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Oh my god, it feels surreal. We're in our car driving through Melbourne. We are absolutely starving after coming in from the Great Ocean Road. So Ben just picked up very quick cheap Chinese from around the corner. What was it called? Fortune. What did you get? Spicy food. We actually haven't had a takeaway this whole trip. As we've been kind of roughing it on the Great Ocean Road for the last three nights in our true road trip style. We were like, "Okay, we've reached a city. We want to stay somewhere nice and civilized." And that we have done. We've just arrived at Bounce Melbourne, which is right in the middle of the CBD. We stayed in bounce host before and they are super plush.
We're so happy to be here. So, let me show you around our room and actually all around the whole host. I'm going to start with the highlight of this room which is the view and also just shows you how central we are in the city. Yep, that is a gorgeous view of Flender Street Station that we have from our massive window. If you don't know, this is Australia's oldest railway station. It opened in 1854 and as well as it being a cultural and architectural icon, it is also the symbolic heart of the city as nearly every tram and train route connects here. So, it's a pretty big deal and it's a pretty great thing to be right next to. Anyway, moving on. In our room, we have this gorgeous bed and I am so pleased to have this desk
where I can get some work done. We've even got a lovely little coffee station in here, too. And I love that the private rooms here all give you space and some hangers to hang some of your clothes and a fulllength mirror. It's really lovely to have a little on suite here as well with complimentary toiletries. We love to see it. They also have some private rooms here without the ensuite that have the same incredible view. And sometimes these are as cheap as $90 a night. Isn't that insane? Such good value for money. And if that's not enough space, they actually have larger size suites as well with sofa and lounge area. And the bounce dorm rooms are without a doubt the best in Australia.
This is where I would be if I was solo traveling. Every bed has not one but two universal plug sockets, a small shelf and a light at the head of the bed. Then at the tail of the bed, you have a large locker with another two plug sockets inside and two USB ports. You have a personal sliding drawer underneath the bed for your packing cubes. And last but not least, you have a blackout curtain. Mic drop. Just stunning. No notes. There are mixed dorms as well as female only dorms. And there are communal bathroom blocks on every floor as well as communal disabled bathrooms as well.
Something which really draws me to a hostel these days is when they have a co-working space. And here they have a co-working/scine room with bean bags. But they also have these work booths in the dining area, which are so good to have in host to have some quiet private space for phone calls or just for a bit of work. But more about that dining room. There's loads of space to relax in here. You've even got a pool table, plenty of pantry space and fridge space, and of course, a fully equipped kitchen. They even have ovens in this one, which is quite rare for a hostel. And guess what? You even have a view of Flint Street Station while you're washing your dishes. What a treat. The incredible
guys at Bounce have given me a discount code for you guys to use to get 5% off your stay when you book direct using my code bananas. And we all know you're probably going to forget that. And so, whatever you're using to plan or research your trip to Australia, whether a backpacking trip or a working holiday visa, make sure you write that discount code down so that when you are ready to book your accommodation in Melbourne, you remember that you've got this sweet deal. It's raining so much. I think that one of the best ways to find cheap eats is looking at what the specials are each day in particular places in town. So Ben found this spot called the public bar. Super central. Only a 5minute walk from our
host and they do a $25 steak and fries. Steak and fruits. Oh, we got some mushroom sauce as well. We did pay a little bit extra for that. This is absolutely stunning. And so $25 is like £12. And I feel like normally with these kind of deals, they will be with those minute steaks, like the really thin steaks. But this is a big fat juicy steak. You could decide how you wanted it cooked. So obviously medium rare. It's a 300 g O' Conor's porter house with garlic butter salad and fries. Usually $46 here for this dish. That's insane. But on Wednesdays, $25. It's good vibes in here as well.
It's kind of crazy the difference between Melbourne compared to where we've just been in Perth and even Adelaide. It's so much vibe here. There's like a proper night life evening scene which I feel like you don't massively see in Perth. Definitely not in the CBD at least. And Ben made the good point of saying that's because people actually live in the CBD here. Whereas in cities like Perth, everyone lives outside of the city. And so after the work day is finished, everyone just goes home and leaves. Whereas that's kind of when Melbourne really comes alive.
Now, as you may or may not know, Melbourne is very famous for its coffee. It's supposedly got some of the best coffee in the whole world. And so, over the next few days, we want to test out a few very highly rated coffee shops to get some really damn good coffee. Of course, the first coffee shop that Ben has picked, there is a 10erson line out the door. We're going to be here a long time. This is called Patricia's Coffee Roasters. Oh, here it is. Very nice. I want to get a photo of it as well. You have to Can I get a taste test? Yeah, you fit in here. Actually, I feel like the brightest person in Melbourne. Everyone dresses very dark here, especially at 8:00 a.m. on a weekday.
Very nice. We asked for the Nicaragua beans. Well, that's what she recommended to us at least. asked if she wanted if we wanted Nicaragua or Ethiopia on an interval run today. 10-minute warm up three times, 8 minute tempo pace like right now. Just kind of making random turns, but most of this is on the Yara River. Beautiful. Look at this. I'm not really the biggest fan of reformer. However, this class was only six credits on class pass and I was looking to kill some time because Ben needed the room for an interview which is exciting and so I was like hm what's close by on class pass and there was perform pilateses. So anyway, glad I went. Still not my favorite form of exercise, but that's okay. Got my run
done today. So, I did like my intense exercise. And now, honestly, I just need to get a little bit more work done at the hostel. For lunch, we've come to the Paramount food court in the Paramount Center. And there's a bunch of like Asian street food stands. And so, I went for a good old Panang beef curry from the Thai Street Kitchen. This was $18. Oh, very tasty. So, they said this one wasn't spicy, but it's definitely a bit spicy. It was a realization this year in Thailand that this was my favorite dish to get in Thailand or in Melbourne. Well, a rare occasion where we're getting dressed up.
Hi. Sorry. I just want to say it is not lost on me that our dressed up outfits are in fact exactly the same as our regular outfits. I literally just blow-dried my hair and this is actually a big wakeup call that it's time for me to buy some actual dressy outfits. Now, we're going to be in cities. Okay, thank you. Resume. We haven't been on a night out since like the start of this road trip. In fact, like since arriving in Australia, I haven't been on a night out at all. Uh, but tonight, Bounce and Bat Mania are putting on like a sunset boat party. So, we're going to go downstairs and we're going to go have pre-drinks in Wax, which is the underground bar of the hostel. And then we're going to go on a boat party.
We're coming back into the harbor now. How beautiful is MELBOURNE AT NIGHT. LOOK at all those reflections. That's amazing. I have had a few duties, but it's still amazing. We are just getting the tram back from Dockland's where we got off the boat back to Bounce. And I actually had no idea until right now that there is a whole free tram zone in the center of Melbourne. That's so cool. You can just get the tram for free. London could never do things like this. Like what the hell? Good morning. Feeling a little bit worse for wear this morning. But we're walking down Burke Street and
we are going to check out another coffee shop this morning. So, this one is called Pelrinis. I don't exactly know how Ben sourced the information for all these coffee shops that we're going to, but apparently they're some of the best in the city. So, I'm excited. And once again, I'm very colorfully dressed and feeling far too colorfully dressed for a weekday in Melbourne. Oh, okay. Apparently, Pelleinis is not the best. It's just one of the originals, which is why we are going to visit this morning. Oh, yeah. This place is old school. So cute.
Ben ordered what he asked was their best recommendation and it is the apples. Thoughts? Good. Ben is Austrian so well Austrian blood so he's very happy about this I'm still on the trend of having oats almost every single morning. I'll be honest though, in Australia, I haven't found oats that I like even a fraction as much as I liked the protein Quaker oats back in the UK, but these are Uncle Toby's and they're fine. I also tried the Muscle Chef protein oats as well. And whilst there was a lot of protein in there, I didn't like those at all. So, I'm still finding the right oat sachets that I like because I do find these sachets, especially when on the road, so handy as opposed to the big bag of
oats, which I do have as well. But, you know, when we're just here, there, and everywhere, the sachets are just so much easier. Express Lunch till 3:00 p.m. Are we on time? Oh, yes. It's 2 p.m. That's good. So, on the cheap eat finds for lunch today, we've come to the Hoff Brow House in Melbourne. Uh because they have an express lunch menu where you've got curry worst, bratworth, sausages, schnitle, all on the menu for under $20, which is pretty good. And I was quite torn between the chili cheese cransky and the curry worst. But in the end, I asked the waitress and she said definitely the curry worst every time.
So that's what I've gone for. This was $19. Oh, that's so good. It's so warming. It's so hearty. That's what I really wanted. Well, to be fair, I actually said to Ben that I wanted pasta for lunch, but he said, "Well, why don't we just make that in the hostel for dinner?" And I said, "Good idea." So, we're going to do that a bit later. Ben's upgraded his meal for an extra $6. He gets 300 ms of What kind of beer is it? German be doesn't matter which. Yeah. Top one. Full fair. Uh, top up Mikey money. So, to buy a Mikey card, which is like the Oyster card in Melbourne, uh, it costs $6 and then you do pay by credit card.
put how much you want on it. $10 and then you literally that's how you get it in these machines. We're just outside Flender Station. I did Google if we could use just like our normal contactless cards on the trams here where you know when you're outside of the free tram zone and it said no. It said that it's something that they are going to be implementing in 2026 but you do need a Mikey card. So um that's why we're getting them because we're just heading to St. Hilda to see the end of the scavenger hunt that Bounce have put on today. And I'm also going to need the Mikey car to go to Albert Park tomorrow morning for park run. So, we're in Roma St. Kilda, which is where the scavenger hunt ends. And all the teams are going to be coming in here
at the end of the day after getting all of the tasks done. And there are so many prizes that Phoebe has just run me through. We've got Puffing Billy that goes through the forest out in the Dandongs which is just outside of Melbourne. Three nights on Magnetic Island, Ely Beach, Brisbane, the Great Ocean Road, which you just did as well. Travel voucher with Brisbane. Bart tubs for our lovely bar. If I was a solo traveler right now, I would 100% have signed up to the scavenger hunt. It is such a good way to meet new people, get out in the city, do something new, explore, and just make friends to be honest. Because, you know, if you arrive in a new city for the first time and you've never met anyone, like what a
better way to make new friends as a backpacker. 130 points. Two team, every team that has won gets a bar tap to stand right here. YEAH. Even though we said we weren't going to go out last night, uh we got invited to a beautiful Greek restaurant after the scavenger hunt called the Golden Fleece. It was amazing and I had like five wines, but I have already committed to doing the park run this morning. So, I've been up at 6:30 and I'm heading on the tram now to Albert Park. And my training reading list says one.
Yeah, it says that my sleep quality last night was poor and that it was short. Even though I felt like I kind of got some sleep, so it's not going to be a PB park run today. But I'm looking forward to it. And the weather is beautiful. It's cold, but it's like a crisp blue clear day. I got a little coffee, a little takeaway one from Cafe Andyo on the Graves Street this morning and it was a very good one. I very much enjoyed that. I got a double scent small flatbite. And now I have arrived at Albert Park. Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful here. What an amazing spot for a park run on a sunny Saturday morning. This is one of the
reasons that I bloody love coming to do park front, you know, because like it forces me to get up and out of bed and come somewhere new, come somewhere nature and explore where I might not have explored. And on a day like this, Ben is still in bed because he is not a runner. But I am going to be meeting my friend Megan here, who's actually been doing a similar route to us, but a few days behind. Um, but she is going to be in Melbourne this morning. So, I need to go find her. She's in a camper van. So, let's see if she's managed to find a car parking here. Okay, start the run. All right, she's started.
Everyone else has started. We've started. Hello. I think there is almost 800 people here. Yeah, so far we are. Good job. Honestly, considering the circumstances, we're really happy with that. Our average pace was 641, but we were just chatting the whole way around, putting the wheel to right, and we did some really good negative splits. We started at like 7:20 or something, but that was when we were surrounded by so many people. And then we ended with a split under six minutes. Very, very happy with that. What was the actual time? Let me have a look. Actual time 33 minutes and 31 seconds. That's not awful. That's pretty good.
678. Woohoo. We've come to Chicky in Chinatown, and they've actually just opened this store. or it's not even on Google Maps yet, but the other one had 4.7 stars. So, gone for chicken kasu curry today for $1680. I'd say that's a pretty good cheapy. I've just come to the state library in the middle of Melbourne Central and it's gorgeous here. feels like a super iconic place to come. And I am getting some work done because I've had a revelation recently that libraries are such a good space to work. I had this revelation in one ball and here I am in another library in Melbourne. I got to say we were enjoying Melbourne so much that we've actually decided to stay another
week here. So, this isn't the last episode you are going to be seeing of us in Australia's coffee capital, but I hope you guys enjoyed this video and I will see you in the next one. Bye-bye.
