Our First Few Days in Australia

We made it! We are alive and well and loving Melbourne so far. Since we've had quite a few people asking, I figured we should check in and share our experience over the past few days. 

Before we flew over to Melbourne, we spent a day and night in LA. We rented a cute bedroom off AirBnB and went out to dinner in West Hollywood. The next morning, we took a cycling class and then Korie's boyfriend gave us a little tour of LA until it was time to head to the airport. Our flight didn't leave until 10:30pm, so we got there with plenty of time. 

Initially, we were dreading the 16 hour flight from LA to Melbourne. However, it actually wasn't as bad as we thought. Since it was nighttime, it was easy for us to fall asleep right away on the plane. Next thing we knew, 8 hours had already passed. We spent the rest of the flight watching inflight movies & TV shows. I believe the pilot actually took off an hour or two, because I was surprised to find that we landed almost an hour earlier than scheduled. 

Our first Aussie sunrise

We arrived at the airport around 8am on Thursday, easily went through customs and quickly found our driver to take us to our hostel. Since it was too early to check in, we dropped off our luggage, freshened up, grabbed coffee and set out to walk around the CBD (central business district...what we would call "downtown"). We came across a river tour and decided to hop on that to get a lay of the land and learn a bit about the area. It was about an hour long and very informative. 

After the river tour, we walked around the Southbank and docks area where we sat down to enjoy some much needed lunch. A lot of the prices around the area seemed high, but considering the location and the fact that they don't add tax or tip, it's really not that much different than a nice lunch back home. Plus, it seems like many places add a beer or glass of wine with a meal for their lunch specials. We both ordered a lunch dish (which were very big portions) with a glass of wine and paid $20 AUD each (approx. $15 USD). Not bad after doing the math and comparisons, but at first glance, it can seem a bit daunting. 

Lunch view on the Southbank

Once lunch was finished, it was close to 2pm and we were able to check into our hostel. We walked into our 6-bed dorm room and were greeted by the sound of sweet sweet country music! Our roommate, Brian, was from Seattle and we immediately hit it off. Soon after our introductions, his friend Sam from Manchester, England came by. They played some card games while Korie and I took an amazing 3 hour nap.

Once we woke up and showered, Rob from Germany joined in and we all played a few drinking games in our room before heading out. While most meals are similar in price to the U.S., the one thing that is NOT is their alcohol! They charge about $10-12 AUD for one beer, $12-18 AUD for a mixed drink and around $7-9 AUD for a glass of wine. Obviously, we've already decided that wine will 100% be our drink of choice. Brian introduced us to what they like to call "Goon" (think Franzia/boxed wine). It's really cheap and tastes like it, but it's better than paying those high prices when going out. After a few games, we walked 2 blocks to a local bar. Since it was Thursday, it wasn't too busy, so we grabbed a table and had great conversation. We were in bed by 1:30 and woke up around 9:30 the next morning, so all in all jet lag hasn't been too terrible.

Friday morning, we woke up to have an orientation with the Australian Backpackers Agency we hired to help us set up our bank accounts, tax numbers, cell phones, etc. It was very helpful and left us feeling much less stressed about all of it (I highly suggest getting an organization like them to help if you ever find yourself in a similar situation). After we finished being productive, Korie came across a free walking tour. The guide was great and really filled us in on some basic Australian history. Around 4pm, we met up with an Australian lady that Korie had on one of her tours in the U.S. this past summer. Her daughter joined us and we grilled them for more information about the city over wine and appetizers. 

Since I don't want this post to go on for too long, I'll end here and continue with Friday night and where we are now next time. It's a little more exciting, I promise! 

FYI - everyone loves my cowboy boots!