CHERRY LAM: November

POST SEMESTER CAFE HUNT | 4 Cafes In Brisbane

05:54:00

FOLLOW ME TO MELBOURNE | 5 Days in City of Coffee

00:10:00

Happy November! Can’t believe 2016 is almost over. When everyone is working on their assignments and exams, I am back to HK for a 4 months holiday! Back to late September, me and my friends visited Melbourne for 5 days. The first time I visited Melbourne was over 10 years ago, and I barely remember the trip, so I was really excited. I will try link everything (cafes, places) below, hope it can help you plan your trip.

Day One
After a 2.5 hours flight from Brisbane, we arrived Melbourne in a rainy chilly day. We then head to city, where our hotel is, by Sky Bus ($19 each). After checked-in and put down our luggages, the rain stopped (thanks God!) and we went out to explore the city. The Melbourne city is full of restaurants, cafes and art. We were too hungry and cold, so we went to Manchester Press recommended by a friend. Their beagles are amazing! We ordered bacon, maple & banana (top), smoked salmon lox (bottom) and a cup of hot mocha latte. The really like the sweet banana one, it is so goooood.

It was too cold (compare to BNE), because of the rain, so we went in the State Library of Victoria. I saw a lot of photo on Instagram in this Library. It remains the vintage architecture style, with the white wall and wooden floor. Running Man actually filmed here 3 years ago when they had the Australia episodes. I am amused by numbers of people that actually studying in there. There were so many tourists and they could still manage to focus and study in there.

Then we walk across to the other side of the city, near Flinders Station. We spent almost 2 hours in Hoiser Lane, where all the wall are covered by graffiti. Even though the sun was going down, the lane was still crowded. I guess people enjoy taking photos for Instagram haha.

Day Two
We took an hour train from Flinders Street station to Belgrave for Puffing Billy. Puffing Billy is a coal fuel train which is 100 years old and still function today. We didn’t book the ticket in advanced and didn’t go there earlier to get tickets. Luckily, my Melbourne friends arrived there at 9 and they helped us bought the last tickets for 11:30am train to Menzie Creek Station. (Lucky us!)

Most people took the train until Lakeside for more scenery. But it took almost 3 hours to return, so we decided to just stop at Menzie Creek, which only took 30 minutes to travel so we could continue visit other spot around Belgrave. The special thing about Puffing Billy is passengers can sit on the side of the train and put their legs outside the train. It is recommended to sit on the right side for better view. Right after we arrive Menzie Creek, we have to run to the other platform to take the return train back.

Overall, I will recommend just travel to Menzie Creek Station, if you only wanna experience the train ride or you are not interested to scenery. It is quite tiring to sit in the train for 1.5 hours with the wind. Also, according to my friends, the scenery along Menzie Creek to Lakeside is not special. Although there are nothing to see in Menzie Creek, the ticket price is so much cheaper. One hour is very enough to sit aside the train to take photos and experience Puffing Billy.

Day Three
We went to the Queen Victoria Market for breakfast. It is a market with grocery, food and souvenirs. We tried jam doughnut from American Doughnut Kitchens, which is pretty good. I like how this area is full of arty stores, coffee shop and street music!

Then I went to meet my another two friends in Fitzroy, an arty vintage suburb near CBD. We had an afternoon tea in Addict Food & Coffee. Left: Potato Hash Bottom: Chocolate Fondant Pancake Right: Sweet and Savoury Breakfast

We were crazy about second-hand clothing/ thrifting suddenly for some reason, so we basically went into every single vintage boutique lol.

Day Four
Last full day in Melbourne is a day trip to Great Ocean Road. We joined a Chinese day tour, which brought us to Port Cambell National Park to see Loch Ard Gorge and The Twelve Apostles.

It would be so much better to drive there than day tour. The coach trip is bad, my friend did throw up a bit and I felt ill as well. But it felt so good to see sea stacks out of textbook and the beautiful scenery in real life! We returned Melbourne by 9pm.

Day Five
So the last day we visited a art market in Fitzroy, called Rose Street Market. It's not big but a lot to see! All the booth sold really unique handmade products, like jewellery, drawings and cloth crafts.

http://cherrylam21.tumblr.com/post/151607165055/plant-by-pack-wood-at-rose-street-market

We failed to try the Lune Croissants so we went to a cafe called Industry Beans.

Top: Shanklish Cheese Omelette Left: Avocado Smash Bottom: Eggs and Relish (+Bacon)

Last stop of the trip is Brighton Beach! I met another friend in Flinders Street Station and took 20 minute train to Brighton (get off at Middle Brighton!). Lots of colourful beach houses are built along the coast line, which is really beautiful. Although it is really windy, we took a lot of photos and we saw a wedding shoot too!