My partner and I got all packed and ready to leave the United States from Dulles Airport to Melbourne shortly after Christmas. It was right on time as it became significantly cooler at the end of December, and I could not wait to return to summer in the Southern Hemisphere. After a smooth, but long flight that included transits in Charlotte and Los Angeles, we made it to Melbourne. We lost two days as we flew west and crossed the international date line. Because it was shortly before New Year’s, Melbourne felt quiet and summerly relaxed. As we are not overly appalled by cities, we did not plan on any particular sightseeing. Instead, we wanted to get over jet lag, meet a colleague who lives and works in Melbourne, and first and foremost, prepare our hikes on the Great South West Walk and Great Ocean Walk.
Interestingly, Melbourne felt like a bigger version of Auckland: it had similar relaxed vibes, a similarly diverse crowd, and even the weather resembles Auckland as Melbourne is exposed to maritime weather and a cold southern front from time to time, too.
Melbourne is the capital of Victoria, the state in Australia’s southeast. With approx. five mio inhabitants, it is the second biggest city of the continent and therefore a major center of the country. Conveniently, our hotel was next to the Southern Cross Station, from where we will soon take a train toward the start of our first hike. For now, it was the perfect location to explore the city a bit. First, we visited my colleague in Brunswick, a hip and bustling neighbourhood close to the University of Melbourne. After several beers in two different bars, we had to call it a day – alcohol and jet lag are not the best combination. The next day we went out to the beach. Very quickly, I realised that was precisely the beach where I spent Christmas in 2017. It is always very exciting to go back to places where I’d thought I’d never return to. The following morning, I caught up with a friend I met over a year ago on a beach in Vanuatu who happened to be in Melbourne, too. As terrible as social media is, it has the power to keep people connected. And I love, obviously, to stay connected with amazing people worldwide.
But then it was eventually time to pack our backpacks, store our other luggage at my colleague’s place (thanks again!), and we took a regional train on January 2, 2025, towards Warnambol and by bus on to Portland, where we would start hiking the Great South West Walk.
