India Melbourne Connect And My Best Four Days

"Hussey,Hussey",Hussey smiles back and waves to the crowd.We were excited,the IPL Finals 2012 at Chennai Ground,was at full swing,and being at the front seats,me and my brother was at their vocal best.Shouting,Jumping.Dancing.Little did we know that we all in some ways share a Melbourne Connect.

The girls of "Chak De India" are completely in awe of the "Foreign" location so are we.The power girls are walking through Melbourne City Centre,the team is running through "Webb Bridge" in Practice Sessions and world cup matches are shot at State Netball Hockey Centre."My Dil Goes Hmm" when I see Preity Zinta dancing in her shoes at webb bridge in "Salaam Namaste",while both the actors dance to their best title track in the blue seas "Rye Beach in Mornington Peninsula" .They live near GOR.Who can forget Saif Ali Khan dancing in the musical town with street musician.Preity craves for chocolate ice cream in the middle of the night,and Saif takes her to crown casino.Chocolates and casino are a heady mix,I would love to experience.All the while,if you must be thinking,what's so great about Melbourne,haven't you seen it all in the movies,it's got everything,the best beaches,the best casinos,the best grounds and the best cultural and musical blend.And if you think I am being two poetic,Melbourne is one of the places which can truly make you one. 

So when we had this indiblogger contest on Melbourne,I was thrilled.Prizes,awesome. Vacation to the most livable city in the world,is just wow.Then I read the topic "what would you like to do in Melbourne?",its a tough contest. I haven’t been to Melbourne before,but would love to.I don't have anyone living in Melbourne  to have a little discussion on Melbourne.Based on my search on google,I came up with this article and my wish to do list.

Here's what I really wish to do in Melbourne:

What/Where/Who	I Wish To	What/Where/Who	I Wish To
Eat	Hot Meat Pie	Win	Casinos
Do	Great Ocean Road	Drink	Wine
Date	Shane Warne	Celebrate	Fed Square
Steal	Sovereign Hill ;)	Shop	Bourke Street
Ride	Melbourne Tram	Try	Hot Air Ballooning
Jump	Kangaroos	Swim	Dolphins
Parade	Penguins	Bring Back	Photos/Videos/Memories
Thank	Tourism Board	Share	Facebook/Blog

Melbourne is magical.There are 35,000 Indian students enriching Multi-cultural base and 60,000 Indians who visit Melbourne every year.Do you ever think of why? 

Watch the self made video which represents Melbourne-India Connect And My 4 days itinerary.Watch in full screen for better clarity :)




When we were young,we always had the letter K as Kangaroos in our alphabet books and we wonder where on earth do we find such cute creatures with a pouch in front.We grew up with balloons at our birthday parties,and never got a chance to ride one.The sands of Jaisalmer/Jaipur/Ranthambore in India have the hot air balloons,but the experience of hot air balloon over Melbourne is unparallel.Melbourne and India both share a passion for cricket.Melbourne & trams are a pair.The cultural capital of India,Kolkata was once famous for the city trams. Kolkata had organized Tram jatra in association with Melbourne to preserve the old trams running in their cities.Fed Square in Melbourne buzzes with cultural functions any time of the year.Fed Square reminds us of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai.When we celebrate Diwali,Durga Puja and Independence Day in India,Fed Square celebrates with us too.When we shop for our daily needs in the local market in India for fresh vegetables and stalls,Melbourne shops at the night market at Queen Victoria in summer and they have 35 stalls and an Indian one too.The aboriginals from Melbourne,don’t they look so similar to the dravidians in India?If you are a girl like me,who loves shopping,you might have heard of a brand called “FOREVER NEW” in India.Do you know its Melbourne too.Spas are the best for relaxation and what better than Mornington Peninsula,and if you are availing the ayurvedic spa there,you’d know a part of Kerala is all there.We jump and play casinos,and we know the nightlife and party are so similar to our very own Goa.The Dhabas at St.Kilda beach reminds us of our very own dhabas in Punjab.

Both Melbourne and India share the same Indian Ocean. Most kitchen cupboards contain a tin of curry powder and a box of Darjeeling tea.Ask the ladies there,we are so similar. In Melbourne they wear paisley ties,our men in India wear them too.When we pray we use incense,and do yoga as they do. Our past is victorian so are the counties.We speak queen's english.Melbourne is meeting point and so is Mumbai. We also celebrate Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in Mumbai. Did you know?Indian Film Festival was celebrated In Melbourne and A Guinness Book of Records was awarded Largest Bollywood Dance Class, On the banks of Yarra River.Did you know? A user-friendly Study Melbourne website was created in Hindi

in Hindi www.studymelbourne.vic.gov.au/hindi

We know nothing connects the youth more. The best of two is out there seems like we've got a great connect,yet to be explored.

/*The above information is more based out of Google search and a few on online interaction with ladies from Melbourne settled in india(curry powder,incense,tie).The video is self made and it took me a week to edit and shoot with my cam as I am no professional,but I guess it conveys the message.The music used in the video is royalty free.*/

With my 4 days itinerary I’ve tried to not only include what are so similar,but also enjoy what makes it so spectacular and altogether different.And what do I bring back?Beautiful memories in the form of photos and videos for my blog,and lots of small little gifts for near and dear ones.As the itinerary is based on my imagination,understanding and from the google searches,I cannot say it would be perfect,so the best is to leave it to the tourism board to decide how practical it would be.

MELBOURNE AND MY 4 DAYS ITINERARY

Day1:     Bangalore-Melbourne is a journey of 15 hours,even though I would be all happy and jumping with excitement on discovering a new place altogether,I know in some ways I would be part of the time change and the jet lag.So,I take my luggage,relax for as long as I can on day one and take it all slow.

Today we take the hot air balloon ride.The flight is for an hour and takes us through array of parks and gardens along with Eureka Tower, and iconic sporting venues like the MCG and Albert Park Racetrack. Federation square is one of the most popular visitor attractions in Melbourne.I would love to be part of any of the festivals.Next we visit the Federation Wharf where you can see the beautiful Yarra river.How can we miss the river that practically flows through Melbourne? As we are right next to the Yarra river and we take a short walk to Southbank, the Library, shopping, Ian Potter Centre, ACMI: Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Champions: Australian Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, SBS studio, National Design Centre and the Melbourne Visitor Centre.

A River cruise to the port town of Williamstown is a great way to see the sights of the Yarra River.So we go Williamstown and back.

As Flinders Steet Station is located near Fed Square and is a transport hub,we take a free tram ride to discover the city.In fact Melburnians love this place so much that they have made this a meeting place or as they say to "meet under the clocks" or "meet at the stairs.

Casinos sounds so huge,and so vegas!Having said that,I have never been to one,and thanks to all the James bond movies,Crown Casino sounds too cool to be ignored.Food halls, shops, obvious gambling, great clubs/bars,huge cannons which shoot massive fire balls into the sky are all the attractions of Crown Casino.

We end up our day at St Kilda,heard it's like California with those long beaches walk and palm trees.The best way to relax in the evening,do some shopping and have great food.Then we hit the prince of wales nightclub at St.Kilda,and dance to the tunes of music.If I am lucky,and if I go during the time of Christmas/New Year,I wouldn’t want to miss a concert in Melbourne.

Day2:     The Great Ocean Road is 160 miles of breathtaking scenery. The Great Ocean Road starts about an hours drive from Melbourne in the town of Torquay, and stretches along way down the coast to Geelong. On the way it takes in some stunning

Coastal scenery (12 Apostles,Bells Beach)

Some quaint seaside towns (Torquay, Lorne,Apollo Bay and Port Campbell)

Long deserted sandy beaches (Anglesea, Lorne)

Amazing wildlife at ToweHill Estate Game Reserve (Koalas, Parrots, Kangaroos)

Rainforest & Waterfalls(Otway rainforest)
Caves & Seals(Cape Bridgewater)
Fishing Village(Port Fairy)
Whale Watching(Warrnambool)
Canoe(Lake Elizabeth)
Arch(London Bridge)

I would absolutely love to experience the myriad of colours of the water, the weathered cliffs and rocks and the wildlife. If time permits,Eight-minute helicopter tours over the Twelve Apostles, is also on my list and so is the zipline over rainforest.

Day3:     Time for some penguin action.Philip island has always been synonymous with those cute little penguins. Koalas are also too sweet to pass by,so a visit to Maru Koala and Fauna Park, a wildlife park where I can mingle with kangaroos, emus, cockatoos, dingoes and wombats and eventually, a koala conservatory is all we need.

I've already started shopping for woollens to beat the cold at the Philip island,people say there are no shelters.While returning we visit the Philip Island Race track,local vineyard and The Gurdies Winery at Dandenongs and finally with beautiful memories of new found animals we go to sleep for another day of fun filled adventure.

Day4:    Today’s my last day.So It has to be special.I start my day snorkeling with dolphins at Sorrento, Mornington Peninsula.Ever since I had seen those beautiful multicoloured bath huts,along the beach at Mornington on the Melbourne tourism website,its on my mind.So we click some pictures with the hut at the backdrop of the calm sea,  then take an hour's ride with harley davidson tours of Melbourne.Then shop at victoria market for souvenir,visit the RAAF museum for old aircrafts and MCG for the cricket ground.

We,Indians are gold lovers.So I go to Sovereign hill for magical display of gold,and if time permits,would love to be part of the gold mine tours and other activities.We end our visit in Melbourne at the tallest skyscraper,Eureka Tower.Bye bye Melbourne.

Here are the list of top 50 things I would love to do in Melbourne if I ever get a chance to settle there ;)



/*The above information is based out of Google search.The video is self made.The photograph used above is inkified.The music used in the video is royalty free.*/

The imagination becomes a reality, when I get the most awaited call “You are selected”.I rub my eyes to believe what I heard.I pack my luggage to board the plane,still living in my most imagined itinerary.The crew smiles,and and says,welcome aboard, …it's your time to visit Melbourne NOW!


Your best guidebook and online mentor for Melbourne

www.visitmelbourne.com/in

Do not forget to check the Experience Melbourne and Explore Vistoria tab,and yes for sports,do not forget to check their videos.


/*The above article is for Indiblogger-Melbourne contest and can in no way be the guidebook for Melbourne or should no way be reproduced.*/