Arriving in Melbourne - Langham Hotel, South Bank, and Queen Victoria Market

I flew from Sydney to Melbourne today for the Australian Open!  After checking into my hotel, I walked to the Queen Victoria Market.

While in Melbourne, I'm staying at the Langham Hotel, which is in the Southbank area, close to the botanic gardens, 1 block from the tram, 1 block from the Yarra River, and next to the trendy Southgate shopping and dining area.  

The Langham was named the best hotel in Australia and it is absolutely beautiful.  The location is perfect since there are so many things right outside the doors and I can walk to the tennis in 10 minutes.  The views of the city from this area are stunning.

The Queen Victoria Market is 1 mile from my hotel and holds a night market on Wednesdays during the summer.  There are TONS of international food stands, several stages with live music and all kinds of local art and vintage clothing booths.  The place was packed created a great atmosphere.  They are open during several other days during the week from 6am to 2pm and I can't wait to check it out then too!

Taronga Zoo Wildlife Experience

This giraffe has the best view ever!

Today I took the ferry out to Taronga Zoo, about 20 minutes on the boat from Sydney.  Taronga means "beautiful view" and that is the perfect description of this place.  The ferry ride over had magnificent views of the city and many points in the zoo overlook the city and harbour areas.  They have animals from all over the world, almost anything you can think of.  Penguins were there, too, so that puts it at the top of my list. :)

I booked the Wildlife Experience Tour about 2 weeks in advance and it was well worth it.  It fills up fast so if you're thinking of doing it, plan ahead.   In my group there were 7 people and one of the zookeepers took us around the zoo, let us get up close to the koalas and other animals (literally in the habitats with them), observe where they prepare meals for the animals, and go behind the scenes to feed some of them.  We focused a lot on marsupials and it was so interesting.  They are all sooo cute!!

The tour was so informative and special!  I learned so many interesting facts about the animals and the zookeeper was so enthusiastic about her job and really made the day memorable for everyone.  

Some of the pictures are below!

Feeding a mouse to this beautiful animal named Gussy!

Holding the smallest animal at the zoo.

In the koala habitat.

Me & the koalas.

Meal prep.

Private time with a Bindi. 

Spit Bridge to Manly Scenic Coastal Walk

On my last day in Sydney, after my behind the scenes tour of the zoo, I took the bus to Spit Bridge and walked from there to Manly.  This scenic walkway goes along the coast, past the northern beaches in the area, and through the Sydney Harbour National Park.  This is a bush walk for much of the beginning and then offers amazing views from above the city before taking you through residential and coastal areas.  

This walk is about 10km  and took me abou 3 hours to complete, stopping for pictures and to watch some of the beach goers.  It is much more secluded than the Bondi to Coogee walk that I did a few days ago; I only crossed 23 people on the path until I got to the Manly area.

It was not easy, but the scenery was definitely worth it.  I felt like I saw many different environments and was in a completely different place even though I was only a few miles north of Bondi and the southern beaches.  There were stairs down to many small coves and beaches, waterfalls, and beautiful rock formations.

At first, I was a little scared, paranoid I was going to come across some huge snake or spider or whatever creepy animals Australia is known for.  But, I overcame my fears pretty quickly when I saw the beauty of the area.

When I got to Manly, I treated myself to dinner and a drink before catching there ferry back to the city.  Only a 30 minute ride, it was a perfect way to end the evening. 

Check out the pictures to see the difference between the two beach areas. Both walks are a must do when you are in Sydney!

Blue Mountains Tour, Australia

Today I went on a full day tour to the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney.  I learned that they got their name because of something in the gum trees in the forests causes a blue haze over them.

We stopped at Featherdale Wildlife Park on the way and I was able to hand feed kangaroos, pet a koala, and see penguins up close and personal (my favorite)!  

After that, we headed to the Blue Mountains where we were able to see the waterfalls, the famous "3 Sisters" rock formations, ride a skyway, tram, and railway through the mountains, and finish with a walk through the rainforest.  We also stopped at cute little villages along the way for lunch and shopping for opals and aboriginal art.  

We ended the day with a quick stop at the Olympic Park and a river cruise back to the city.  There was a great tribute to all if the medal winners around the site of the Olympic torch. 

This was a small tour with only 14 people and 6 countries were represented.  It was a great time, I made some new friends, and met fellow tennis fans.  A beautiful day!

Check out the pics!

Feeding the kangaroos.

A Joey in the pouch!

Petting the koala.

Penguins!!

So scary....

Tasmanian Devil, Wombat, and Peacock.

In front of the Blue Mountains.

3 Sisters.

Waterfalls.

Blue Haze.

View from the skyway.

Rainforest.

Olympic Park Torch.

View of downtown from the river.

Harbor Bridge.

Opera house.