Welcome back to Australia Week!* Now, I am lucky enough to have traveled around my home state quite a lot over the years, from camping trips to luxury get aways I have had a taste of it all. Obviously, I haven't been everywhere but I have been able to deduct my five favourite places to share with you all today.
Phillip Island
We go to Phillip Island quite a lot because it is our favourite camping spot and our friends also have a beach house down there. It is about an hour and a half away from Melbourne and you have to go over a giant bridge to get onto the actual island.
Two things to check out: Phillip Island is most widely known for the fairy penguins that live there so if you are going for the first time, the penguins are a must see. You go at night and watch all the penguins swimming to the shore and going into their burrows, it is quite a sight. Another place to check out is the Chocolate Factory which has an interactive exhibition sort of thing that tells you the history of chocolate and then some fun chocolate-y activities. This would be especially good if you have kids but I love it at my age too.
Mornington Peninsula
All of the other places I have mentioned are singular towns but this is a whole peninsula because I couldn't pick just one town. Every time we go down there we stay in a different town but they're all so close together that it doesn't really make any difference.
Two things to check out: Sorento is the swankiest area on the peninsula and therefore it is by far the best place to shop. A Saturday morning is not complete until you've gone for coffee and a shopping spree at Sorento. The other place I think would be worth going to is the ever famous hot springs. People are always raving about how great they are and if you're looking for a relaxing afternoon, there would be nowhere better.
Maldon
It is not the true Victorian experience unless one of the gold rush towns is included. There are plenty of options to choose from, with Ballarat being the most obvious, but Maldon is my personal favourite. It is a really small town with a lot of personality.
Two things to check out: You must have a look at the main street because it is so quaint. It is full of antique stores, cute stores to buy scarves and other beautiful things and a lolly store. Once you're done with that, it is important to see some kind of gold rush history. For this I would suggest you go to one of the mines in the area and have a tour. It is always an interesting and enlightening experience to go into a mine and imagine what it would have been like as a miner.
Dinner Plain
Moving from the beach to the gold rush to the alpine region, we're really doing a comprehensive tour of Victoria! Dinner Plain is a really fancy town that people stay in when they go skiing on Mt. Hotham. I have been lucky enough to go there twice with our friends, who used to rent a big house there every year for all the families. It is such a beautiful town, snow or no snow, because all of the houses match each other and it looks so rustic.
Two things to check out: I mean, skiing is the obvious choice. You can either go up to Mt. Hotham, which is only a few minutes away by car, for the proper runs or you can to tobogganing or cross country skiing around Dinner Plain itself. If it is not particularly snowy, there are some beautiful walks that you can take around the mountains. Just make sure you're physically up to it because phew did we struggle one time.
Euroa
This town is especially special for me because my Mum and her family actually come from there. There isn't many relatives left in town but it is still a very nice place to go and visit from time to time. Along with Maldon, Euroa is one of the most traditional Aussie country towns on this list so if you're looking for Australian culture, these are the places to go.
Two things to check out: Euroa's claim to fame is that Ned Kelly robbed their bank back in the day. It may not seem like much but they really have been milking it all these years, there is even a sign on the bank proudly stating that it was once robbed. The bank with this sign isn't even the one that Ned Kelly robbed but that doesn't seem to matter. A trip to the main street must be taken in order to see this famous bank as well as the other stores and cafes the town has to offer. The second place is a slight cheat because it is actually in the neighbouring town called Longwood, where my Nan comes from. Longwood is about as small as a town can get (they literally just closed down their post office because it didn't have enough customers) but it does have an awesome gem museum. There are these really nice people who run the museum and also sell all sorts of beautiful gem stones.
These are my five favourite places to travel to in Victoria! If you are looking to migrate to Australia please check out True Blue Migrations, they are a certified company who will aid you in getting a visa to this beautiful country. They have offices in both Melbourne and Perth to help you once you have made the brave decision to move! Please, if you are interested in this idea at all, get in touch with True Blue Migrations.
Lots of Love,
Shannon
Oh, I miss Australia, I had such a great time during my travels there.
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