Summary of My 9D8N Australia Melbourne & Sydney (2017) Travel Expenses & Travelogues

At last, I managed to complete another of my backlog travelogue - Australia (2017): Melbourne & Sydney.  I know it took me more than a year to blog about this but then, it's better late than nothing, right. 

MY TRAVEL EXPENSES

For this round, I began with sharing my travel expenses breakdown first. For your information, this is my favourite part to share. Once an accountant, always an accountant. I can conclude that almost everything within our budget; like I budget our stay for RM150 and below per night, food allocation RM100 per day but however, there's one thing for sure which it's hard for me to control is spending for shopping. I tend to buy more supplements and vitamins compare to my previous trips to Australia.

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	AU$	RM
Airfares KUL – Melbourne via AirAsia Sydney – KUL via AirAsia Add: Luggage Melbourne – Sydney via Jetstar Accommodation Arrow on Swanston (Melbourne) – 3 nights Carisbrook Cottage  – 1 night Lido Suites Hotel (Sydney) – 4 nights Melbourne Car Rental Apex Car Rental Fuel & parking Searoad Ferries Transportation Within City Taxi & Uber around Melbourne Myki Melbourne Taxi around Sydney Opal Card Sydney Admission Fees Puffing Billy Scenic World Featherdale Wildlife Park Koala Encounter Food & Beverages Melbourne Sydney Others Australia ETA Visa Optus Sim Card 3S - Souvenirs, supplements & snacks	- - - - - - - - - - 24.25 - 16.00 - 40.00 54.00 39.00 31.00 20.00 170.00 100.00 - 20.00 354.00	301 523 192 347 410 132 528 78 68 80 130 52 102 130 176 128 102 65 555 327 25 65 1,155
TOTAL (RM)		5,671

Exchange Rate:
AUD1 = RM3.26 as at September 2017

MY TRAVEL HAUL
As for the things I bought throughout my trip:


#1: Chocolates, biscuits, coffee, tea and more food


#2: Perfumes, supplements and vitamins

#3: Caps and tissue holder from Paddy's Market of Sydney and as for hoodie, it bought from Queen Victoria Market of Melbourne. 

#4: Sweater and body lotion from Big Q department store

SUMMARY OF MY TRAVELOGUE 

Day 1: 20th May 2017
Touched down Melbourne Tullmarine Airport and wandered around Melbourne city

Day 2: 21st May 2017
Puffing Billy

Day 3: 22nd May 2017
Road trip to Great Ocean Road

Day 4: 23rd May 2017
Continue to Mornington Peninsula

Day 5: 24th May 2017
Leaving Melbourne to Sydney 

Day 6: 25th May 2017
Blue Mountains - The Three Sisters & Scenic World

Day 7: 26th May 2017

• Sydney City Tour
• Vivid Sydney Festival

Day 8: 27th May 2017
Featherdale Wildlife Park

Day 9: 28th May 2017
Leaving Australia


Extra Post:

• Desserts & Cafes in Melbourne 

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2017 Australia: From Melbourne to Sydney & Places of Interest in Sydney

Day 1: Landed Melbourne and wandered around Melbourne CBD

Day 2: Riding on the Puffing Billy train 

Day 3: Road-tripping to Great Ocean Road

Day 4: Continue road trip to Mornington Peninsula and return to Melbourne CBD

As for the day 5, right after we had our breakfast in Naughty Boy Cafe, we went back to our apartment in order to pack and get ready to the airport. It's time to hit Sydney, again! Yes, again for the third time. They said the third time is the charm and I'm absolutely agreed on this. Why? I will share more on the next few blog post. 

FROM MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY 
Once again, we hired taxi straight to the airport from our apartment since each of us was carrying huge luggage with us. In case you are not pressed by time, you can consider to travel from Melbourne to Sydney via road by self-drive which takes about 8 to 9 hours, or even by train where the travelling time is around 12 hours. Due to limited of time, my friends and I can only opted to travel via plane. There are four airlines provide services from Melbourne to Sydney directly; Jetstar, Tigerair, Virgin Australia and Qantas. So far, I found Jetstar offers the cheaper deal and we got AU$97 for one way trip from Melbourne to Sydney, including 20kg of baggage allowance.

HOW TO GET TO SYDNEY CITY FROM AIRPORT
Sydney Airport is one of the airport that is super close to the city center. Situated around 9km south of the city centre in Southern Sydney, one can either travel via suburban train, local bus, shuttle bus or taxi. Previously I took airport train heading to Central Station that cost AU$12.60 per person, but considering this time around travelled with a group of four, I think it's best to take taxi straight to our hotel and our total fare cost us AU$63 by end of the trip. Divided into four, each of us roughly paid around AU$15.75 which is not that bad at all.

OUR STAY IN SYDNEY

We touched down Sydney Airport in early evening and from there, we took taxi to Lido Suites Kings Cross - the hotel we're staying throughout our visit in Sydney. It's a boutique hotel with a studio apartment-style which comes with kitchenette with microwave, glass wear and utensils. Location wise, it's short walking distance to Kings Cross station and surrounded by restaurants, bars, night clubs and supermarket. 

Date Stayed: 24th - 28th May 2017 (4 nights)

Room Rate: RM346 per night for a studio room without breakfast. But because I redeemed using points, so a room cost RM235 per night only. (Booked via Agoda)

Additional Info:
In case you are travelling with a tight budget, you can consider staying in Malaysia Hall Sydney - a Malaysian student's accommodation hall which owned by the Malaysian government but then, it's also open to those who are not students. Just that you need to check with them whether is there any vacant room on your travelling dates.

BEST PLACES OF INTEREST IN SYDNEY

Sydney is compact city and can be navigated around easily, with most places of interest within walkable distances from each other. It has been recognised as one of the world's most beautiful and liveable cities. That's explain why I never get bored even after my third visit to this state capital of New South Wales. Here are the few places of interest in Sydney which you should explore and experience if you are planning to go Sydney for the very first time. 

Put the right shoe on and get ready to explore Sydney!

1) Soaking up the sun in Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach is one of the most popular beach in Sydney where you can visit all year round, regardless whether it's during spring, summer, autumn or even winter. The main highlight of Bondi Beach is the Bondi Icebergs Pool tucked in beach's south side. Open to the public all year round, this pool has been a historical landmark of Bondi Beach for more than 100 years. You shouldn't miss this place when going here. 

It's funny where my friends and I were in fully covered - we wore long sleeves and long pants while the rest of the visitors were in their hot pants and sexy bikini instead.

How To Get To Bondi Beach:

From Central Station, take a suburban train on the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra line (stopping on Platform 24) bound for Bondi Junction and get off at Bondi Junction station. At Bondi Junction, find the bus signboard and wait at B stand of the connecting bus terminal and hop on the bus #333. After about 10 minutes ride, get off at Campbell Pde Nr Hall St (right in front of Noah's Backpacker) and the beach will be on your right side. 

2) Sydney Fish Market for fresh seafood galore

Frankly speaking, I don't into seafood but if I don't pay a visit to Sydney Fish Market, it's a sin to me. Sydney Fish Market is the largest market of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and the world's second largest seafood market in terms of variety outside of Japan. This is where you should head to if you are looking for the best seafood in Sydney. I went here twice for lunch break but of course, it's best to come early to get the freshest catch of the day. And also to beat the crowd especially after 10am onward. 

Donut or sushi? Well, it's a doshi - taste like a sushi but shaped in a donut style.

Unlike our own local market back in Malaysia, Sydney Fish Market is incredibly clean, dry and even equipped with plenty of tables and chairs for the visitors to sit down and enjoy the fresh and juicy seafood on spot. My friends and I ordered the ready cooked seafood platters to share. 

We ordered ready cooked seafood platter - comes with grilled scallops, oyster, BBQ baby octopus, king prawns, calamari rings and fries. We even added on cheese lobster which is a must try for seafood lovers. All these for AU$68 (approx. to RM222)

How To Get To Sydney Fish Market:

Light Rail Fish Market stop which is located across the road from the market.
General Opening Hours: 7am to 4.30pm

3) Dropping by Paddy's Market and Chinatown

Paddy's Market is one of my favourite spot to be in Sydney - simply because for souvenirs shopping. Shopping always plays a major part of my trips but I don't shop at factory outlet mall, I prefer to shop at the marketplace instead. In Paddy's Market, you can find an eclectic array of goods such as souvenirs, clothes and other stuffs. Here, the souvenirs items are much more cheaper than Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market. So now you know where to go if looking to buy lots of souvenirs for family and friends in Sydney. 

Located in front of Paddy's Market is the hustle and bustle of Sydney's Chinatown. It is a colourful mixture of Asian culture, cuisine and shopping. The area's distinctly oriental architecture, street lanterns and archways confirm it as a showpiece for Australian Chinese culture. On every Friday night, there is a night market operating from 4pm until 11pm.

How To Get To Paddy's Market & Sydney's Chinatown:

Both are an easy 15-minutes walk from Central Railway station. Or, you can take light rail service operates from Central to Haymarket.

4) Ferry ride for Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House

Sydney is also home to the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, two of the most iconic structures on the planet. There are many ways and places where you can view these two well-known landmarks but for me, I would recommend to take the ferry ride. The ferry trip is an ideal introduction to Sydney's harbourside. It's like hitting two birds using one stone - enjoy the ferry ride and at the same time, taking stunning and spectacular view of Harbour Bridge and and Sydney Opera House.  

Where To Catch The Ferry Ride:
You can catch the ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay or vice versa

5) Admiring the Historical Buildings & Architecture 

Sydney possesses a wide array of beautiful historical and old architectural style. It also has a large amount of Victorian buildings which are standing strong and still until today, such as Sydney Town Hall and the Queen Victoria Building. The Queen Victoria Building is one of the excellent example of British colonial influences on Australian architecture. 

Sydney Town Hall

6) Cafe Culture for Breakfast 

While Australia's cafe culture may have its roots in Melbourne, Sydney has truly taken up the joys of producing a good cup of coffee and mouthwatering pastries. Most of the cafes are independent and locally owned. Just like when we're in Melbourne, we never missed a single chance to pay visit at least one or two cafes for our morning breakfast. I came across two most-recommended cafes from the Instagram; which are Black Star Pastry in Newtown and Bourke Street Bakery in Surry Hills. 

The main signature of Black Star Pastry is Strawberry Watermelon cake. One slice cost AU$8 and for your information, it is one of the most Instragrammable cakes ever. 

One cake is never enough. Hence, we ordered another Raspberry Lychee cake.



There are three outlets in Sydney currently:
Black Star Pastry - Newtown
Newtown Station under the line of T2 Inner West & South Line
Opening Hours: 7am to 5pm daily

Black Star Pastry - Books Kinokuniya (CBD)
The Galeries Level 2, 500 George St, Sydney.
Opening Hours: 10am to 6.30pm (Mon to Wed, Fri & Sat), 10am to 7.30 (Thu) and 11am to 6pm (Sun)

Black Star Pastry - Roseberry 
C1 85-113 Dunning Ave, Rosebery, NWS 2018
Opening Hours: 8am to 3pm (Mon to Fri) and 8am to 4pm (Sat & Sun)

From humble beginning in Surry Hills, Bourke Street Bakery has grown to become one of Sydney's most iconic food destinations. When we stepped into this bakery shop, we're indeed having hard time of which pastries to choose from, cause each and every of them are equally mouthwatering and delicious. From refined bread to tarts, croissants, cookies, cakes and even sweet and savoury pastries, you will be spoilt for choice. Don't forget to pair with a nice and hot cup of coffee to start your beautiful day too. 

Bourke Street Bakery - Surry Hills
633 Bourke St, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia
Opening Hours: 7am to 6pm (Mon to Fri), 7am to 5pm (Sat & Sun)

7) Day Trip to Blue Mountains for The Three Sisters & Scenic World
 

Spare a day in Sydney to explore and experience Blue Mountains. This World Heritage listed wilderness area is located about two hours away from the west of Sydney, hence it is advisable to plan your journey well. Home to the Three Sisters rock formation, stop at Echo Point Lookout for the best and dramatic view over the deep valley through gouged out over millions of years.


The fun doesn't stop there. You can continue by taking the Scenic World's three thrilling rides; Scenic Skyway - the highest cable car in Australia, Scenic Railway - world's steepest passenger train and Scenic Cablecar - Australia's biggest cable car.  

Check out my post on Blue Mountains (Echo Point/Three Sisters & Scenic World).

How To Get To Blue Mountains:

From Central Station, take Cityrail Blue Mountain Line. Any train with the destinations "Lithgow", "Katoomba" or "Mount Victoria". Hop off at Katoomba Station. Catch local bus #686 from the bus stop in front of Carrington Hotel. The bus will stop at Echo Point/Three Sisters and Scenic World. 

GET AROUND SYDNEY USING OPAL CARD

Implemented in 2014, Sydney Opal card is a touch-and-go contactless card that you can preload with any value, very similar to our Malaysia's Touch 'n Go card. This card can be used on all modes of public transport including commuter rail, bus, light rail and ferry too. I'm not really sure how the fares are calculated but what I know there is a daily cap of AU$15 for each day, except for Sunday which the daily cap is AU$2.50. Therefore, try to grab this advantage by using Opal Card to visit Blue Mountains on Sunday cause the fares being charged are AU$2.50 only.

Guess what! Except for the cafe culture, I did and explore all the places of interest as mentioned above TWICE! I'm kidding not. This is because three of my friends visited Sydney for the very time and therefore, I indirectly became their tour guide to lead them the way.

So, anyone interested to hire me as your personal tour guide? 

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2017 Australia - Desserts & Cafes in Melbourne

You know what? A trip with a group of ladies is incomplete without having desserts and cafes hopping. When my girlfriends and I were in Melbourne for four days, we managed to visit at least two lifestyle cafes and even ended our day with desserts right after having satisfying dinner. There's always a room for desserts, like they said! 

Tsujiri 
146 Swanston St,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia

I know Tsujiri is available in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore but for three of us who stay in East Malaysia which is not available there, hence we're excited when we stumbled upon this on our first day upon reaching Melbourne.  For matcha lover like us, we're definitely love having this matcha-infused sweet treats. 

Aqua S

16 Red Cape Ln,

Melbourne VIC 3004,

Australia.

Calling all Insta-hungry travellers, this soft serve is specially created for Instagram purposes. With their signature sea salt soft serve on a black cone along with ready cloud wallpaper, I can say this is the prettiest and most Instagrammble dessert in Australia. As the sea salt flavour remains constant, they claim to add two to three new flavours every fortnight. What a brilliant idea! When we're there, rose and purple yam were served and I picked purple yam as my second choice. 

You can opt to serve either in the black cone or cup. As for the toppings, you can add your soft serve with sweet popcorn, grilled marshmallow, egg roll or even fairy floss. 

Hardware Societe
118 to 120 and 123 Hardware St,
Melbourne VIC 3000,
Australia
Opening Hours: 7.30am to 3pm


Kicked off our day before start our engine for road trip to Great Ocean Road. The reason why we chosen this cafe is because first, it is very close to our apartment. Second, because it opens quite early, as early as 7.30 in the morning, which is unlike the rest of the cafes around the town. Third, the most popular and recommended cafe on the net. Luckily we're early to reach here and got the table instantly without waiting cause after few minutes, the whole place was filled up.

We ordered two different baked eggs; this one is served with swiss brown mushrooms with creamed spinach. 

The other baked egg was choriso sausage with potato and toasted almonds.

Our verdict? Both baked eggs taste extremely delicious and we can't made up our mind which is the best. 

We even added warm croissants with french spreads. Total bill = AU$87.50 for four of us together with our coffees. What is breakfast without coffee? 

Hey, look who we saw outside the cafe. Hi there!

Naughty Boy Cafe
499-501 Lygon St,
Princess Hill VIC 3054,
Australia.

Before we left Melbourne for Sydney, my girlfriends and I had another last round of cafe hopping for breakfast. This cafe is quite distance away from the CBD, hence we took Uber to reach here. 

The main highlight of this cafe is their mega-milkshakes which they named as Instashakes. What can I say more? It's another Insta-worthy food again. 

We ordered quite a lot this time. Such as - Naughty Boy Breakfast.


Colourful and healthy Acai


Nutella french toast served with caramalised banana, strawberries and roasted hazelnuts.


Buttermilk waffles topped with marple foam, strawberries, pistachios and cream.

Looks like four of us are big eater somehow. We managed to finish everything. Our total bill = AU$111.30.

Do you know that Melbourne is one of the cities in the world offers the best coffee? So forget about Starbucks, forget about Coffee Bean too. Cause any coffees in Melbourne never got wrong. It's nearly impossible to find a bad cup of coffee in Melbourne.

Another thing I like to add on about Melbourne is that it's pretty easy and convenient to find any eateries that suit my taste buds. If you not into Western cuisines, fret not cause you can find all sorts of Asian food there; such as Japanese cuisines, Korean, Thai, Indonesia and even our own proud Papa Rich can be found there. To be honest, I can't stand with my everyday meal just bread and cheese only especially in Western countries. Totally cannot tahan lah!

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2017 Australia - Road Trip to Great Ocean Road & Mornington Peninsula

On the first day touched down in Melbourne Tullmarine Airport, we wandered around the city and visited places like Queen Victoria Market, State Library of Victoria, Flinders Street Railway Station and ended our night by admiring the graffiti art in Hosier Lane.

As for the second day, we took ride on Puffing Billy - the oldest stream train in Australia and one of the finest preserved steam railways in the world. It was my second time on this train ride and because I blogged about this before, there's no point for me to do it again. You can check out my old post on Puffing Billy, Australia's Favourite Stream Train (here).

Third day, we went breakfast at a cafe which I will blog soon and went back to Arrow on Swanston for check-out. We left our huge luggages and just carried our light and small backpacks. Why? Cause we're heading for road trip - that's the main highlight of my Australia trip. I always wanna do self-drive road trip around Australia cause it's one of my bucket list. Previously when I went Melbourne alone, I signed up local tour operator for Great Ocean Road and Mornington Peninsula trip but I don't feel the excitement and fun during the trip. 

Cut the story short and now let me share which car hire service we booked from. I ended up with Apex Car Rentals Australia mainly for one reason - cheap. In Melbourne, they have two branches; airport and city center along Spencer Street. We went the latter one to pick up our car by taking Uber from our apartment. Only those persons named as authorised drivers are allowed to drive - hence, it's best to remind your friends or family members to bring along passport and valid driving license if you need more than one driver. The minimum age for drivers is 21 years old. Unlike Japan, you don't have to apply International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive around Australia. 

Right after checking the car, start the engine and prepare ourselves for another road adventures!

#1: We rented Hyundai Elantra - compact and comfortable for the four of us. Bear in mind, we don't have huge luggages with us as we placed in the apartment we stayed earlier. 

#2: Australia, you never fail to amaze me.

#3: Beware of kangaroos. If saw this sign, it indicates there are colonies of Kangaroos within the area and therefore, it's best to reduce your driving speed. 

Our car rental came along with GPS. From Melbourne city center, we drove via M1 or Princess Highway A1 road. As for the tolls, we didn't come across any of them. Probably GPS helped us to escape from paying it, I guess so. So after drove for more than 4 hours with 2 rests, finally we arrived Great Ocean Road - it's still spectacular and magnificent to me, just like my first visit 6 years ago. 

#4: We stopped at four different spots (1 - Twelve Apostles, 2 - Gibson Steps, 3 - Loch Ard Gorge, 4 - London Arch) 

#5: Hello Great Ocean Road once again


#6: Look what we bumped into - wallaby

After enjoying and admiring the picturesque coastal journey for two hours, we then left for dinner time and guess what, we ended up with KFC. Really typical Malaysian lah us! 

#7: Guess this is the most comfort food for Malaysian

We settled down our night in Carisbrook Cottage Queenscliff which took about 2 hour and 30 minutes of drive from Great Ocean Road. It was kinda last minute decision to book this lodge because initially I decided to drive back to Melbourne city center but after taking into considerations of many factors, I think it's best to overnight somewhere nearby in between Great Ocean Road and Mornington Peninsula. 

#8


#9


#10: Breakfast provided by the host and my friends and I almost finished all of them.

Date Stayed: 22nd May 2017

Room Rate: AUD160 (approx. to RM528) for two bedroom cottage and it comes along with breakfast (Booked via Booking.com)

On the next day, we're heading to Mornington Peninsula. In order to get there from Queenscliff (a small town which we overnight before), we have to across Port Phillip Bay. The best part of staying in Carisbrook Cottage Queenscliff is that the harbour is just less than 10 minutes drive away. So near that we don't even bother to wake up so early at all. 

#11: Searoad Ferries - a must do attraction of the Victorian coastal travel experience, connecting the Great Ocean Road to the Mornington Peninsula and beyond to Phillip Island. 

Searoad Ferries depart every hour, from 7am to 6pm daily. If you want to know more about the latest timetable and fares, check out the website here. The 40 minute crossing is an ideal alternative to the 200km drive around the bay, on toll roads, freeways and in city traffic. There is a cafeteria within the ferry - so in case you are hungry, grab a quite bite. Probably because we're too early, there were not many people and there were plenty of seats for us to occupy. 

One of the reason why I returned to Mornington Peninsula because my friends would like to experience wine tasting.

#12: Chapmans Lookout Point - This is not part of our plan but no harm to stopby for photo capturing. 

#13: Tuck's Ridge - An ideal setting for wine and food.

We promised to return the car by 5.45pm and before we do so, we did stopby at Brighton Beach for bathing boxes as well as Shrine of Remembrance. But because we're too rush to return the car, we didn't manage to fuel up the petrol. At the end, we're being charged additional of AU$25 for our silly and clumsy mistakes. Despite this incident, I still enjoy the fun and excitement of self-drive road trip, especially when you have the best companion along with u. I can't wait to do another round again!

Additional Information of the Vehicle and Extras Breakdown:

In average, each of us paid AU$68 (approx. to RM222) including fuel and Searoad Ferries ride. This consider to be fairly affordable because if you sign up and join the local tour operator, it cost at least AU$250 for Great Ocean Road and Mornington Peninsula tour. You can check out my old posts here where I signed up for these both two tours when I went Melbourne alone 6 years ago.  

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