Melbourne Day 2: Trams, Markets & Detours

Day Two began with a simple plan: catch a tram, explore more of Melbourne and see where the day took us.

As it turned out, it took us through markets, beaches, shopping, pubs, games, some seriously good food — and another 12.5 kilometres on foot.

First stop: South Melbourne Market

We jumped aboard a tram and headed for South Melbourne Market, where sightseeing very quickly turned into eating.

Hot jam doughnuts. Spanakopita. Dim sims. Potato cakes.

Not necessarily the breakfast of champions, but absolutely the breakfast of an adventure.

Between bites, we wandered through the stalls and soaked up the atmosphere before deciding it was time to see another side of Melbourne.

Next tram: St Kilda

From the market we hopped back on a tram and headed to St Kilda.

We explored the suburb, made our way down to the beach and walked out along the pier with one particular mission in mind:

Find a penguin.

Melbourne had other ideas.

No penguin sighting this time — but that’s the thing about an adventure: you don’t always find what you’re looking for, and that’s rarely a reason to stop looking.

Shopping… or the pub?

Another tram ride brought us to DFO, where the group faced one of travelling’s great dilemmas.

Some went shopping.

Some went to the pub.

Both choices were respected.

The pub contingent discovered a hot maple pecan pie drink that was somewhere in the neighbourhood of a warm cider — unusual, unexpected and genuinely fantastic.

Exactly the sort of discovery that tends to happen when the itinerary leaves a little room for curiosity.

Then came the cheesesteaks

Next up: awesome Philly cheesesteaks for lunch.

With everyone suitably refuelled, we headed back into Melbourne’s CBD for a little competitive fun at Kingpin, followed by a quick pint at the Charles Dickens Inn.

Markets to St Kilda. Beach to shopping. Shopping to cheesesteaks. Cheesesteaks to Kingpin. Kingpin to an English pub.

There wasn’t exactly a theme to the day.

And that was probably the best part.

$10 dinner. Seriously.

We finished Day Two with what might have been the bargain of the Melbourne adventure so far.

A Malaysian restaurant where every one of our meals was just $10.

After a full day crossing Melbourne by tram and on foot, discovering a genuinely great meal for ten bucks felt like a win worth celebrating.

The Day Two scoreboard

18,294 steps.

More than 12.5 kilometres on foot.

Multiple trams.

One market.

One beach.

Zero penguins.

Plenty of food.

And another Melbourne day that turned out much better for not being over-planned.

Two days down. The adventure continues.

Day Two wasn’t about ticking off a list of Melbourne attractions.

It was about jumping on a tram, following an idea, trying something different and seeing what was waiting at the next stop.

That’s proving to be a pretty good way to experience Melbourne.

Day Two complete.

And we’re nowhere near finished yet.

The world is one big adventure — DARE to go there!®