Exploring the land down under has always been at the top of our bucket list. I personally just love the Australian accent, Nicole Kidman in Australia am I right?
After finding a flight deal with United for $570 roundtrip from TheFlightDeal.com we booked it immediately!! That’s the trick to getting these amazing fares, buying the tickets as soon as you see a flight deal.
The flight had a one night layover at LAX so we saw some of our LA friends for brunch and a little walk on the beach, LA life seems so nice… one day…
Love how Ross and I are the only ones in our bathing suits, we’re like such New Yorkers. Sun? Clothes Off!
In LA we stayed at the Ace Hotel Downtown, the hotel itself was very nice and the rooftop was jamming but the area still needs some time to develop.
When we booked the flights, all of our friends asked us how long the flight was. The flight from NYC to LA is 6 hours and LA to Melbourne is 16 hours! Honestly Ross and I don’t mind long flights. You watch movies, the flight attendants bring you food, you sleep then wake up and do it all over again. It’s amazing!
Day ONE.
We arrived in Melbourne around 7 AM and had to drive off site to Fox Rent-A-Car, this was a huge mistake. Even though the company was very nice and the car was cheap and cheerful, we have not booked another “off site” car since then.
Our first stop was breakfast then checking out the graffiti at Hosier Lane.
Lucky Becky…
After walking through the graffiti, we walked around downtown Melbourne.
After relaxing by the Yarra River, we hopping into the car to drive down to Phillip Island to see the penguins!
The drive from Melbourne to Phillip Island takes approximately 2 hours, people warned about seeing kangaroos on the side of the highway but we didn’t see any. In fact, we didn’t see any kangaroos the entire time we were in Australia!
Can you tell we were excited to try out our gopro selfie stick? And by we I mean me?
*PROTIP: Get to Phillip Island before 8 AM to save on parking. Parking between 8 AM to 8 PM is $3.40 AU/hour
Penguins arrive at sunset every evening but the actual time varies with the seasons and it is recommended to get tickets before hand or you will have to stand in a long line.
Here’s us standing in line but we were so excited to see the cute little penguins!
Other things you can do in Phillip Island are:
- Koala reserve
- Nobbies Centre
Day TWO.
Driving out to The Twelve Apostles was the most memorable activity we did in Melbourne. We set out early to do the entire drive in one day. The journey takes approximately 5 hours on the way there and on the way back there is a inland shortcut that reduces the trip to about 3 hours.
The views were incredible the whole drive to the twelve apostles, it was hard not to get out of the car every 10 minutes to take photos!
Once you reach the twelve apostles, you can walk down to the beach to get a different perspective of the formations. Not sure what I saw in the water…
Or you can walk across a bridge to get an above ground view of the Twelve Apostles.
Interesting fact, the twelve apostles only has eight left- the ninth one dramatically collapsed in July 2005 due to erosion.
*PROTIP: If you do the drive in the winter, bring lots of warm clothes because the weather can be windy.
If you have extra time along the drive, you can check out the Ironbark Basin Walk.
(Image Source: AdventureMe)
This is us trying to set up our gopro- we have about a million photos like this. Who can relate?
Day THREE.
Hiking Fly Treetop was on my list to check out in Melbourne but it costs $25/person to hike. After doing more research it looked a bit too touristy for nature so we decided to do the 1000 steps walk in Yarra Valley.
Me during the whole hike:
Some other popular hikes in Melbourne are:
- Point Nepean Walk in Mornington Peninsula
(Image source: AdventureMe) - Bushrangers Bay Walking Trail
(Image source: AdventureMe)
To read more, check out the best walks near Melbourne page.
After the strenuous 1000 steps we had a relaxing visit to Peninsula Hot Springs. At the natural hot springs you can experience 30 different bathing spas from cold plunge pools to cave pools.
The next stop on our trip was Port Douglas to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef, to learn more about our snorkel trip check out our Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef post.
Need more Nina & Ross in Australia? Check out our Australia video!
XOXO,
Nina & Ross
Never Travel Without My Butler 