JC Travels
December 13, 2024
Victoria  ·  Australia
Leaving Melbourne Victoria Australia day trips
Week 567  ·  Leaving Melbourne — Part 1 of 2

Leaving
Melbourne — Day Trips

JC Travels  ·  my-jc.blog

This is my last blog from Melbourne, at least on this assignment. My 6-month assignment ended by lasting about a year and a half. Melbourne is truly one of the great cities of the world and one of my favourite places we have lived. The people are great — both professionally and socially.

Since returning to Australia in September, I had been pretty focused at work and we had really settled into living here — not doing tourist things all the time, with weekends similar to what we would do in Maryland: local bike rides, events, pickleball with friends. Day trips to some places we had already been — the Mornington Peninsula and Arthurs Seat for wine tasting and hiking; Daylesford and Bendigo; Kilkunda and Philip Island for biking and penguin stalking; a rail trail in the Australian Alps; and a local bike ferry to take a short cut to Williamstown and Altona beaches.

Mornington Peninsula & Arthurs Seat

Mornington Peninsula & Arthurs Seat

Melbourne skyline across Port Phillip Bay Arthurs Seat Downhill MTB trails Arthurs Seat potential obstacles Winery near Arthurs Seat large post-modern concrete
Can barely see the Melbourne skyline across Port Phillip Bay from Arthurs Seat  ·  Downhill MTB trails — with potential obstacles  ·  A winery near Arthurs Seat — large post-modern concrete structure in the middle of nowhere
Daylesford & Bendigo

Daylesford & Bendigo

Bendigo Victoria goldfields architecture
Bendigo Victoria historic building gold rush era Bendigo Victoria streetscape gold rush Bendigo Victoria architecture heritage
Daylesford radioactive water museum spa town Victoria

Out in regional Victoria we came across a museum in the spa town of Daylesford — note: the water was beneficial because it was radioactive. A very 1890s approach to wellness.

The Convent Daylesford converted art museum Victoria The Convent Daylesford exterior Victoria Wine Bank Bendigo converted gold rush bank Victoria
"The Convent" — converted convent to art museum, Daylesford  ·  The Wine Bank, Bendigo — converted gold rush era bank
Chinese museum Bendigo Victoria Bendigo Chinese heritage miners 1800s Victoria Random waterfall regional Victoria
Chinese museum, Bendigo — strong Chinese heritage from miners who came in the 1800s  ·  Random waterfall
Kilkunda & Philip Island

Kilkunda & Philip Island

Rail trail near Kilkunda Victoria bike ride Rail trail Kilkunda Victoria countryside
Rail trail near Kilkunda
Break on bike ride Kilkunda Victoria The Nobbies Philip Island wallabies Victoria Sharon finding baby penguins Philip Island nests Victoria
Break on the bike ride  ·  The Nobbies — farthest point on Philip Island, lots of wallabies  ·  Sharon finding baby penguins waiting in their nests all day
Baby penguin Philip Island Victoria Penguin beach Philip Island parade Victoria Quick trip Port Philip Island from Kilkunda bike ride
Baby penguin  ·  Penguin beach — where we saw the parade last year  ·  Quick trip from the bike ride to Philip Island
Bike Ferry, Alps & Williamstown

Bike Ferry, Australian Alps & Williamstown

Bike ferry across Yarra West Gate Bridge Port Melbourne Williamstown Biking Australian Alps more snow than Swiss Alps Trip from Williamstown to St Kilda Port Melbourne bike
Bike ferry across the Yarra under the West Gate Bridge  ·  Australian Alps — gets more snow than the Swiss Alps (larger land area though)  ·  Williamstown to St. Kilda

We are in the process of starting our next adventure — returning to Australia but moving across the country to Perth for another assignment. We are looking forward to hot days instead of shovelling snow in Maryland!

AustraliaMelbourneVictoriaDay TripsPhilip Island
Week 567  ·  December 13, 2024