! The weather wasn't great, and the days it was I spent on the beach or exploring towns close by. We had three lots of family to see in the area and a good 4 days were spent with them (for the first time in about 4-5 years!)

One place I couldn't wait to see was the Dandenong Ranges. We drove up one (glorious) day and walked through lots of independent stores and boutiques. Dandenong was possibly the cutest town I have seen ever. Even better, we went up to the Sky High area to get an absolutely stunning view. We left it a bit late in the day and the sun was far too strong so, whilst we could see far, I couldn't get my camera to take a good photo. It did cost to get in ($6 or so) and then cost again if you wanted to go into the maze. There's a little garden to walk through, cafe and, of course, the view to take in. I'd say it's well worth visiting the Dandenong ranges - I could have spent hours in the area!

Unfortunately, I only got 1 day and 1 evening in Melbourne city. On the final day I did some serious retail therapy (hello cheap Emus and typo galore!) and it really did remind me how much I liked Melbourne as a city. It just has one of those vibes that is both chilled and busy at the same time. My evening was spent at the Queen Victoria Night Market. It's free entry (but pretty expensive and seriously busy parking) and filled with market stalls selling food, drinks, clothes and pretty much everything else you could think of. There was wall art everywhere, musicians playing every 200 m or so and I did have fun wandering through all of the stalls. I wish I could have gotten food from one of the stalls but they were all so busy and I ended up in Nandos. Sorry not sorry.

So that's a quick round up of my final days in Australia. Sure, I wish I had seen more but it gives me an excuse to go back! I know Australia is considered a once in a lifetime destination for many but, if you plan it right, you can definitely think about making several trips. There are so many deals with flights from £500 and they really are not too good to be true! 

If anyone wants me to do a post on how to plan a holiday to Australia, where you can save and where to spend your money please comment below or contact me elsewhere! I'm already planning my next trip back and would be happy to share the little expertise I have if you want to hear it!