After two amazing weeks we had to say goodbye to New Zealand, it was time to head to Australia. Specifically, Melbourne, Australia.
I won’t be in Melbourne for very long, arriving Friday and leaving Monday, but this is the reason for the whole trip. This is where Libby will be spending the next four months. She will be attending Australian Catholic University, in Melbourne, for one semester.
We arrived in Melbourne in the evening and were met at the airport by a driver sent from the company that Libby has rented housing through. University accommodations are different in Australia and she had to find off campus housing. She is renting through an organization called Semester in Australia. They have placed her in a town home close to school. They also provided airport pick up and a company representative then met her at the house and gave her a quick tour of the house and the neighbourhood. They provided her with a bus pass and an option for a new phone plan. It took some of the initial guess work out of trying to figure out what to do and where to start. She has four roommates who are North American and will be attending the same university.
I am staying at a hotel close to her house. So after doing some initial unpacking and getting some laundry underway, we made our way over to Hotel Jasper on Elizabeth Street. Libby spent that first night at the hotel with me, we are shopping for her bedding tomorrow.
That quick walk to the hotel gave us an idea of what her neighbourhood is like. She lives on a quiet residential street but two blocks (a few minutes walk) away is a HUGE market. Queen Victoria Market is a seven acre site that is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is very similar to Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market or the Granville Island Market in Vancouver, except it is bigger.
We spent the next couple days getting her settled in and touring around the city. We saw as much as we could in two days but Melbourne is a big city and Libby has a lot more to see after I leave. She is planning on keeping the blog up to date with her adventures.
School doesn’t start until February 23 but we gave ourselves a little tour.
There are many options for public transportation in Melbourne, one of which is a very extensive (and partially free) tram system. She won’t have any problem getting around.
Shopping! We didn’t buy much but enjoyed walking around and window shopping. We spent a lot of time in a giant H & M.
To get a quick overview of the city we did a hop-on-hop-off bus tour.
Melbourne is known for its street art. Here are some pictures from Hosier Lane, one of the more popular alleys.
Much too soon the weekend was over and I had to say goodbye. But I am so happy that we had three weeks of amazing adventures and I know that she will have four plus months of new and incredible adventures.
It's All About The Journey 
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