Hi all Aussies. My 20yr old daughter was accepted to study abroad and will be attending Victoria University in Melbourne from Feb 2016 to Nov 2016. She is from California, born and raised and is currently attending school in the San Francisco area.
While I'm proud as hell of her, I'm still worried about her. Can any of you local Melbourneites (correct term or did I just offend you? lol) put a dad's mind at ease?
Any do's and don'ts as well as any and all advice is welcomed, and very much appreciated. :thumbsup:
As no one has replied yet, I'll try put your mind at ease.
It's generally a pretty good city, like all places though it has it's good and bad areas, and your gut is a pretty good indicator of this. Melbourne is a large place, but not huge, 4-ish million people I think, but it sprawls a long way, so is physically pretty big.
VU has a few campuses around the city from memory, but all are pretty central (I'm pretty sure) and public transport should be good near them all.
While VU isn't an old and 'prestigious' institution, I know a few people have been there and have all really enjoyed their time there, and I assume learnt something too I'm sure she'll enjoy it
In terms of tourist things to do and see, I'm not much help, funny how we tend to ignore thing right under our nose. Eureka Tower is the tallest building in the city (I think it still is...) and has a viewing platform at the top, that would be worth a look on a clear day. A drive along The Great Ocean Road would be worthwhile too, it gets really touristy and busy on weekends, so maybe during semester break during the week would be the go.
If she gets time it would be worth visiting Sydney too, it's a bit larger than Melbourne, and host some of the country's most recognizable icons, the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. Both of which left me a bit 'shrugs shoulders' but I'm certainly in a minority on that one, probably something to do with being a restless 11 year old when I went. Plane tickets can be had cheap if you book ahead or it's a 9-10 hour drive. Or I would recommend going via the coast, and doing the drive in 3 days or so and stopping along the way at whatever look interesting.
We are generally a pretty friendly bunch too. Although like anywhere, you are likely to find an idiot or two if you pay enough attention!
The usual rules apply - take care around the nightclub precinct at night as drunken brawls are not uncommon. Drink spiking can be an issue from time to time in pubs and clubs.
Some of the parks and train stations need care exercised at night but it's not all that bad.
I have friends and relatives in Australia and visited Melbourne with my wife five years ago. The very first person I talked to ironically was a girl at the car rental that used to live a block away from my house; her sister still lives there. Each night as we ate in different restaurants, we kept meeting more Americans that immigrated there. They were eager to talk to us once they heard our accent. So she can expect to meet a lot of other people from the US there.
The public transportation system in Melbourne is awesome, very easy to figure out. I never used the rental car while in Melbourne, the trams take you just about everywhere. Had some friends from Sydney take the train to Melbourne; they refuse to drive in that city. Melbourne is the only place in Oz that allows hook turns. I finally pulled one off on my own on our last day there before heading up the GOR. I had read about hook turns, so I had some expectation, I have to admit it's a bit scary the first time you stop at an intersection and someone passes you from behind.
We did see a female busker on Swanston Street get harassed by a carload of yahoos who were immediately surrounded by a half dozen or so men who were walking by. They quickly sped off. Seems playing a human statue was morally offensive to them. This happened at night and that street is filled with people. The response was immediate.
I'm thinking the only thing you have to fear is your daughter may never want to go back. My cousin went to Australia on a whim when she was about 18-20 by herself, and got married, has lived there ever since.
No offense, but I've been to California, and I'll take Oz over Ca any day. We drove up the GOR to Adelaide, no worries. I did pick up one nasty habit over there, found out I'm one of the tiny few Americans that actually like Vegemite. After sharing some with my coworkers back home which sent half of them to the bathroom to puke, a few would like to send me back to Oz permanently
No worries, I can think of scarier college towns in the US than Melbourne. My only concern being over there was not knowing what a bad neighborhood looks like.
I'm thinking the only thing you have to fear is your daughter may never want to go back. My cousin went to Australia on a whim when she was about 18-20 by herself, and got married, has lived there ever since.
Wow..... Thanks for taking the time, this is exactly what I was looking for! I sent this to my daughter and she really appreciated it as well. So far, all of our interactions with the locals has been great.
We have already rented her apartment and like you said, there is a bus stop right in front of her building that will take her anywhere she needs to go.
My wife and I are flying down in June and we will definitely head over to Sydney. Thanks for all of your help, it is very much appreciated!
Yea, that drink spiking is something we've talked about for a while here too. Public transportation is totally foreign to her, so that will be one of her biggest learning curves the first few weeks, and thanks for the reminder about the stations!
Well, 5 months down, 5 to go! My daughter is having the time of her life in Australia. So far she's been to Sydney and Cairns - where she SCUBA dived the GBR.
I am only able to talk with her once, or maybe even twice (if I'm lucky) per week, but I can see so much growth in my kid. She turned 21 in June and has made a ton of new friends. She says "the people there are sooo laid back and nice" compared to SoCal.
Oh yea, she did go to class as she knocked down all A's and 1 B.
Well, to put a period on this thread, my daughter comes home in 5 weeks and she has had the time of her life...... She absolutely loves Australia and has said more than once that it has for ever changed her life.
This dad is so looking forward to the next 39 days....... but who's counting!
How did she go in Melbourne? Next time bring your bike MTB over, Victoria has some amazing trails.
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