As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

Things to do in Melbourne (apart from PAX).

EmbraceThePingEmbraceThePing ひきこもりWhere the Crabbits and the Iz roam and the Jungle Queen rules the plainsRegistered User regular
edited November 2012 in PAX Australia
Is this the real Melbourne?

I'd like to hear from a few of you Melbournians as to what our backward Northern Hemisperical (sic) cousins might want to take time to have a look at whilst in the Great Southern Land.
I mean, I know we're all going to be at the PAX and stuff but if someone waned to take the opportunity to immerse themselves in a little bit of Oz while they're here, other than PAX/BAR/SLEEP rinse and repeat, where do they go? What do they see?

Please post up some interesting activities that visitors may like to see or do and maybe wont find in the brouchures and I'll try and keep this info updated.


In and Around Melbourne.

Catch a game of AFL football.
The chances are if you're in Melbourne when a game is on, you will hear the game. The crowds are large and vocal, the followers passionate and the noise of the game rolls around the streets like thunder. It's a game like no other and one you wont soon forget, from the non stop action on the field to the parochial but friendly supporters. It's a game with BALLS! The MCG is also worth the visit.

The Eureka skydeck is one place to be sure of seeing everything in Melbourne. Maybe even your breakfast (if you aren't good with heights).

Check out the Markets.
The Queen Victoria Markets were well worth the visit last time I was in Melbourne and there are many many more around the city, each with their own unique flair. Give the souvenir shops a miss and get something you'll really remember at these hubs of real Australian life.

If we can get some feed back on some of the other markets that would be great.
The South Melbourne Market
The Lost and Found Market
The Rose st. Craft Market
...and many many more.

A Litte Culture
The Old Melbourne Gaol.
The Melbourne Musuem. If you ever wondered why Phar Lap was considered a freak see the beast for yourself.
Australian Centre for the Moving Image.
The National Gallery of Victoria.

Animals Animals Animals!
The Melbourne Zoo.
The Werribee Open Plains Zoo.
The Phillip Island Nature Reserve (You'll never forget your first taste of Penguin ;) ).
The Melbourne Aquarium. Personally I'd rather eat them than watch them swim around. But to each their own.

Cafes and Bars
The Mana Bar looks likely to be ground zero in a citywide assault on the capitals booze reserves by the blow-ins. Make sure you stick your head in the door while you're here and say hi to the wonderfull people who lurk there.
Lygon st. in the suburb of Carlton is Melbournes little Italy with a cafe/restaurant strip that will fill any emptyness. Check out the link to see what I mean.
Brunswick st. in the suburb of Fitzroy is another gastronomic thoroughfare not to miss in the city that genuflects to food.
Cherry. Apparently a bar that also serves Rock and or Roll.

For the Nerdling in all of us.
Apparently Cydus is a cafe. That serves Lans. Thick and juicy Lans, or so I've heard.
Critical Hit is also a store which looks interesting. May be worth a visit.
Of Science and Swords seems to be a book store. Like word thingies, on paper. But for Nerdlings.
Also Minotaur. Probably easier to say what this store doesn't carry. Stuff!

Needfull Things.
Public transport in Melbourne is good but better when you don't have to fumble for change. That's where Myki comes in.

EmbraceThePing on
«1

Posts

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    It might be cool if someone could continue the PAX forum tradition of running a Magical Mystery Tour around Melbourne pre-PAX, visiting some of these spots.

  • AlpheonAlpheon Registered User regular
    I'm sure many people who haven't had the chance to go would love to check out the Mana Bar. I'd also be surprised if Mana Bar didn't do a special event over PAX weekend, seeing as Yug in involved in the running of both PAX Aus and Mana Bar. XD

  • DanacyrusDanacyrus Gaming Coffee Making Musician BrisbaneRegistered User regular
    I think Mana bar is going to get smashed....

  • AwkoAwko About to poison the waterhole.Registered User regular
    Mana Bar would likely have to implement a place holding system along the lines of what they did on the opening weekend.

    It's not like that area is short on cool bars though.

    We could hold a picnic/bbq in the Alexandra Gardens (weather permitting).

  • HearthjawHearthjaw Registered User regular
    Even better would be if they could set up a temp larger mana bar on the showground grounds.

    steamid: sewersider
  • DavieshDaviesh Registered User regular
    Don't forget the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, no idea what their visiting exhibit will be at that stage but their permanent 'Screen Worlds' gallery has some gaming goodness.

  • YugYug [ PAX Australia ] Content & Communications Manager AustraliaRegistered User regular
    Yeah, I'm trying to figure out the best way for Mana Bar to accomodate the influx of PAX :)

    Also, regarding PAX Aus, we're gonna work closely with Tourism Victoria to put together some discount group events that can be down around Melbourne. Like, say pre or post PAX for those that stick around, a list of things with times and discounts that a whole bunch o PAX peeps can go to together.

    Cool?

    That said, lets go nuts with suggestions - I'll look into them to see if we can get any PAX group discounts!

    I like drinking, I like gaming, so I created the Mana Bar
    paxaus_sig.gif
    Facebook.com/PAXAus
    Twitter.com/PAXAus

  • DanacyrusDanacyrus Gaming Coffee Making Musician BrisbaneRegistered User regular
    Hearthjaw wrote: »
    Even better would be if they could set up a temp larger mana bar on the showground grounds.


    This. Although You can just set it up in my hotel room if you'd like. I'm up for either or both :P

  • Lilli_possumLilli_possum Registered User new member
    I think acmi is definately pretty fun, werribee zoo/phillip island are good if you like animals, but beyond that i think melbournes strength are in it's people and culture, which you can kind of get by going anywhere. I'd recommend people plan dinner/lunch outings to st kilda/lygon st/brunswick st and just wander around and look at funky stuff.

  • philomglolphilomglol Melbourne, AUSRegistered User regular
    Everyone has to eat and drink, so I'd start a list of good (reasonably priced) eats in melbourne (obviously there's a tonne around Brunswick/Mana Bar) but the City isn't short on places (Mamasita, Chin Chin, Cookie).

    In the greater scheme of things, can't go past http://www.oldmelbournegaol.com.au/ for some straya culture.

    Love Pokemon? Coming to PAX Aus? Challenge the PAX Pokemon League!
  • AwkoAwko About to poison the waterhole.Registered User regular
    Coffee tour.

    Yarra Valley wineries.

    Buy all of the things at Swords & Science/Critical Hit & Minotaur.
    Chap Laps

  • skipgamerskipgamer Registered User regular
    edited October 2012
    The Eureka skydeck is a given, great way to see the city and the surrounding suburbs. The Melbourne Aquarium should be considered for those who want to see penguins, but don't have time to travel to Phillip island. ACDC lane / The Cherry bar http://cherrybar.com.au/ are definitely worth checking out...

    skipgamer on
  • AwkoAwko About to poison the waterhole.Registered User regular
    Cherry is always the best idea.

  • fieldafarfieldafar Registered User regular
    The local public transport ticketing system has a 'visitor's pass' available for AU$14, with AU$8 credit.
    I never bought one, but apparently it also has "Discounts at 15 attractions".

    http://www.myki.com.au/About-myki/myki-visitor-pack

    PAX AUS 2013!
  • AlpheonAlpheon Registered User regular
    Oh yeah, have fun with Myki. >_>

  • fieldafarfieldafar Registered User regular
    Alpheon wrote: »
    Oh yeah, have fun with Myki. >_>

    Ha! YMMV of course, I haven't had any problems with it. Yet.

    PAX AUS 2013!
  • JazzyJazzy Melbourne, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited October 2012
    Native proud Melbournian reporting in.

    Visit some other cities while you're in Aus. Sydney is a must with it's stately attractions. Cairns is lovely at that time of year for a nice warm holiday before or after PAX. (get to Cairns before the start of July as July 1 onwards is peak with much higher prices.) Best to fly between cities. Or organise your entry in one city and depart from another. Start looking at booking flights between now and Feb for cheapest rates. They'll go up after that.

    When in Melbourne see if you can organise a day or two down the south west coast for the Great Ocean Road (http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/img/weekends-away/great-ocean-road.jpg) down through to Port Fairy / Warrnambool. Spend a night in Apollo Bay or the like. There are tours as well I imagine. You can also go down to the east coast to the Phillip Island / Apollo Bay but I'm not sure if it's worth going there in the middle of winter.

    Gold fields / Sovereign Hill in Ballarat (1.5hr west of Melbourne) is apparently great for tourists but after several forced school excursions my view is probably somewhat tainted.

    Degraves Street (sometimes called Lane http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degraves_Street,_Melbourne ) and shopping around the great little inner CBD laneways is required. Try and go on a weekday.

    There are several fantastic theatre and arts precincts, have a look a month or two before leaving to see what you can find.

    The actual showgrounds area is pretty crap to be honest, middle of suburbia and not particularly exciting. I'd recommend staying in Docklands if you can find somewhere affordable. You can usually find bars or restaurants to adopt almost as your own. You can easily find whole apartments that a bunch of people could share in for a week. My church used to run a conference in the area and it was pretty good. Wherever you end up just try and get near a train station as it is very likely that PAX Aus will have it's own train and station up and running like they usually do for events at the showgrounds.

    Perhaps we could dress the train up like the Hogwarts one and rename one of the Southern Cross station lines whatever it was in the book. Or not.



    Jazzy on
    Moon Wizard.
  • OJayOJay Registered User new member
    Also watch out for them Drop Bears whilst your down here.. My mate just got slashed up by one the other week.

    Best to invest in some Bearoguard whist you're down under.

  • DanacyrusDanacyrus Gaming Coffee Making Musician BrisbaneRegistered User regular
    edited October 2012
    Dude, you're doing it wrong... Vegemite behind the ears, and make as much noise as you can with a big stick...

    Oh wait.. Is that for the hoop snakes?

    Danacyrus on
  • JazzyJazzy Melbourne, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    Hoop snakes are actually real, my grandfather took a pet one with him to fight the Japanese in Papua New Guinea.

    Moon Wizard.
  • DanacyrusDanacyrus Gaming Coffee Making Musician BrisbaneRegistered User regular
    edited October 2012
    I think I'm blonde.

    Danacyrus on
  • JaydenBJaydenB 2D & 3D Artist/Programmer/Co-Founder of Pathway Games Perth, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    I would recommend the Queens Victoria Markets as well. They have a really nice fresh-doughnut van there that is actually really good :D

    I make games an love doing it! Currently working on a 2D 3rd Person Stealth Game. And no that doesn't make sense, but it will when you see a preview ;)

    YouTube: http://youtube.com/AtomicMonkeyPro (I don't upload anything to do with my games here)
    Twitter: http://twitter.com/JaydenBev (Neither here, but I'm gonna start soon)
    Dev-Blog: *Currently in the works!*
  • skipgamerskipgamer Registered User regular
    JaydenB wrote: »
    I would recommend the Queens Victoria Markets as well. They have a really nice fresh-doughnut van there that is actually really good :D
    And Cydus is right across the road http://www.cydus.com.au/ best lan/net cafe in the cbd by far.

  • OJayOJay Registered User new member
    Jazzy wrote: »
    Hoop snakes are actually real, my grandfather took a pet one with him to fight the Japanese in Papua New Guinea.

    >Implying Drop Bears aren't real either...

    They're very real. And you should be scared..

  • zerochosenzerochosen WollongongRegistered User regular
    The greatest trick the drop bears pulled is convincing us that they don't exist.

    A webcomic by me: Enemy Agency
    http://www.enemy-agency.com
  • DanacyrusDanacyrus Gaming Coffee Making Musician BrisbaneRegistered User regular
    And they think I'm kidding about the Vegemite behind the ears =\ We'll see who the sucker is...

  • zerochosenzerochosen WollongongRegistered User regular
    I just pray to god the Americans take additional Drop Bear cover on their travel insurance...

    A webcomic by me: Enemy Agency
    http://www.enemy-agency.com
  • FatSoDaFatSoDa Professor Doctor AustraliaRegistered User regular
    Drop Bear deaths are needless and can be avoided... so sad when you think about it

    [E]nforcing it Like I stole it
    paxaus.gif

    PAX Aus Enforcer
  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    I fully support being funny, but remember that there will be people reading this thread that probably have no clue that's all a joke.

  • DanacyrusDanacyrus Gaming Coffee Making Musician BrisbaneRegistered User regular
    Putting a toast spread behind your ears didn't give it away?

  • FatSoDaFatSoDa Professor Doctor AustraliaRegistered User regular
    [E]nforcing it Like I stole it
    paxaus.gif

    PAX Aus Enforcer
  • zerochosenzerochosen WollongongRegistered User regular
    DISCLAIMER TO AMERICANS: Australians will tell you lies. We will also make fun of you, and each other constantly. Your reaction to this is a filtering process for us to work out if we can be mates with you :) That being said, drop bears are no joke.

    A webcomic by me: Enemy Agency
    http://www.enemy-agency.com
  • FatSoDaFatSoDa Professor Doctor AustraliaRegistered User regular
    srs face

    [E]nforcing it Like I stole it
    paxaus.gif

    PAX Aus Enforcer
  • DaCrawDaCraw Registered User regular
    edited November 2012
    Well, I had a long post typed out, but the forum (and noscript) decided to eat it, so I'll just post the summary.

    - Yarra Valley Wine Region. Up there with the Barossa Valley for best wine region in Australia. Picturesque landscapes and good wine to sample; how could you lose? About 1-1.5 hours east of Melbourne.

    _ Healesville Sanctuary. A very tourist-friendly zoo, focusing on native fauna. A good place to go if you want to hand feed a Grey Kangaroo. About an hour east of Melbourne, but easier to access by public transport than the Yarra Valley. (They also have a Wikipedia Page)

    - The Victorian Parliament House. Built during the Victorian gold rush, its decorations are beyond opulent. The upper house (Legislative Council) chamber is pretty much wall-to-wall gilt and elaborate carving. It may not be open, though, depending on when parliament is sitting and what other events are on at the time. Right in the CBD - opposite Parliament Station (oddly enough).

    - The Shrine of Remembrance . Not quite as extensive as the War Memorial in Canberra, it's still worth a visit - particularly if there is an exhibition on.

    - The Coffee. Not a specific place, but Melbourne is renowned for its coffee culture. Find a hole in the wall cafe and taste some of the best coffee of your life.

    DaCraw on
    ---
    Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
  • DaCrawDaCraw Registered User regular
    edited November 2012
    Double Post

    DaCraw on
    ---
    Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
  • DaCrawDaCraw Registered User regular
    edited November 2012
    Triple post

    DaCraw on
    ---
    Avatar is from www.xkcd.com
  • ninnanuamninnanuam Registered User regular
    I dont live in Melbourne but I go about three times a year usually for gigs or just a guys weekend. So when im there im usually drinking so my knowledge of melbourne consists of a series of venues and blurry bars.

    Take these recommendations with a grain of salt, Im no local, and also I like cocktails, specifically rum cocktails, im not one to order a pint, so your mileage mat vary at these establishments. listed in order of personal preference

    1, Golden Monkey, hardware lane. I always stop here when drinking in melbourne, good atmosphere and good drinks.

    2, 1806, Exhibition st. its a serviced cocktail bar, the drinks have been great every time i've gone.

    3, Luwow, Johnston St Fitzroy. now i'm mixed about putting this on here i've only been twice, once was a train wreck, but it was super busy, the other time was far better. Drinks are good but not up to the same standard as 1806 and golden monkey.

    An honorary mention goes to the croft institute, I had one of the best drinks of my life there. but that experience has never been repeated.

    There are many others worth going to but these are probably the only ones ill be making a point of stopping at during PAX.


  • ninnanuamninnanuam Registered User regular
    edited January 2013
    double post

    ninnanuam on
  • thegh0ststhegh0sts Sydney, NSWRegistered User regular
    if you like tv shows and movies i believe they shot a few in melbourne like ghost rider and the pacific but it's not like you're gonna notice specific areas...just good trivia stuff.

    Next PAX: PAX AUS 2017
    Previous PAXs: PAX Prime 2011, PAX AUS 2013
  • MrCliffMrCliff Registered User new member
    I'm from Melb, and I think one thing that hasn't been mentioned which i would find compulsory for all visitors to Melbourne is The Puffing Billy steam train!
    http://www.puffingbilly.com.au/ Is the website, it's fantastic fun - a great day and amazing journey thorugh the good looking Victorian mountains.

Sign In or Register to comment.