Tuesday 18 March 2014

One Week In

I'm here! I actually did it, with no injuries, and made it all the way to Melbourne!

Following an extra few months in London I finally made the 26 hour flight to Melbourne. I flew China Eastern, and was pretty sure it was going to be the worst experience of my life. The flight was 150GBP cheaper than all the others I could find, so was not expecting great things, and I suppose it probably wasn't that great, but because I had never taken a long haul flight I had no basis for comparison, so it was ok by me!

Getting from the airport into the city is super east: hop on the SkyBus, $18 one way, which runs 24/7 and is really regular. Depending on the time of day it takes around 20 minutes into Southern Cross Station, from there you can take a train to where you need to be, or use SkyBus' hotel transfer service, which will take you to a number of hotels in the CBD.

Being honest, I haven't seen too much of the city yet because most of my time has been sent job hunting (fun fun fun!) but what I have seen is lovely. I have a great friend that lives in the CBD who has shown me around some lovely eateries, today we went for lunch at the Coconut House, which was nice and went for a look in the State Library. Having spent most of my life in the library as a student I never thought I would say this, but if you're in Melbourne take a visit to the State Library! The building was designed by Joseph Reed in 1854 and had a domed roof that was added in 1913. Its a beautiful building. There is also an art gallery inside which is worth a little look around. Outside you will find the grass area to be overflowing with crowds of people enjoying the sunshine sitting on bean bags or playing giant chess.

However, most of my time has been spent around Chapel Street, as I am staying with some friends that live close by. Chapel Street is amazing, there is little else to say! It's filled with bars, restaurants and coffee houses, big named shops and small boutiques. It is really quite charming. I have very much enjoyed wandering up and down the street and popping into cafes for an iced coffee and to use their WiFi!

All in all, my first week has been lovely, and pretty uneventful!