Melbourne (Day 72): South Melbourne Market & Botanical Gardens

May 11, 2016

This morning we woke up and got ready to meet Chloe and Alex for lunch at the South Melbourne Market. We’re staying in North Melbourne so the tram ride to get to the market would took around 40 minutes. We went through downtown (CBD), went over the bridge south of the river, and got off on York Street. We got there about 10 minutes late and saw Chloe and Alex waiting for us outside the market.

As soon as we saw Chloe and Alex from the distance, Tim said we should have gotten them to be our models when we took pictures of the graffiti art around town. Their outfits would work a lot better with that background than our hoodies. They showed us around the South Melbourne Market and introduced us to the friends they made there (they don’t just seem like locals, they’re regulars). It was nice to see how friendly everyone was and that they met some really great people at the market.

The first place we went to visit was the coffee shop Alex used to work at and the tea shop across the ways called, Tea Drop. At both places, everyone was so happy to see the two of them (we felt special by association). Chloe treated us to a fizzy fruit tea that they have on tap at Tea Drop. It was really good and refreshing. Tim’s stomach wasn’t feeling too great so the fizziness was good for it.

Inside South Melbourne Market
Inside South Melbourne Market
At the Tea Drop
At the Tea Drop
Alex's old stomping grounds
Alex’s old stomping grounds

South Melbourne Market is a lot smaller than Queen Victoria Market, but it seemed like more of a neighbourhood market (a bit more like Granville Island). They had a variety of stores, speciality food shops, and a good looking food court. Chloe and Alex recommended a Vietnamese stall that was clearly a popular choice at the market. Tim had a regular beef pho and I had crispy pork with rice. Both dishes were $10 AUD, which was really reasonable (for Australian prices). Tim said his pho was good and I quite enjoyed my crispy pork (Tim would’ve too if his stomach could handle it).

Some cute shops
Some cute shops
The food court area of South Melbourne Market
The food court area of South Melbourne Market
Vietnamese stall
Vietnamese food stall
Our Vietnamese lunches with fizzy tea
Our Vietnamese lunches with fizzy tea. ($10 AUD = $9.50 CAD for each dish)

We walked around the market a bit more and grabbed some croissants from a French bakery that sold some pastries and a variety of croissants. I got an apricot danish ($6 AUD = $5.60 CAD) which was really good. We took our pastries and decided to walk to the Melbourne Botanical Gardens. Before getting to the gardens, we stopped by the Shrine of Remembrance.

Croissant Stand
Croissant Stand

The Shrine of Remembrance was built to remember all those who served in WWI, but now is used as a memorial of those who have served Australian in all wars. The building is nicely situated and has a view of Melbourne’s skyline from the balcony.

Shrine of Remembrance
Shrine of Remembrance
Cool ceiling
Cool ceiling
My creeper photo of our tour guides :)
My creeper photo of our tour guides 🙂
Nice view of Melbourne from the Shrine of Remembrance
Nice view of Melbourne from the Shrine of Remembrance
Chloe and I with a view of Melbourne's CBD
Chloe and I with a view of Melbourne’s CBD. It was windy so my scarf had a mind of its own

The Melbourne Botanical Gardens are quite large and the gardens are very quiet and peaceful. It was nice to walk around and observe all the different types of plants, trees, and birds. The birds here are all different from the ones back home. Their seagulls are a lot smaller and their crows don’t caw they make more of a “ughhh” noise.

Relaxing day in the gardens
Relaxing day in the gardens
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The gardens are full of really nice trees
Pond in the middle of the park
Pond in the middle of the park
Lots of cactus plants
Lots of cactus plants
Some weird pickle looking plant
Some weird pickle looking plant

After walking through the park for a bit we walked back into the central business district (CBD). We said bye to Chloe and Alex as they made their way home. We’ll probably see them when we’re back in the beginning of June before heading to SE Asia.

Walking back to the CBD
Walking back to the CBD
You can see the Ernst & Young building
You can see the Ernst & Young building (the farthest glass building to the right)

Tim and I walked around the CBD a bit more and got a quick snack at Sushi Hub. We had passed by this sushi place the other day and I thought it was interesting that Australians served their sushi uncut. You would think we wouldn’t want to eat sushi any more but I was intrigued and the prices were quite reasonable. We tried a roll and an inari. They were average and decent for the price.

Sushi Hub in Melbourne
Sushi Hub in Melbourne
I've never seen inari like this before
I’ve never seen inari like this before
Tim got an egg and egg roll ($2.90 AUD = $2.75 CAD) and I got a "lobster" filled unagi ($2 AUD = $1.90 CAD)
Tim got an eel and egg roll ($2.90 AUD = $2.75 CAD) and I got a “lobster” filled inari ($2 AUD = $1.90 CAD)

We took the tram back to Victoria Gardens and stopped by Coles for some groceries before heading back to the apartment. We still had some salad mix and 1.5 avocados left from the other day so we bought a couple items to supplement it for dinner. Apparently avocado mashed on bread is a popular menu item at restaurants here, so since we had extra avocados we bought some bread for that. We also bought some salami and snacks for our upcoming road trip.

We headed back to the apartment and I assembled our simple dinner. After dinner we booked two hotels for the next two nights along the Great Ocean Road. I’m looking forward to exploring more of Australia and Tim is excited to be able to drive. We’re both looking forward to getting to spend time with Jessica and Robin in Adelaide in a couple of days. We were on a travel booking spree as we booked our Cairns hotel and our Great Barrier Reef snorkel tour today too. I can’t wait to see the Great Barrier Reef before it all disappears.

avocado salad, avocado toast and salami
Avocado salad, avocado toast and salami

We’re going to wake up a bit earlier tomorrow and go to the coffee shop in this building for breakfast. We tried to go the other day but it closed at 4pm. Then Marcus will drive us to pick up our rental car and we’ll be on our way along the Great Ocean Road!

Steps today: 18,000