I learned so much in Melbourne I needed to divide it into two posts! It was truly an amazing trip.
“American BBQ” that TOTALLY NAILED IT.
Their craft beer scene is no joke.
Make sure to read “Exploring Melbourne: Part I” first!
- Don’t use the phrase “fat fingered it” unless you want to offend who you are talking to (don’t ask)
- Internet is at a premium there. Many hotels and free hotspot limit your data to hundreds of megabytes (!!!) with the option to buy GBs at a hefty rate (like cell phone companies do)
- It’s insanely easy to blow through your data cap down there
- Their currency is literally plastic and quite colorful.
- You can literally rinse beer off of a couple of notes
- Anything lower than $5 is coin based
- Inverse to the US= the less the value of the coin, the larger the coin is
- We went during a favorable exchange rate ($1 AUD = $0.74 USD)
- They don’t take kindly to public drunkenness of any kind
- An establishment can be fined $10,000 AUD + for not kicking a drunk person out
- Said drunk person could be fined $7,000 AUD + for refusing to leave
- Related: can we get these laws in the USA? I mean seriously…
- BAC limit for driving is .05 and they will (rightfully) throw the book at you
- Booze is not cheap down there
- Most beers we had were in the ballpark of $8-15 AUD
- Mixed drinks usually started at $12 AUD and went up from there
- Even PBR cost $8 AUD
- Related: PBR is in Australia. I’m so sorry about that mates
- Kangaroo tastes like slightly seasoned (a little bit gamey) steak
- Before you panic, it’s normal down there. Kangaroo is like deer (venison) to us
- American accents are exotic to them
- Which is, of course, the exact same way we view Australian accents here
- Also, apparently I have a thick “American” accent (whatever that means)
- “Hipster” style looks exactly the same over there as it does here
Hey Cleveland!
Their Farmer’s Market had literally everything you could think of. Including chickens for sale.
View from our hotel.
It was a blast and I truly enjoyed my time there. Can’t wait to go back!
Joe Sterne's Blog 
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