What's There to do in Melbourne, Australia?

[Yikes]

I recall there's some Australians and New Zealanders that post here from time to time...

My company is sending me to Melbourne, Australia for five days for training and I'm debating whether to stay there for an extra weekend since I'm not too used to going on a vacation alone unless the place is really kicking.

Anybody been over there before? any advice on what's fun to do over there for somebody in his mid-twenties?

Thanks, Cafe

[Madison]

Ride a Kangaroo?

Toss a boomerang?

Learn a new accent?

Hehehe......Just messing with you guys. I'll be making a trip to "the land down under" some day.

[kimchi_chigae]

u can drink foster's, australian for beer.

i've never been there, but of course u should stay the weekend, why not? u never know when u'll have the chance to go there agin.

[Mookie4ever]

I know many Aussies and people who have visited. It's supposed to be an awsome place. I'm going there next year for a wedding. Hope to be able to spend 2 weeks.

From what I have heard the best thing to do in Melbourne is go to Sidney .

[NZF]

Been to Melbourne four or five times, it's a great city. Far better to visit than Sydney.

Yikes, make sure if you stay there for a weekend you get to take in a game of Aussie Rules football. That sport is like a religion to people in Melbourne and they go crazy over it. They get crowds of up to 100,000 at ordinary suburban games. There is a game at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) every Saturday or Sunday until the end of September.

Heaps of great restaurants and night spots as well. Dress warm though, it's pretty cold at this time of the year.

Fosters beer is crap. Melbourne Bitter or Victorian Bitter is the way to go

[Yikes]

Thanks New Zealand Fan


I just told my company I'll be staying there over the weekend on Friday. I'll be sure to check out the places you've mentioned and try the beers there.

Thanks for everybody's suggestions as well, that's what makes this Cafe so great.

Oh yeah, if anybody is planning on visiting Beijing, China, I'd be glad to provide some pointers. Summer Olympics 2008!!!!!

[Madison]

Oh yeah, if anybody is planning on visiting Beijing, China, I'd be glad to provide some pointers. Summer Olympics 2008!!!!!

Hmm......With my um....appreciation........ of asian ladies, I just might have to consider a trip to the Olympics.

Not sure I'd make it to the stadium, but I'm sure it would be worth the trip.

[Fireball Express]

When you return from your trip can you give a report.
I plan on venturing there for my 40th birthday in about a year and a half. (Damn I'm getting old) Australia has always been on my "places I need to see before I die" list.

[Rico The Retard]

go crocodile huntin' mate

[Yikes]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. It was a pretty fun and interesting trip to Australia.

Some things I learned on the Trip:
1. Victoria Bitter is a pretty good beer, much better than Fosters. Fosters is kinda the Budweiser of Australia - a beer that isn't that good but proclaims to the be a national beer.

2. Kangaroos are a menace to Australia as the locals don't seem to like them eating all the grass that's meant for horses and sheep. They have no natural predators and are breeding out of control. I bought a Kangaroo skin for AUS30 (US$~25)

3. 70%+ of the TV programs in Australia are actually US programs (e.g. David Letterman, Fox News, McLehrer News Hour, Simpsons, Eliminadate, etc.) It was interesting that an Aussie co-worker mentioned it was weird hearing an Australian speak among Americans because he thinks "gee, is that what we sound like?"

4. Radio music is pretty much all US music. There's some Kylie Minogue played but radio stations there prefer to play US music, to the disappointment of the locals there.

5. Australian food is pretty similar to American food. The thing that's unique to Australian food is a lot of BBQ (e.g. Shrimp on the Barbi). It's also not as rich and fatty as American food.

6. Australia pretty much tags along with the US in all the wars (e.g. Vietnam, Korean, Iraq) because it views the US as a strategic ally. The government seems to be concerned with the possibility that Indonesia will invade Australia (i.e. the AUS embassy was just bombed in Jakarta last week) and it hopes it is building a credit with the US armed forces. Many locals disagree with AUS military actions because it see the AUS gov't treating the country like the 51st US state.

7. The most popular sports there is Footy, Rugby and Cricket. Nobody there has ever heard of the Australian baseball player Geoff Jenkins

8. They don't really like Steve Irwin from The Crocodile Hunter because nobody really says "Criky!" over there and they feel it's sending the wrong image of Australia to the rest of the world.

9. Melbourne seems pretty conservative. It a lot more similar to Europe than it is to the US.

10. People there are very friendly. Everybody was just real kind and generous.

Thanks everybody for your suggestions to me on what to do there. To all Australians and those who visited Australia, I hope I painted a pretty accurate picture of this wonderful country. I wish I had more time to visit Sydney or Brisbane but I had a great experience in Melbourne.