# Two weeks in September/October



## Ulrich (Jun 24, 2010)

I'm planning to spend two weeks in Australia at the end of September. I know that the first week will have to be in Melbourne, but I am completely open about what to do and where to go during the second week. So, here's my two-part question:

1. What are the must-do/must-see items I should put on my list for Melbourne? I'll be staying with a friend who's working during the day, so I'll probably have to rely on public transportation during the day but should have access to a car in the late afternoon and evening for excursions outside town.

2. Where would you go during the second week? It doesn't have to be all in one place; I don't mind flying someplace, picking up a rental car and then be on the road for a few days. If anyone has any suggestions for a rough itinerary it'd be greatly appreciated (I don't mind polishing it a little bit, but right now the country seems so overwhelming that I literally don't know where to start).

For example, Ayres Rock is famous, of course, but if it took me two days to get there and get back, it's probably not worth it given the limited time I have. Or maybe it turns out to be just a giant tourist trap and it's not worth sacrificing something else for?

Thanks!


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Ulrich said:


> I'm planning to spend two weeks in Australia at the end of September. I know that the first week will have to be in Melbourne, but I am completely open about what to do and where to go during the second week. So, here's my two-part question:
> 
> 1. What are the must-do/must-see items I should put on my list for Melbourne? I'll be staying with a friend who's working during the day, so I'll probably have to rely on public transportation during the day but should have access to a car in the late afternoon and evening for excursions outside town.
> 
> ...


You're coming at a time of year when the weather could be quite interesting, spring storms and all, so expect to get a mixture of some mild days mixed with blowier wet cooler to even cold ones though you could get lucky and have it great all the time - it's said in Melbourne, if you do not like the weather, wait a few minutes and you'll get a change! - more so in Spring.

If you're going to be staying not too far from the city, getting in ought to be easy enough for public transport is good and the CBD has a free city circle tram service - you can catch them right outside the main CBD railway station at Flinders Street RS, there also being a tourist info centre down some steps from the one open corner at the Flinders/Swanston Street intersection.
A good place to start to get a feel for the city and what it has to offer, plenty of museums, walks, parks, theatres, cafes, shopping and pubs about right in CBD and in fringing areas, Lygon Street for Little Italy, Little Bourke St. for Chinatown, and Smith street for Fitzroy to NE, South Bank, South Melbourne, South Yarra/Prahran and St. Kilda to the south and south of the Yarra river with new Docklands development to west of CBD and the free tram goes to there.
If you like hoofing it, you can do quite a hike from the Carlton Gardens _[old Royal Exhibition Building ]_ and do check out the architecture at the back of the Melbourne Museum and Imax theatre, and then head down Spring Street a few blocks to Parliament House steps, or along Victoria Parade to east to pick up Fitzroy Gardens _[ Captain Cooks cottage ]_ and they run all the way down towards the MCG and you can keep going across to the Tennis Centre and across the Yarra to *Botanical Gardens *and back intowards the city via St. Kilda road parklands and walk southbank right around to Docklands.
But a few specific things you could try and do:
. See if you can get a ticket to an AFL - The official site of the Australian Football League - AFL.com.au final and/or visit the MCG sports museum if that interests.
. Feel like a game of golf - Yarra Bend Public Golf Course is cheap and with clubs for hire - another nice walk
. Or for a row on the river, ask about Fairfield boathouse, old antique style rowboats and a nice place for lunch.
. Williamstown ferry will give you a look at the Yarra lower reaches, and you can stop at Scienceworks Museum on the way to Williamstown for a nice pub lunch there if you like.
. For out of Melbourne, you could take a train to Belgrave and then on to the Puffing Billy or do a hike out into Sherbrooke Forest if weather is good, possibly better if you can manage a day by car for touring the Dandenongs if you like gardens and Rhododendrons could be blooming as should much of Melbourne/Victoria.
. There's day tours you could think of for places like Phillip Island Koalas and evening fairy penguin parade, very touristy but they put on superb body surfing and being bowled over displays or the Great Ocean Road, Ballarat & and Daylesford springs region, the Goldfields district or nice rural country to east for a Gourmey deli tour.

Away from Melbourne, yes, Uluru whilst a breathtaking sight is vry touristy but most go look places are and so if it is a case of the big two in Australia, you may want to choose between the red centre or the great barrier reef, both likely to give you drier and warmer weather than Melbourne.
Instead of just going to see Uluru, a fly there and back, there are many great camp out style tours and depending on your budget and just what kind of an experience you want you may even be able to get something like an eight day tour starting from Alice Springs and heading via Uluru and Coober Pedy to Adelaide.
Australia's Leader in Small Group Tours | Adventure Tours Australia isone company that runs tours all over the place and I think they show Alice to Melbourne in 10 days but you may be able to shorten that by cobbling together separate tours by different companies - plenty about if you google.

Alternately, you could fly Melbourne to Cairns for a look about there including the Great Barrier Reef and down to the Whitsunday Islands to fly back from there.

Or to do something on the cheap and see some countryside, there's always doing a Campervan relocation. Rental Relocations Australia New Zealand United States Canada - Hire Now at StandByCars and get yourself to Adelaide or Sydney etc. and check out some great older country pubs along the way - Welcome to Gday Pubs | G'day Pubs - Enjoy our Great Australian Pubs


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