Right from the far left lane
No, I haven't been driving... Don't worry. But I am wrapping up a long weekend in Melbourne—the second most populated city in Australia after Sydney—visiting friends, doing some research, and having a generally amazing time. And before you ask, the long weekend wasn't prompted by any holiday here; Australia does not celebrate Memorial Day.
Coincidentally, on Tuesday, I got a message from my second cousin, Sarit, (who lives in Florida and is a documentary film maker) that she was boarding a plane in Los Angeles to head to Australia. While I knew she'd be down here for a few months over the winter (summer in the US), I didn't know when she'd be arriving last week. Much of her work will be based in Melbourne, and it was a complete fluke that we happened to arrive in Melbourne on the same day (Thursday).
This weekend was absolutely amazing, and I covered a lot of ground. From Friday to Sunday, I walked 56km (35 miles), covering an array of neighbourhoods throughout Melbourne. While I am by no means a Melbourne expert, I did visit back in 2012, so knew the lay-of-the-land well enough to offer my cousin a tour. We started off with a breakfast in St. Kilda, where we both happened to be staying, and then wandered up to the CBD via the city's impressive Shrine of Remembrance.
After checking out the view of the city from the roof, we continued our trek into the city, enjoying the unexpectedly nice weather. While Melbourne is located along the southern coast of Australia, and expected to be quite cold as Australia slips into winter, it has been generally sunny and in the upper teens to low-20s (mid-60s F) the entire trip!
In the City, we popped into Flinders Street Station (a nice old train station), before catching a tram partway around the city circle. While most cities globally removed their tram networks in the mid-1900s, Melbourne retained the trams and has 100s of miles of lines criss-crossing the city. After a quick ride around, we jumped off and walked around the CBD, stopping into Federation Square, Melbourne Central, the State Library of Victoria.
From the CBD, we walked north toward the fun, hipster suburb of Fitzroy, passing through the sprawling Queen Victoria Markets along the way. Once on the main drag of Brunswick Street, we wandered for a bit before finding some Vietnamese for lunch. Before parting ways, we hit the rooftop of a popular bar I had visited six years ago—Naked for Satan—and soaked in the skyline views. We caught a tram back to the city, where she headed home via train and I walked back north to catch up with a friend who is a professor at the University of Melbourne.
After a tour around the Uni and the architecture school, we headed out to the main commercial strip outside the campus and caught up over a glass of wine. It had been a few years since we hung out—back in 2014, we had done a road trip through Tasmania—so there was a lot to catch up on!
As the evening wore on, my friends Alex and Jas (you may remember them from a few weeks back) joined us for dinner. It was a great day, and all in I covered more than 30km (18.5 miles) on foot.
Saturday involved less walking, but provided for no decrease in ground covered. In the morning, Alex, Jas, and I walked over to a bakery near their place, where we enjoyed the unlimited toast breakfast. As wonderful as it sounds, the morning involved a table-top toaster and a steady stream of a range of the bakery's breads, smothered in jams and butters.
After the carb loading, we loaded up and drove out along the Yarra River to the suburb of Hawthorn. Our mission: the Melbourne Tram Museum. Only open twice a month, the museum is a former depot that houses two dozen old trams, dating back to the late 1800s. I did not plan the trip to coincide with the day it was open, but it was a happy accident; and Alex and Jas seemed to enjoy themselves, even though I was clearly the nerd who really wanted to go!
From the tram museum, we drove down to the sprawling South Melbourne Markets, where we explored a ton of stalls, ate some delicious oysters, and then grabbed a few snacks for a picnic. The afternoon was too nice to spend inside, so we headed back to St. Kilda with our purchases, grabbed 'The Dude' (their dog), and headed to a park nearby to while away an hour.
Once we were done in the park, we took The Dude on a doggy play date at one of their friend's places, while the humans walked over to a pub. Finally, we parted ways and dropped The Dude at home before my cousin joined us and we all headed up to a suburb next to Fitzroy, Collingwood, where we had dinner at an amazing Mexican restaurant: Hotel Jesus.
We called it an evening early, trekking back down to St. Kilda by 9:00, where we watched some tv and headed to bed early, wiped from the day's activities.
Sunday morning, we all slept in, and then caught a tram into the CBD to find brunch. Alex had an event in the afternoon that she was speaking at, so I met up with Stuart and we took a tram out to Collingwood to spend the afternoon. He took me by a building that has three subway cars (yes, real trains) on the roof, and we had lunch there, before walking to Abbotsford, the next suburb over.
The main draw of Abbotsford (and likely the name's origin) is a sprawling former Convent along the banks of the Yarra River. The complex was packed with people enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, and it was a pleasant place to wander around for an hour.
From the convent, we walked along the river for a bit before wandering up through Collingwood to Fitzroy, where we enjoyed an afternoon coffee (a very Melbourne thing to do). I then headed back down to St. Kilda via tram to meet up with Alex and Jas.
We loaded up in the car and made the trip out to the airport so Jas could fly home to Brisbane. To me, Melbourne is a far more car-oriented city than Sydney (especially out in the far suburbs), but they have done some interesting things with the motorways, including massive art installations.
Once back in St. Kilda, Alex and I walked down to an amazing Japanese restaurant for dinner, before calling it another early night.
This morning, Alex headed to work at the University, and I caught a tram into the city to post up at a coffee shop and get some work done. My cousin joined me a bit ago, and we are now both knocking out some things before we go to meet her brother (who happens to go to school here) for lunch in the CBD. Then I plan to get some more work done and head to the airport to fly back to Sydney.
But, before I go, an explanation of the title of this post...
Melbourne has a fairly unique road rule, especially found in the CBD, called the "hook turn." While it is not unheard of elsewhere, its prevalence here is definitely noteworthy and an oddity for visitors. The concept stems from the fact that most major roads here have a "fairway" in the centre, where the trams run. In order to not block tram movement, those who wish to turn right (remember, that is like a left turn in the States as Australians drive on the opposite side of the road), must use the far left lane; the same lane people turning left use. To complete a right turn, the driver pulls forward into the intersection, in front of the traffic waiting to cross perpendicularly, and waits for the light to turn red. Once the intersection is clear of cross traffic, those waiting to turn then complete the leg of the turn, crossing the tram tracks, in advance of the cross traffic moving.
I did a bad job of explaining it, and it makes a lot of sense given the tram lines, but it is a pretty interesting concept... If you want to actually understand, it is probably best to Google it.
Now, time for a bit more work before we grab lunch at the restaurant that holds the distinction of being the least expensive Michelin star restaurant in the world. All in, this was an absolutely amazing weekend with friends, and I am so glad I got to spend a lot of quality cousin time exploring the city. As luck would have it, I believe Jason (my brother) will be in Sydney when Sarit is in town, so we will all get to reconnect!
I know I didn't update y'all from my pre-Melbourne departure last week, so I will fire off a separate blog post later about what I got up to in Sydney.
Coincidentally, on Tuesday, I got a message from my second cousin, Sarit, (who lives in Florida and is a documentary film maker) that she was boarding a plane in Los Angeles to head to Australia. While I knew she'd be down here for a few months over the winter (summer in the US), I didn't know when she'd be arriving last week. Much of her work will be based in Melbourne, and it was a complete fluke that we happened to arrive in Melbourne on the same day (Thursday).
This weekend was absolutely amazing, and I covered a lot of ground. From Friday to Sunday, I walked 56km (35 miles), covering an array of neighbourhoods throughout Melbourne. While I am by no means a Melbourne expert, I did visit back in 2012, so knew the lay-of-the-land well enough to offer my cousin a tour. We started off with a breakfast in St. Kilda, where we both happened to be staying, and then wandered up to the CBD via the city's impressive Shrine of Remembrance.
 |
| The Shrine of Remembrance. |
In the City, we popped into Flinders Street Station (a nice old train station), before catching a tram partway around the city circle. While most cities globally removed their tram networks in the mid-1900s, Melbourne retained the trams and has 100s of miles of lines criss-crossing the city. After a quick ride around, we jumped off and walked around the CBD, stopping into Federation Square, Melbourne Central, the State Library of Victoria.
 |
| The central reading room at the State Library, modeled after the Library of Congress. |
From the CBD, we walked north toward the fun, hipster suburb of Fitzroy, passing through the sprawling Queen Victoria Markets along the way. Once on the main drag of Brunswick Street, we wandered for a bit before finding some Vietnamese for lunch. Before parting ways, we hit the rooftop of a popular bar I had visited six years ago—Naked for Satan—and soaked in the skyline views. We caught a tram back to the city, where she headed home via train and I walked back north to catch up with a friend who is a professor at the University of Melbourne.
 |
| The view from Naked for Satan. |
After a tour around the Uni and the architecture school, we headed out to the main commercial strip outside the campus and caught up over a glass of wine. It had been a few years since we hung out—back in 2014, we had done a road trip through Tasmania—so there was a lot to catch up on!
 |
| The architecture school at Melbourne Uni incorporates the facade of a building which stood in the CBD. |
As the evening wore on, my friends Alex and Jas (you may remember them from a few weeks back) joined us for dinner. It was a great day, and all in I covered more than 30km (18.5 miles) on foot.
Saturday involved less walking, but provided for no decrease in ground covered. In the morning, Alex, Jas, and I walked over to a bakery near their place, where we enjoyed the unlimited toast breakfast. As wonderful as it sounds, the morning involved a table-top toaster and a steady stream of a range of the bakery's breads, smothered in jams and butters.
After the carb loading, we loaded up and drove out along the Yarra River to the suburb of Hawthorn. Our mission: the Melbourne Tram Museum. Only open twice a month, the museum is a former depot that houses two dozen old trams, dating back to the late 1800s. I did not plan the trip to coincide with the day it was open, but it was a happy accident; and Alex and Jas seemed to enjoy themselves, even though I was clearly the nerd who really wanted to go!
 |
| One of the many trams we got to explore. |
From the tram museum, we drove down to the sprawling South Melbourne Markets, where we explored a ton of stalls, ate some delicious oysters, and then grabbed a few snacks for a picnic. The afternoon was too nice to spend inside, so we headed back to St. Kilda with our purchases, grabbed 'The Dude' (their dog), and headed to a park nearby to while away an hour.
 |
| Hanging out in the park. |
Once we were done in the park, we took The Dude on a doggy play date at one of their friend's places, while the humans walked over to a pub. Finally, we parted ways and dropped The Dude at home before my cousin joined us and we all headed up to a suburb next to Fitzroy, Collingwood, where we had dinner at an amazing Mexican restaurant: Hotel Jesus.
We called it an evening early, trekking back down to St. Kilda by 9:00, where we watched some tv and headed to bed early, wiped from the day's activities.
Sunday morning, we all slept in, and then caught a tram into the CBD to find brunch. Alex had an event in the afternoon that she was speaking at, so I met up with Stuart and we took a tram out to Collingwood to spend the afternoon. He took me by a building that has three subway cars (yes, real trains) on the roof, and we had lunch there, before walking to Abbotsford, the next suburb over.
 |
| Quite the unique building. |
The main draw of Abbotsford (and likely the name's origin) is a sprawling former Convent along the banks of the Yarra River. The complex was packed with people enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, and it was a pleasant place to wander around for an hour.
 |
| One of the buildings at the former convent. |
From the convent, we walked along the river for a bit before wandering up through Collingwood to Fitzroy, where we enjoyed an afternoon coffee (a very Melbourne thing to do). I then headed back down to St. Kilda via tram to meet up with Alex and Jas.
We loaded up in the car and made the trip out to the airport so Jas could fly home to Brisbane. To me, Melbourne is a far more car-oriented city than Sydney (especially out in the far suburbs), but they have done some interesting things with the motorways, including massive art installations.
 |
| A massive art and light installation spanning the motorway between the city and the airport. |
Once back in St. Kilda, Alex and I walked down to an amazing Japanese restaurant for dinner, before calling it another early night.
This morning, Alex headed to work at the University, and I caught a tram into the city to post up at a coffee shop and get some work done. My cousin joined me a bit ago, and we are now both knocking out some things before we go to meet her brother (who happens to go to school here) for lunch in the CBD. Then I plan to get some more work done and head to the airport to fly back to Sydney.
 |
| My morning tea. |
But, before I go, an explanation of the title of this post...
Melbourne has a fairly unique road rule, especially found in the CBD, called the "hook turn." While it is not unheard of elsewhere, its prevalence here is definitely noteworthy and an oddity for visitors. The concept stems from the fact that most major roads here have a "fairway" in the centre, where the trams run. In order to not block tram movement, those who wish to turn right (remember, that is like a left turn in the States as Australians drive on the opposite side of the road), must use the far left lane; the same lane people turning left use. To complete a right turn, the driver pulls forward into the intersection, in front of the traffic waiting to cross perpendicularly, and waits for the light to turn red. Once the intersection is clear of cross traffic, those waiting to turn then complete the leg of the turn, crossing the tram tracks, in advance of the cross traffic moving.
 |
| The shared left and right turn lanes, to the left of the through lane and fairway. |
I did a bad job of explaining it, and it makes a lot of sense given the tram lines, but it is a pretty interesting concept... If you want to actually understand, it is probably best to Google it.
Now, time for a bit more work before we grab lunch at the restaurant that holds the distinction of being the least expensive Michelin star restaurant in the world. All in, this was an absolutely amazing weekend with friends, and I am so glad I got to spend a lot of quality cousin time exploring the city. As luck would have it, I believe Jason (my brother) will be in Sydney when Sarit is in town, so we will all get to reconnect!
I know I didn't update y'all from my pre-Melbourne departure last week, so I will fire off a separate blog post later about what I got up to in Sydney.
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