REPOST, more details added.
Note: This trip report was quoted from my personal blog
Last December, I have had the chance to travel around Australia. The trip report has been dragged for too long and now I'm going to do a review of my flights.
First stop- Melbourne (Virginblue, flight 538)
Finally, the day came. I flew from Adelaide to Melbourne to meet my family for a trip there. Booked on Virginblue flight 538 on a Happy Hour deal for AUD$59/=.
Flight DJ538 was scheduled for push-back at 07:10 from gate 13
I did an online-check-in as I always hate queuing. After security check, I was at the gate well ahead of boarding. Boarding started at 30 min before flight. Very efficient boarding. The flight was ready by 07:00 for 07:10 pushed back from gate 13.
I was seated on the seat 7F, a window seat. The seat was quite ok. The flight was not full and the seat beside me was empty. The cabin cleanliness was ok, but the toilet was not quite clean. No in-flight entertainment was available on DJ flights. As it's a budget airline, meals have to be paid. The selection is quite limited. I had sandwiches and apple juice for my breakfast.
The flight landed at 08:35 local time at Melbourne at gate 7.
My breakfast onboard.
Overall, the meal serving was a little bit slow. The toilet cleanliness did not meet my expectation and the selection of meal was limited.
Melbourne Trip
The flight arrived at Terminal 3 at MEL, and I walked to Terminal 2 to meet my family there. Our airport transfer was ready and we started our tour.
We reached the city at around 10:00am and started our city tour. We were quite amazed with the public transport system here in MEL. According to the tour guide, Melbourne was the first city to use Tram in Australia. Everywhere in the city, you could see the tram lines. The free city circle provided free tour in the city. Onboard the City Circle, detailed information was provided at every stop to introduce what tourist attraction etc is located around the stop.
Victorian Market was another attraction we visited. Here, you could find a variety of vegetable/ fruits sold here. The price were quite reasonable. Souvenir could be found here as well.
The Melbourne City
We stayed at Batman Hill Hotel, located just opposite the Melbourne Railway/ Coach Terminal. The Crown Casino, Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre were in the walking distance. Federation Square was just few stop away by tram. Breakfast was provided every morning, however, the same dishes were served every morning.
The trip to Philips Island to watch the return of penguin from the ocean was the most exciting one for this trip. We reached Philips Island in the evening and reached the penguin centre just before sunset. We walked around the penguin centre and reached the beach just before sunset at 8:30pm (note that this was daylight savings time). Photo taking was strictly prohibited at the penguin centre. At approximately 8:45pm, the first group of penguins were sighted. And everybody became very excited. On our way back to the entrance, we could see the penguins just walked nearby!
The Sovereign Hill at Ballarat was another attraction we visited. Gold was discovered here in the 1850s. It is the largest inland city in the State of Victoria. Steeping into this area, we found ourselves walking in the town of late 19 century.
We were quite amazed with the view at The Twelve Apostles. Located at the Great Ocean Road, they are limestone that formed naturally. Due to the erosion, four has collapsed.
First stop- Melbourne (Virginblue, flight 538)
Finally, the day came. I flew from Adelaide to Melbourne to meet my family for a trip there. Booked on Virginblue flight 538 on a Happy Hour deal for AUD$59/=.
Flight DJ538 was scheduled for push-back at 07:10 from gate 13
I did an online-check-in as I always hate queuing. After security check, I was at the gate well ahead of boarding. Boarding started at 30 min before flight. Very efficient boarding. The flight was ready by 07:00 for 07:10 pushed back from gate 13.
I was seated on the seat 7F, a window seat. The seat was quite ok. The flight was not full and the seat beside me was empty. The cabin cleanliness was ok, but the toilet was not quite clean. No in-flight entertainment was available on DJ flights. As it's a budget airline, meals have to be paid. The selection is quite limited. I had sandwiches and apple juice for my breakfast.
The flight landed at 08:35 local time at Melbourne at gate 7.
My breakfast onboard.
Overall, the meal serving was a little bit slow. The toilet cleanliness did not meet my expectation and the selection of meal was limited.
Melbourne Trip
The flight arrived at Terminal 3 at MEL, and I walked to Terminal 2 to meet my family there. Our airport transfer was ready and we started our tour.
We reached the city at around 10:00am and started our city tour. We were quite amazed with the public transport system here in MEL. According to the tour guide, Melbourne was the first city to use Tram in Australia. Everywhere in the city, you could see the tram lines. The free city circle provided free tour in the city. Onboard the City Circle, detailed information was provided at every stop to introduce what tourist attraction etc is located around the stop.
Victorian Market was another attraction we visited. Here, you could find a variety of vegetable/ fruits sold here. The price were quite reasonable. Souvenir could be found here as well.
The Melbourne City
We stayed at Batman Hill Hotel, located just opposite the Melbourne Railway/ Coach Terminal. The Crown Casino, Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre were in the walking distance. Federation Square was just few stop away by tram. Breakfast was provided every morning, however, the same dishes were served every morning.
The trip to Philips Island to watch the return of penguin from the ocean was the most exciting one for this trip. We reached Philips Island in the evening and reached the penguin centre just before sunset. We walked around the penguin centre and reached the beach just before sunset at 8:30pm (note that this was daylight savings time). Photo taking was strictly prohibited at the penguin centre. At approximately 8:45pm, the first group of penguins were sighted. And everybody became very excited. On our way back to the entrance, we could see the penguins just walked nearby!
The Sovereign Hill at Ballarat was another attraction we visited. Gold was discovered here in the 1850s. It is the largest inland city in the State of Victoria. Steeping into this area, we found ourselves walking in the town of late 19 century.
We were quite amazed with the view at The Twelve Apostles. Located at the Great Ocean Road, they are limestone that formed naturally. Due to the erosion, four has collapsed.
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