good times in Melbourne
the rest of Wednesday:
So we landed in the Avalon airport and had to take a $20 bus to our hostel, Hotel BakPak. Turns out the bus drops us off right at the hostel doorstep, which was sweet. We checked in and this place was so not as nice as the YHA. We went up to our room on this sketchy elevator that made strange noises. The hallway our room was down smelt rank! Not good. We were in a 6 bed dorm, we put our stuff down and then went to get subway. After subway we went down to the Roo Bar, which was soo ghetto. It was hilarious though. We didn't stay down there long before we went to bed.
Thursday:
We signed up for a free tour of 4 Melbourne beaches but because the weather was kinda lame we went on a tour of the city. It was awesome, we saw the city skyline from a big hill and stopped at this park where there were HUNDREDS of bats, it was so insane! We also stopped on a random street and had some lunch.
Friday:
So today we decided to see the Aussie open. We headed to federation square to check out tickets. It wqas $19 for a grounds pass valid all day. We bought that and headed over there. It was soo cool! We went to Rod Laver arena and wandered around, got some pictures of the court.
I will say, however, that the free tours they offer are great. That was a really good way of meeting other people at the hostel and to see parts of Melbourne that you would not normally see..ie going to the old Collingwood footy ground. It was great.
The hostel itself though is giant, which makes it not very personal at all and if it weren't for the tours it is VERY hard to meet people here. The bar has a funny smell to it..not sure how to describe it. There is free brekkie which is a bonus. I don't recall ever seeing the bathrooms being cleaned or the rooms the whole time we were there. The rooftop area is really cool, great views of Melbourne..I watched last years Australia Day fireworks from there.
The location is pretty good, its up near the Vic Markets so not right in the heart of the CBD but still walking distance to most things and there is a free tram that circles the city that I think is close to this place. Also, if you are coming from Avalon airport taking the Sunbus, it will drop you off right at the front door(the Franklin st stop) which was a great surprise for us when we went there.
All that being said, I had a great time here because of all the people I met on my city tour so I'd say its a decent place to stay.
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