There was this Asian guy snoring like thunder on the plane so I couldn’t even sleep. We lost two hours to the 3 hour flight due to time difference between Melbourne and Perth. Damn! It’s already morning and I didn’t even get a little bit of sleep.
We took the stairs off the plane instead of
a transferring bridge, then followed the signs with our bags in hands. It’s
about a 10-minute walk “outside” on the field before arriving at the luggage
claiming “room” at last. The weather was freezing and it wasn’t a real room at
all but some kind of space surrounded by metal fences. I took some pictures of
the plane and stairs when we got off the plane but one of the workers said no
photo shooting, they must be afraid that I might spread out the pictures of
Tigers cheap budget doing. Passengers that have gotten their bags went through
a revolving door and found themselves in the wild and very dark outside. We
received no instructions from any workers for none was present. Luckily I saw
some signs directing us to the airport (see! We’re not in even the main part of
the airport!) and followed. It was a long and frustrating trip that turned my
hands into some kind of muffin-like object due to the heavy weight and the drag
through bumpy roads. Hostels’ check in time were often after 12 so we decided
to stay in the airport at the moment, then we will take Skybus to the CBD at
noon. The place where we landed and claimed our luggage was only used by Tiger
airlines and most of it was still under construction, which really gave its
true title: the low-budget ride…
Again, I couldn’t sleep in the airport with
people walking around and the need to worry about luggage being stolen. So I
bought the tickets of Skybus to take us to the CBD costing us 17AUD each. It’s
a 20-minute ride to the destination at an underground stop of Southern Cross
Station, and the tough trip was only about to begin. The air outside was so
cold my coat felt like a piece of paper, I was only two and that made it two
pieces of papers and they were useless against the blade-like winds. It was
about 20 minutes to Greenhouse Backpackers from where we were according to
Google Map. I led the way and we were going on foot, it didn’t seem to far. Oh
really?!
We had a big backpack each and dragging an
enormous suitcase behind us and what Melbourne displeased us beside the weather
were its ups and downs. We were basically journeying up and down hills and the
streets were full of people and cars hurrying to work. Roxie and I hadn’t
consumed anything since dinner from yesterday and I was exhausted from staying
up all night. Building in Melbourne were mostly old fashioned like scenes from
Queen Victoria’s era, many peaked churches and ancient structures towered over
us. By the way, there were many bumps and holes on the roads making our time
much more miserable. Roxie was always struggling with her big suitcase and her
long-strap bag was giving her a hard time, too. I felt like helping but couldn’t,
I was also not having the best of my time. It took us more than an hour before
finally seeing the sign of the backpacker hostel, we both collapsed in front of
the building.
Greenhouse backpackers was a 6-storey lodgment
and had an old-fashioned appearance just like the rest. The floors were full of
rooms for the backpackers to stay from the second to the fifth leaving the
first floor a small lobby, while the real reception was on the sixth. We were
lucky to have booked for a room while panting in the elevator and catching for
breath, it would have been cruel to roam the streets early in the morning
looking for a place to stay.
It’s 262 AUD each for 9 nights and a bit
more expensive than Britannia, but considering its location and the backpackers’
records (No.1 in last year’s competition of Melbourne’s backpacking accommodation)
I guess it was worth the price. They offered free breakfast every day from 7 to
9 in the morning and the kitchen plus common room looked sweet. The charge also
provided us half an hour free wifi each day and there were free computers for
surfing, too.
In our 5 people dorm 518, it’s my turn to
take the lower bed. There were two friendly Singaporean guys welcoming our
arrival and one even shared some of his doughnuts with us later that day. Sadly
they were leaving tomorrow, people come and go all the time, we had gotten used
to that back in Perth. An Australian lady moved in just after us and she would
be staying for 3 days, she was very clean and polite, feeling nothing like the
regular Australians, rude and a little bit untidy haha.
After unpacking, both of us slept soundly in
our beds restoring energy, it was about 3 in the afternoon before getting up to
search for some food!
State Library was just across the street
from our stay, 7-11s and subways were to be found about everywhere. One thing
worth mentioning was that Melbourne was still using trams that traveled with
electric rods attached to the wires, spark sometimes showers the top of the
trams making them extremely dangerous. We took a stroll around the streets for
about two hours, its local department stores: David Jones, Myer, Zara, I don’t
see any Far East or SOGO… Melbourne’s China Town was full of surprises though,
selling souvenirs and fresh seafood that made our mouths watered.
We picked a restaurant called Claypot King
in the end. We had the habit of eating outside for our first meal in every new
city and cooked the rest of the meals ourselves. I orders Curry Laksa and Roxie
had some meat and rice that tasted just fine. My laksa was awesome though, a
big bowl with two different kinds of noodles and lots and lots of seafood. However
it cost 9 AUD and about 270 NT in approximate. We visited the only Woolworths
in Melbourne before returning to Greenhouse, it was buried under the shopping
mall QV and little bit hard to find. We purchased a jar of 3 litre milk 2
bottles of 2AUD juice and some Australian cookies.
On the way back home, my backpack was full
of liquids and weighing me down. Suddenly we heard a girl seeing Kimberly’s
Love you from Taiwan! We turned around and saw a girl playing guitar and
singing all by herself and there was a Taiwan flag in her guitar box. We gave
her money and took a picture together to show support!
I took a bath after coming back and had some
cookies with milk at the common room. The wifi signal was pretty bad but I like
the atmosphere here, cozy and sweet. Roxie and I made a deal of getting up
early for the free breakfast the next morning, hope they have bacon and
sausages! Greenhouse was kind enough to hold an activity each night, we were
too exhausted to participate in today’s walk but there will be free dinner on
the house tomorrow, looking forward to it!
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