definitely said about 4 years ago or at 5:11AM on Tuesday, March 18 2008 in chat
If you had a friend from overseas coming to visit for only 5 days, and they'd never been to Melbourne before, where would you take them?
My list of things to do currently consists of:
- The Tote
(I lived in Melbourne for about two years and that's all my brain can muster up cuz it's the no. 1 thing I've missed)
Also, has Melbourne changed much in the last two years? Have they built that stupid wheel thing yet?
fashionhayley had this very thread, but it was lost in the great 38 day crash
From memory, some ideas were Fitzroy Garden possums, Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary, St Kilda pier, Queen Vic market, Philip Island penguins, Great Ocean Road, Kinglake...
the city circle tram, fed square, a drink at riverland (that bar on the yarra next to fed square)
remind them not to try and pat the possums...
my answer is fuck all. go to sydney instead.
You have to take them to Phillip Island or the Great Ocean road. My visitor LOVED those places.
the ferris wheel on the yarra is still there, it's amazing at night.
you could take them to:
what kind of stuff does your friend like? knowing that might make it easier to offer suggestions.
what filter said.
what filter said.
FUCKEN... stupid error page!
''my answer is fuck all. go to sydney instead.''
if they want to be bored by glitz and conspicuous consumption, sure.
for touristy stuff, sydney does have melbourne beat.
i agree with penguins, fitzroy gardens (fairy tree!) and vic markets. tramcar restaurant? alleyway bars? yarra river cruise?
bookmarks thread...
Great ocen Rd and general city wanderings should do it, I reckon.
Our touristy stuff isn't really that interesting, which is great.
oh reverb, you know we're just going to take you out and get you pissed every night and you'll have no time for touristy stuff, right?
sydney doesn't beat melbourne for touristy stuff. going and staring at the harbour isn't that exciting. i do like the national gallery though. all those john glover paintings.
there is many more things than the harbour.
i lived there most of my life, redlips. i am thankful to no longer live there. i know that there is other stuff to see, but as far as cities go, melbourne wins, hands down.
i love melbourne to bits, and i'm not sure if i could ever live in sydney again, but for tourists (especially international tourists with no idea of australia), sydney is a lot more accommodating.
yeah, i was gonna say 'fuck touristy stuff' anyway.
if you know locals, you are streets ahead of any tourist, because they will show you shit with substance, that they have taken time to find and compare with what else is out there and what they return to again and again because it's quality.
touristy stuff generally is easily accessible - you don't need to ask locals about it because it's self evident. to me, the best things about melbourne aren't necessarily stuff that's overt and visible, and that's one of the best things about it.
i had a friend visit me in Melbourne who had done absolutely zero research into the city (or the exchange rate... who does that?! he got here and took out $20 from the ATM... I said... what are you doing? That will last you about 13 seconds)... anyway, I found it really hard when he just said, so - what are we doing today?
Too much pressure! Anyway - we did
Healesville Sanctuary;
NGV/Fed Sq;
Acland St / St Kilda for breakfast / walk along the water;
Gertrude St / Brunswick St / Babka for lunch;
Botanical Gardens;
City laneways;
Heide Gallery;
Chapel / Greville St;
Movida for dinner;
Oh, and I wasn't drinking so we didn't do bars. I think that was a big problem ...
oh, don't take them to st kilda, it's an embarrassment of a beach. if they want beaches, get out of the city.
Enjoy a frothy cappucino in one of our many laneways.
Nah seriously, go and have a parma and get ratarsed at The North Melbourne Town Hall. Great pub grub. Personally I loved Rialto Tower. There's something about sitting 300 meters (or so) above the city on a clear day.
tommyfya started a thread too
Go eat scones in the dandenongs.
oh definitely.
in my limited experience of traveling, i've found that doing touristy shit never allows you to see where you are.
for example, when i was in barbados and we went in a little submarine, it was cool, but i knew not much more about the island.
however, when i was sat on the beach at 3am with some locals smoking a spliff, THAT was when i found out the real island
we also went to Byron Bay, so I figured that was enough real beach for anyone...
i'll second the fitzroy gardens, provided you don't ride your bikes through there!!
don't get me started on people riding their bikes through the fitzroy gardens...
but yes, i walk through there every day. twice. and nothing makes me calmer and happier. except when there are bikes there.
Well, the 'friend' is my husband and I'll be the guide. Will be around the end of April.
Just wanted to get a few ideas before we get there - jog the brain.
Thanks!
Record stores will be a must. Any new ones open up in the last two years?
why can't people ride their bikes through fitzroy gardens? it's a park. safer than riding on the road. it's called sharing the path. i do it every day through darling gardens, and me and pedestrians live in a harmonious existence.
i get cranky at people riding through carlton gardens, on account of it being signposted that you're not allowed to, and when i used to walk through there reading, i was always almost getting hit by cyclists speeding through there
there's bike paths on all sides, just go around, damnit
because the signs say no bikes! unless you're under 12.
it's just because they're not supposed to be there, that i get really frightened when they come up from behind, because i have my headphones on. plus i've seen one knock down a kid too...
if it was open for everyone, you'd know to look out for them. but i never expect them.
Since you're going to the Tote, check out The Listening Lounge towards the corner of Johnston St and Smith St. I reckon it will be right up your alley. Heaps of good punk and rock 'n' roll 45s. Ian is the dude who runs it, and he's a top bloke to boot.
yeah, what horse said!
ah okay, that's fair enough if they're not meant to ride through there. my park doesn't have those signs :)
there is your problem, right there
yeah, it's not people riding through enjoying the parkland
they're just cutting through to get somewhere quicker, riding really fast and coming close to people meandering about. dangerous.
shits me
ahh, i see ... it's my fault for reading while walking in a park where bikes aren't allowed, and it should be perfectly safe to do so
how silly of me
I least you now recognise your own folly
no, i recognise you disagreeing with me because you dislike me, not for any other reason
true colours showing, plain and simple
ffs
how bout those tourists?
i don't dislike you
why are you following horse around and commenting on everything he says? are you bored? do you have nothing to do? do you have nothing of worth to add to a discussion but have some kind of typing diarrhoea where your fingers just punch away at keys and the only drivel that ever comes out is petty words of no value?
I'm hardly following him around - i didn't realise he was so farking sensitive. And I'm sure he doesn't need you to defend him - jesus
i'm sure he doesn't either. but you're pissing me off with what you are saying. i don't believe in standing aside and saying ''it's their battle'', if i see someone being treated unfairly, in what appears to be solely for the harrasser's amusement, then I'm going to call them on it.
Take it outside kids.
Other new rekkid skops include a new book/rekkid shop towards the corner of Smith St and Gertrude. Can't remember the name, but you can't miss it. I've found heaps of good cheap LPs there.
Oh behave.
Thanks for the tips Ubu. I think the Listening Lounge had just opened before I left Melbourne. If it's the one I'm thinking of then it was a goldmine - glad to hear it's still going.
If you can be bothered should head up to Sky High at Mt. Dandenong. Could be fun to see what the whole city looks like from a the look out for them.
My O/S (Japanese) visitor really liked St Kilda, we went for the market. She LOVED the cake shops and the yummy coffee on acland street.
She loved that we have handles to open the train doors, she took heaps and heaps of photos of that...Um she also loved the green anchor shaped tram holding straps.
She thought we had a lot of ''wall art'' (graffiti) some of it pretty and some just ''scribbles'' (tags)
She liked all the old buildings and the fact you can look on 1 side of the street and see an old building then bam right next to it is a futuristic modern building.
She loved our old fashioned public toilets (you know, those ones you go down the stairs to)
Her fave thing was Phillip Islands penguins, beaches and also wildlife park where she got to feed kangaroos and see a koala up close.
We did somuch in the 9 days she was down, it was exhausting. I was lucky that I wasn't working so I could take her out everyday...but I wanted a day off but she was too scared to go out on her own (We saw a fight on day on Swanston Street...it scared her heaps)
The shop is 'TITLE', 183 Gertrude St Fitzroy (Cnr GeorgeSt) and it's really cool.
http://www.messandnoise.com/discussions/1301071
thegirlwhocrieddave said 16 hours ago:
because the signs say no bikes! unless you're under 12.
it's just because they're not supposed to be there, that i get really frightened when they come up from behind, because i have my headphones on. plus i've seen one knock down a kid too...
if it was open for everyone, you'd know to look out for them. but i never expect them.>
i think the ferris wheel they were refering to is the one in docklands, and that hasn't been completed yet.
also i think the problem is you have headphones in, that can be dangerous (people get hit by cars/i remember a girl got hit by a tram cos she didn't hear it).
also don't go to the vic market, its so crap. all this touristy crap and hundreds of leather belts. the vic night market is alright cos it doesn't have this stuff but i think it finishes up this month. maybe take them to the camberwell market, not a tourist place, but can be fun to find a bargain.
Pandad there is a ferris wheel next to fed square on the yarra in barrang marr or whatever that new park is...Its more of a carny ride cos it goes super fast...a scenic ferris whell should go around only once and take about 15 minutes...my japanese friend also thought that was really wierd she had never ever seen such a fast ferris wheel!
Other new rekkid skops include a new book/rekkid shop towards the corner of Smith St and Gertrude. Can't remember the name, but you can't miss it. I've found heaps of good cheap LPs there.
The shop is 'TITLE', 183 Gertrude St Fitzroy (Cnr GeorgeSt) and it's really cool.
http://www.messandnoise.com/discussions/1301071
Nah, not Title, although that's good too. The one I'm thinking of is actually a second hand book shop as well, and it's on Smith St close to the corner of Gertrude.
are you coming too, definitely???
also don't go to the vic market, its so crap. all this touristy crap and hundreds of leather belts. the vic night market is alright cos it doesn't have this stuff but i think it finishes up this month. maybe take them to the camberwell market, not a tourist place, but can be fun to find a bargain.
when i said vic markets i was more talking about the food sections anyway. one of my fave things to do with out of towners is go and buy up fuckloads of antpasto stuff, cheeses and cold meats and olives and stuff, plus a couple of bottles of wine, and sit in a park somewhere devouring it.
That sounds like a perfect afternoon to me.
I love Vic Markets for that.