Melbourne - Day One.

For Christmas my beautiful boyfriend surprised me with an eight day trip to Melbourne, which included a sunset tour of The Twelve Apostles. On Christmas day he sat me down with my family and showed me a video he had made. I was so excited, he is honestly such a gem and I can't believe how lucky I am to have him. 

As our flight was scheduled to leave at 6 we had a ridiculously early wake up call to ensure we weren't going to miss it. Honestly once I was out of bed it wasn't so bad being up at 3:30am, however, actually forcing myself to not press snooze was an effort and a half, especially when I had to leave my sleeping baby behind.

We decided to share a suitcase which had a limit of 30kg which we thought would be impossible to fill, boy were we wrong. We ended up just being under the weight limit as we went to check in and in hindsight, I could have probably left a couple of outfits at home. As we were waiting for the flight I went to get my jumper and book out of my carry on luggage and was attacked by a spider who had been hiding in my bag. I screamed and threw my jumper, it was pretty embarrassing and way too early in the morning to deal with it.

I got this book for Christmas and was excited to start reading it. If you haven't read it and are looking for something new I highly recommend Malala's book. It was incredibly interesting to read about a way of life that is so drastically different to anything I have ever experienced before.

I decided to play around with the time-lapse feature on my phone as we were taking off and I absolutely love the result. I still watch it and just dream about booking my next adventure.

Boomerangs are life. 

We left Sydney that was in the middle of a humid heatwave and landed in Melbourne which was displaying typical Melbourne weather. Seriously during our first day there was a constant rotation between raining and windy to hot and steamy to full on torrential storming. We did not dress for this and ended up changing when we got to the hotel.

"We're all going on a summer holiday."

Nate had organised to stay at the Bayview Eden, which was about a 15 minute tram trip into the CBD. The hotel looked beautiful as we walked in. The foyer was so open and smelt great, as it was attached to a cafe/restaurant. The scattering of Christmas decorations that were still on display added a little more magic as we walked through the doors. Once we entered our room, which had a huge king sized bed, we changed so our outfit was more suitable to the weather and then went to explore the gym, spa and pool.

The view from our room.

 I had every intention to use the gym equipment during our stay but I was never able to find the time.
#brokennewyearsresolutions

The spa on the other hand was something we used essentially daily.

 The view from the gym.

We didn't really have much planed for our first day so we decided to just go and explore the CBD, find things to put on our to do list and exploit the sales that were still in every shop. We spent the most time in Melbourne Central and then looking at shops along Bourke Street. I wish I had more money to spend on shopping, there were so many beautiful things I wanted to buy but just couldn't justify spending my money on them knowing I had another eight days I had to use my limited money on. 

In saying that though, I did end up buying a couple of things on our shopping trip. I bought a beautiful wrap skirt from Zara and some fluffy slides and white sneakers from Ruby Shoes.

One of the things I adore about Melbourne is that down every alley way there is always a message of some sort painted on the wall. It's so amazing to see art every street you turn down.

I la la loved this place. Growing up I was a huge fan of Dr. Seuss and now as a teacher my love for his work just continues to increase. 

 One thing that was definitely on the Melbourne bucket list was to check out H&M. I had heard so much about the store itself and was keen to check out what they offered. Honestly I was a tad disappointed, I think all the hype that I'd read online and heard from friends built up my expectations to a level the store didn't quite reach in real life. In saying that, I think whoever is in charge of their visual merchandising has done a wonderful job.

 Hidden cafes and restaurants actually give me life.

 When you mess up the first rule of fight club.

We had dinner at the BearBrass which was a cute little bar/restaurant situated along the river. Both the food and the service was amazing! So much so, we actually went back again later during our stay. I would highly recommend dropping in if you ever found yourself in Melbourne, even if just for a drink.  

 I'm a Sydney girl through and through and would never be able to happily call Melbourne home, however, I can see why people are able to fall in love with this city and its promise of being able to reinvent yourself.

Don't mind me, just exploring Diagon Alley. 

7 more days in Melbourne. 

Melbourne Bucket list

- Road trip to the 12 Apostles.

- Visit the Dr. Seuss art store. 

- Go to Melbourne.
- Visit Melbourne Zoo.
- Visit Melbourne Aquarium.
- Visit the Art Gallery of Victoria.
- Bike ride around Melbourne CBD.
- Visit Brighton Beach.
- Explore Melbourne's lane ways.
- Go to the Queen Victoria Night Markets.

- See Denzel Curry. 

- See Modern Baseball.