Melbourne Off the Beaten Path Tips by Kate-Me

In the past, Williamstown was almost a forgotten suburb - it was old and a bit run down, but in the last few years it's really been 'done up' and is now really worth a visit.

Besides these great views of the city from the other side of the bay (before you cross the Westgate Bridge into the city) there are nice parks right beside the docks, directly across the road there are trendy pubs and wine bars, cafes, coffee houses and interesting shops to tempt you into staying a while.

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If you've seen Sydney first before coming to Melbourne, you may think that they're alike in that the best things to see are found right in the heart of the city. Well, for Melbourne you'd be wrong. Many of good things are actually either out in the suburbs or almost right out of Melbourne itself, up in the hills.
Once you've exhausted the city atttractions, I'd recommend the Dandenong ranges. It's easiest to get there if you have a car, but otherwise you can catch the train to Ferntree Gully and beyond.
There are quaint little towns to be explored like Olinda and Emerald and you can take a ride on the picturesque Puffing Billy steam railway, a very popular attraction for the whole family.

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The Healesville Sanctuary is a bit less than an hour's drive through the city and out of Melbourne, into the area of the Yarra Valley (famous for its wineries)
If you're into wildlife, no visit to Melbourne, or indeed Victoria would be complete without a visit to this Sanctuary. It's definitely not like a zoo where everything is in cages. This is more like open walk through the bird aviaries, the lyrebird enclosures, some other animal enclosures to. There's also the reptile house (NOT a walk through, happily!) see the special darkened platypus enclosure in the reptile house, wander among kangaroos, emus, and much much more (see Travelogue, Healesville pages)

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Very pretty beaches and crystal clear green/blue waters.
A snorkelling interpretive trail under the pier at Rye.
From Sorrento you (and your car) can catch the ferry across Port Phillip Bay to Queenscliff (near Geelong) if you don't want to backtrack back to Melbourne.

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Affectionately known as 'the Prom', it is one of Melbourne's most popular getaway spots.
We last visited it a few years ago, just for a couple of days, so didn't get to see very much.
There are 450 sites (all unpowered) in the one camping area (everybody is camped en masse like a tent village at the busiest times - Xmas holidays and Easter)
Tidal river has a few self contained flats and lodges, but that's it. It's a very popular park, and the lack of development helps keep it pristine and unspoiled.

Wide variety of bird and animal life to be seen, and the rosella parrots are so tame that some will sit on your hand.

From the camping area, the main way to get around is to walk.
There are walks of varying length, with the longest being a trek of 4 days.
The short beach walks we did (especially Squeaky beach with its white white sand which squeaked underfoot) were most enjoyable.
Also, there are great views to be had by walking up Mt Oberon.

To get there: it's a 200 km drive from Melbourne via the South Gippsland Highway, turning south at Meeniyan and Fish Creek, or Foster. The journey takes about 3 hours.

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Still in the city, but a little out of the way, up near Parliament, is the beautiful Princess Theatre, which I only discovered recently.
So beautiful do I find it, it's a wonder I'd never come across it before...
The building is said to be partially of French design, and being such a Francophile myself, this is probably another reason why I love it so.

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Another view of the Princess Theatre.

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