28 Jun 2023

• Checked into Jetstar flight
• Through Security and watched the planes for a while
  Walked through the terminal, got boost juice and coffee
  Boarded and flew to Melbourne - all on time and smooth
• Had a few challenges sorting out accommodation key access (fortunately, I noticed the key pickup location had changed from prior advice; however portal crashed and didn't provide access instructions, I had to call, and they also had the same problem - however, were eventually able to send us manually the details).
• Caught Taxi (it was raining and through better than using Sky Bus and walking - however, this would have worked fine as it was mostly undercover & hardly rained in the end…).
• Picked up the key and went to the accommodation.
• After getting settled in, we went for a walk down to the Yarra, then along the banks to "the Rink Rising". Had fire pits, some food trucks & also a skating rink, but there was a huge cue so we didn't bother with the skating.
• Mate had a crepe & I got coffee, then walked back towards the accommodation, catching a tram for the last part, and had dinner at Royal Stacks - had great burgers - and had Mr Bean on the TV, which Ethan enjoyed.
• Walked down to Krispy Kreme for some dessert.
• Then back to the accommodation, we played cards. Then off to bed

29 Jun 2023

• Up at 8:30 am and after getting ready, walked to Woolies Meto to pick up some breakfast (fruit & Nutri-grain) - back to the accommodation for Breakfast (after spotting some street art).
• Headed out on our street art Melbourne city walk - not before stopping for coffee / hot chocolate.
• Made our way to Queen Victoria Markets (QVM), stopping at some street art on the way,
• Wandered through QVM and found some food trucks - Tried some chicken Momos (Nepalese) - which were tasty and fresh.
• Booked into Sky Deck
• Kept making our way through the markets and found Mate and Sausage and Bun - which was amazing!
• Made our way past more street art & lane-ways on our way to Sky Deck - amazing how vibrant everything is - and a café every few meters! Little Nooks everywhere.
• Saw the last part of a street artist doing a flip over 4 volunteers.
• Made our way to Sky Deck; the first part of our booking was the Voyager Theatre, an 8K high-def headset & "6-D sensations"; this included movement up/down and around + vibrations (to music, roller coaster, etc.), smells! It was very impressive, and very glad we did it. Provides a great tour of Melbourne and makes it feel like you are in a helicopter, flying over fields, on a rollercoaster, and in the action at the sports, etc.
• Then it was up to the top of the tower, made our way around, taking in the view.
• Then went out on the "edge", where you are in a glass box that is frosted, and slowly edges out of the building (playing lots of groaning and creaking sounds! Much to the concern of one of our fellow passengers) then suddenly goes transparent from floor to ceiling.
• Make for a good view - near the end makes a few groans, and the glass starts flashing transparent & frosted. Had photo's taken with the opportunity to purchase - as we went last for this, it turned out our photo was on the screen promoting purchase - we just took a photo of the screen…
• Headed back towards our accommodation, stopped to get a caricature drawn of us, and then at another street artist (magician), which was impressive.Then caught the train part of the way back to the accommodation - got a Slushi! Then walked to the accommodation
• Went out again for dinner to Guzman y Gomez - my first time & it was great & tasted fresh and somewhat healthy… (other than the chips & churros…).
• Went to Sothern Cross station and talked to the girls for a while (mummy and Makayla) in the indoor waiting room.
• Decided we would just jump on a random train and go somewhere… got off after about 5 stops, then jumped on another train & then, after a few stops, got off that one. Ended up in Caulfield - took a walk through the town - ended up at Maccas! Ethan had a Mc-Flurry (with all the trimmings).
• Then Ethan needed to work out how to get back to our accommodation - which he did (with limited help) - took a scenic walk through Monash UNI. Then caught the train back (although there was some "Police operation", so we needed to get off one train and on another…), and Ethan guided us back to the accommodation.
• Ended up doing 19,000 steps for the day.