My trip to Australia started as going to all the tennis majors was one of my bucket list items. I had in two of them, the US Open and the French Open. Getting in the Australian Open would be the third and the hardest. In case you were wondering, Wimbledon is the other tennis major. I kept pushing it off to “next year” I will go; but this was the year I was going! Being such a long distance away it was one of the harder trips to plan since I would also want to go other places in Australia. Also on the bucket list was diving the Great Barrier Reef so a trip to Cairns would be in the cards and of course Sydney. For those who don’t know, the Australian Open (AO) is in Melbourne. So three cities would need to planned ie: flights hotels etc. Since I am not particularly good at organizing this whole trip would be a major challenge. Luckily a friend of mine is from Australia so he helped out with where to stay in the different cities and some things to do. I ended up staying near Chinatown in the Central Business District (CBD) as they call it. Apparently is the second oldest and largest Chinatown in the world, who knew?! My flight first went to LAX for the connection to Melbourne. Five hours to LA then 15 hours to Melbourne! Trying to sleep some would be a priority so I brought some Nyquil Sleep aid. About 5-6 hours into the flight I took it and tried to get some sleep but sleeping on a plane is difficult at best. I got an aisle seat thinking maybe the extra bit of leg room would help. I have done the window seat on long flights and that didn’t work too well for me. It wouldn’t have been so bad except for that cursed cart! The flight attendant rammed it right into my #@!& knee while I was dozing off! I did manage a few hours sleep but that was about it. I was impressed with the speed of going through customs but they didn’t stamp my passport!! That is something you definitely want in your passport but alas modern times they don’t do it. Day 1 – Arriving in Melbourne While I was on the flight I noticed a large swelling in my elbow and it was like a small golf ball in there! You have to be kidding me!? This is how my trip starts? It was easy to get an Uber from the airport to my hotel, I didn’t want to deal with public transportation. It probably exists but I was in no state of mind to figure it out. Tired and jetlagged, no thanks! After checking into my hotel I figured I better have that golf ball looked at and got to experience the Australian medical system for myself. Thinking it would be like the US I would find a “walk in clinic”. Google maps found me a few. They were not that easy to find, even with Google maps. I arrived at the first one, booked! Sorry Yank, we can't see you today. So on to the second one, sorry mate, not getting in today! You can make an appointment for Monday however. Not sure what to do now as I was running out of clinics. Apparently they all close at 3PM on Saturday and are not open on Sundays. It seems people in Australia don’t get sick on Sundays or after 3PM, who knew? Getting desperate, I decided to try the emergency room. Upon walking in I was not inspired, it looked like something from the 50s. As I walked over to the check in area, a loud screaming became apparent from a young woman in another room, threatening suicide, it sounded like to me. The nurse had me fill out some paper work and then over to the admissions where I was informed it would cost me $600, plus xrays etc. Really not wanted to pay that, I asked what the alternatives were. In the meantime a doctor came out and said he was pretty sure it was an infection and I would need antibiotics. The nurse also mentioned that there were a few clinics in the area that saw foreigners for free. She called the nearest one and they informed her they could see me now! Walking a ½ mile to the clinic I was able to get in right away and the doctor prescribed me antibotics. Awesome problem solved! The rest of the day I just spent walking around my “hood”. I managed to stay up till 9:30 PM to try and adjust to Melbourne time. Tip: While your current medical plan MAY cover you out of the country you are still responsible for paying out of pocket and chasing down your insurance company for your charges. Good luck with that. If you are at all worried or have ANY health issues, do yourself a favor and buy travel medical insurance. Day 2 – Bike Tour & Festival My plan was to do a guided bike tour of the city to get oriented and find out some things to do from a local. Our guided was originally from Ireland and had only been in Melbourne for a year or so but seemed quite knowledgeable. The electric bikes were very nice, I think I need to get one…. Melbourne is quite bike friendly and very clean and pretty. We saw some beautiful parks and went by the AO grounds. It was just getting started for the day. Oh boy, was there a long line to get in! Note to self, better get there early tomorrow. With rain threatening we just made it to a café where we had lunch. The skies opened up and I was very happy that I brought a raincoat. By the time we left it was not raining too hard but I was very happy I had it and no one else did. I was feeling very smart! While on the bike tour I noticed a festival going on and decided to check it out after the tour. It was a Latin festival. The Tampa area where i live has a heavy Latin influence but here I am 12,000 miles away attending a Latin festival. It was ok and I didn’t stay long. I did manage to find a few good pubs on the way back to the hotel. Day 3 – Australian Open Day! One of the main reasons I was here in Melbourne. Getting there was super easy, quick tram ride and I was at the gates to get in. They place is massive! Not being sure where to go first, I just walked around seeing what matches were starting up. A helpful guide there told my if I wanted to get into the John Cain arena, I should go there NOW! They only give out so many wrist bands to people with a grounds pass. Unfortunately, I was too late… I got there around 11:30 and there were no more passes available. I went over to the “1573” arena and saw Francis Tiafoe play and it was a good match. The problem with a grounds pass is you are not guaranteed a seat anywhere and no one tells you how hard it is to get into the arenas! I wanted to see some other matches but by that time the lines were so long that it was almost impossible to get in to any of them! Getting frustrated, I found an area with a big screen and got a beer to watch some tennis. After a while I made another go of it and got into a match of players I never heard of but it was entertaining and sitting so close to the players is an amazing experience. With the day grounds pass you can still stay until closing time and later in the evening it is easier to get into the outer courts. Tip: If you go to the AO, go EARLY, no later than 11:00 AM and get the John Cain arena wrist band then scope out what matches you want to see. While I can’t swear to it I did see some people getting a “pass” so when you leave you can re-enter without waiting in line but if you are solo, ask the person next to you to hold your seat. Day 4 – Yarra Valley Wine Tour. I like wine and enjoy going to wineries, so the Yarra Valley was on my list of things to do. It is quite well known for their wineries. I booked an all day tour that went to three wineries, a chocolatier and a gin distillery. The Yering Station Winery is the oldest winery in Australia where the first grapes were planted in the mid 1800s. I admit I was underwhelmed by the place. It was not particularly scenic. I did not actually see any vineyards! Where were the grapes coming from I thought? We tried 5 wines, 3 whites a Rose and a Pinot Noir. I can’t say I really liked any of them. They are probably fine wines but I just didn’t care for them. Maybe the next winery will be better? Next stop was Soumah Winery. Now this was a winery! Scenic, and I saw lots of vineyards so it was a good start. We tried a 5 wines, a combination of 3 reds and 2 whites. I liked all of them but the standout was “The Butcher”. A bold and a flavorful syrah that satisfied this Cabernet Savignon drinker. Part of the tour was lunch and a glass of wine of your choice. Naturally I chose The Butcher. The salmon lunch was amazing. Served with a nice selection of meats, olives and cheese. I would definitely come back here! Next up was Helen and Joey. A pretty upscale place that had some nice views. Not as nice as Soumah but nice. For some reason they like unicorns and you will see them everywhere. We tried 5 wines, a variety of reds and whites. The standout to me was the Wayward Child Hannahanna. I nice red blend that I enjoyed. If you ask nicely they will let you try some others. Next up was a ice creamery and chocolatier. I am not a huge sweets person I obviously had to try some of each. The chocolate samples were quite good but I opted for an ice cream cone of chocolate and cookie crumbles. The ice cream was similar to gelato and it was to die for. Amazingly good! Our last stop was Four Pillars Gin Distillery. Here we tried 4 types of gin with one mixer of our choice. Basically 4 shot glasses each with some ice and room to add mixer if you wanted. Two of them I did enjoy and didn’t need to add the mixer. Maybe I need to become a gin drinker? Tip: Absolutely do a Yarra Valley wine tour, even if you are not a big wine drinker, getting out in the countryside was worth it. With a great lunch and ice cream what more can you ask for? Day 5 – Melbourne Museum, South Bank and Night Session AO. The Melbourne Museum is primarily focused on natural history and native aboriginal history. The dinosaur exhibits were fabulous! They have the most complete Triceratops skeleton in the world. Seeing the size of them is mind boggling! There is an insect exhibit along with some geology as well. South Bank is in the downtown area right along the Yarra River. There is a long strip of restaurants, bars and shopping here. It is a very popular destination and a good place to enjoy a few beers, a healthy lunch and watch some of the days tennis matches. I headed over to the AO at 4:45 PM, the earliest you are allowed in with a night session pass. This time I had a guaranteed seat at Rod Laver arena and I am so glad I did. I was raining and there were no other matches going on due to rain. The match I was watching was not close so I wandered out to see what other matches were taking place as it had stopped raining. The match between a French man and a guy from Lebanon was entertaining but almost as fun to watch were the fans. They were quite rowdy and very into it! The Frenchman won easily however. Day 6 – Self Guided Bike Ride I love biking and find it a great way to explore. The bike tour guide from Sunday recommended a ride along the coast to Brighton Beach. It was a very scenic ride. If you have ever been to the coast in California it will look familiar. Piers, windy and cool with rough water. The bike path followed the coast line with lots of places to stop and take pictures. There were not a whole lot of places to get a drink or eat. I stopped at the one place in Brighton Bay for lunch. It had a small deck overlooking the ocean. I highly recommend this ride if you make it to Melbourne. The rest of day I wandered around the CBD and popped in a few pubs to watch some tennis.
worldguidesLast Updated: January 17, 2025 
worldguidesLast Updated: January 17, 2025 worldguidesLast Updated: January 17, 2025