My tag-along day trips out of Melbourne

Sis, BIL and little niece were in Melbourne earlier this month for a holidays, taking advantage of one of the two  4 days long weekend (Easter & Christmas). They were here for about 11 days. Most people asked, "Where are you taking them?" My answer was, "I didn't, they are bringing me around." Entirely true because sis planned the itinerary and they rented a car, I tagged along with their getaway. :P (*insert sheepish smile*)

Hehehe.. her original itinerary below.
04/04, Day 01 (Sat) - Touched down in Melbourne, rest and relax
05/04, Day 02 (Sun) - Rippon Lea House & Gardens, Phillip Island
06/04, Day 03 (Mon) - Sand Sculpture in Frankston, Mornington Peninsula, Arthurs Seat
07/04, Day 04 (Tue) - Melbourne CBD (Eureka Tower, Yarra River, St Kilda Beach, Botanical Garden - Free & Easy)
08/04 Day 05 (Wed) - Puffing Billy
09/04 Day 06 (Thu) - Great Ocean Road
10/04 Day 07 (Fri) - Great Ocean Road, return to Melbourne
11/04 Day 08 (Sat) - Yarra Valley
12/04 Day 09 (Sun) - St Kilda Beach, or any other CBD
13/04 Day 10 (Mon) - CBD
14/04 Day 11 (Tue) - CBD
15/04 Day 12 (Wed) - Fly out of Melbourne

Sis has very kindly asked if there were anywhere I wanted to go and she would arranged it for the weekend - so you can see I wanted to go to Phillip Island and Yarra Valley. I don't mind going to Mornington Peninsula as my previous trip there was only for hot spring and I was sick the last round sis came. She only had a quick visit to Mornington as well. However as plans do go wrong sometimes... we didn't pre-book our Phillip Island tickets and they were sold out! We forgo Mornington Peninsula and off to Phillip Island for round 2.

I am in money and holidays saving mode at the moment though sitting at home isn't much of money saving either (read: getting driving licence) and day trips helps to ease the itchy feet ;)


Side note: It has been raining and raining, excellent time to be a couch potato, eat some takeaway food and hibernate with a hot chocolate drink!

Licence to ...

If this is really part of my KPI at work, I would be rated "needs development". I can't even remember the reason but after a long 6 years in Australia, I suddenly decided to take up a driving licence here. I'm sure there's something not right in my head when I could've taken the driving test in NSW where there is no hook turns or trams, I didn't.

Australia is not very forgiving when you don't have a driving licence. It doubles as a identity card here, rather than like in Malaysia where IC rules all. Malaysian driving licence unfortunately is not one of the recognized licence where you could just convert. Yes, Malaysians are required to take a practical driving test to have a licence here. In short, start from scratch.

Driving licence in Australia is state governed, so staying in Victoria it is VicRoads. I don't recall the expense of getting a licence in Malaysia and I was sponsored by my father (thanks Dad!) but it certainly isn't cheap here. Also thanks to Little P and her uncle who was willing to loan me the house car and let me practise my measly parking skill.

Car learner permit knowledge test..................$ 38.90
New learner permit........................................$ 22.50
Hazard Perception Test..................................$ 33.70
Driving lessons (6 hours)................................$ 306.00
Car practical driving test.................................$ 57.70
Driving license test includes 90 mins lesson.....$ 190.00
10 years full license........................................$253.60
Total.............................................................$902.40

Passed in first attempt.....................................Priceless


Side note: Am hungry again... 

Ph(f)oto Friday: Central Park Broadway

After a very full-filling dinner with my ex-colleagues, I decided to walk back to the hotel from Broadway. It was a very wise decision, I really need to walk off some food...though the weather was a little humid. Then I walked passed this building and it look cool!

Oh - by the way, this building is Central Park in Broadway.


Side note: Passa un buon fine settimana! (Have a good weekend in Italian)