Melbourne

This weekend I went to Melbourne with my mom and Christine. It was an hour south of Sydney by plane. We were there for 3 days but only 2 nights and we did SO much in that short period. When we got there and settled into our hotel we took a shuttle to St. Kilda, which is a nice bohemian area by the beach. I loved it there because it was a different feel than the other places I have been going. There was a sort of atmosphere and a younger crowd. We walked around for a while taking pictures of the beach and looking at the Botanical garden. Our second day in Melbourne we visited the Gaol jail. This jail had real prisoners and was running up until 1994. We went on a tour of the jail and got to see and read about the people that were there and where they had to stay. Then we got to be pretend "arrested" and given fake names and fake charges. We were treated just like the prisoners would have been treated but I assume way less harsh haha. It was a really cool experience. After that we ate at a cafe in Federation square and then walked around Melbourne until about 4 30. At that time we got picked up and drove almost 2 hours to see the Penguin Parade. The Penguin Parade is a famous attraction in Melbourne and in my opinion is a MUST if you visit. Once we got to the park we looked around at the gift shops where I bought a stuffed penguin whom I named Waddles. He is adorable! Then a big group of people gathered at the beach and waited for about an hour for it to get dark. This was around 830 pm. When the sky turns black, the smallest penguins in the world, called "little penguins" come out of the ocean and go to their burrows for the night to feed their babies. It was one of the coolest things I have seen. They come out in big groups and I got to watch the walk for a long time and at a very close view. We weren't allowed to take pictures because the cameras scare the penguins :-( I wish everyone else could see how darn cute these little guys were...Some are way fatter than the rest and those ones are the cutest! The penguin parade was my favorite part of the trip to Melbourne. On our last day we took a free tram around the city and went to the Victoria Street Market where there was a bunch of fruit stands and other trinkets. I felt like I needed more time in Melbourne to get the whole feel, but overall it was a great city and I would like to go back one day.