"From Adelaide to Melbourne" a Melbourne Travel Page by Diceman_

It was my ambition to see the Grand Prix in Melbourne since watching last year's one (2003) on TV. I'm an F1 fan, and had been to every other mainland capital on family holidays at one time or another except for Melbourne. And as a virtual hermit, hanging around the same place really starts to drag...

After setting off at midday Saturday after dramas involving my spare tyre being locked in the bonnett (I have a mid-engined sports car), I arrived at the outskirts of Melbourne at nightfall. Coming in from Western Highway it looked very similar to the outskirts of Adelaide coming in from the north, except there was a lot more traffic volume. Big highways leading into the city centre were a new experience for me, the Western Gate elevated freeway took me right past the nighttime city, which looked like a metropolis in comparison to Adelaide. Paying to use a road was also a new experience, I had to turn off and get myself lost to avoid the citylink system, the street directory came in handy. Being in a completely unfamiliar urban environment on a Saturday night was a little intimidating, but my taxi-driver map reading skills came into play and I was able to find my way to the Oakliegh Hotel before closing time.

I thought Melbourne had a very similar feel to Adelaide, there would be very little adjustment for some from Adelaide to live in Melbourne, or vice versa. I confess to liking Melbourne a little more though, it was a place that seemed to be moving forward, was a "work in progress" and is a city that's regarded as important internationally, people forgot about Adelaide as soon as the aforementioned Grand Prix packed its bags. Given all the bad things people from Melbourne on TV say about Adelaide I should say that Melbourne was horrible and I didn't like it, but I'm not that sort of person.

After seeing the Grand Prix on Sunday, I stayed for an extra day . It was a public holiday, explaining the crowds of people along the Yarra River for the "Waterfest". I just thought that Melbourne was big enough that it could sustain a public event on a workday. I started the day by spending a few hours in Melbourne Museum. It had been overcast since I arrived in Melbourne but the sun finally came out around 1 o'clock, which left me with a good impression of Melbourne as I walked from where I parked my car past Rod Laver Arena, to Federation Square and then back via the southern bank of the river, and then for a drive through the Dandenong ranges.
On my way out of Melbourne to the Great Ocean Road the next day (Tuesday), I stopped off at the Queen Victoria market, a little underwhelming after all the good things I'd heard about it.

Overall I think Victoria is a good region and Melbourne is a good capital city. My aim is to move interstate at some point and I could easily see myself living there. Without seeing the other eastern capitals you could say that Melbourne has provisional pole.