23 hours was all it took for me to get from one end of the planet to the other. On my connecting flight between Denver and Los Angeles I encountered backpacker bound for Australia. He was heading to Sydney to live with a friend and work as a plumber. We spent the entire flight talking about our respective plans. It was such a delightful coincidence to encounter another backpacker bound for the same country as me, and it made me feel that I wasn’t alone in my endeavors.
It was well into the night by the time I arrived in Los Angeles, and it wasn’t long before I was on my plane bound for Australia. I watched the lights of the city far below as they were abruptly cut off by the black void that was the Pacific Ocean, and I realized that it would be a long time before I would see America again.
After fifteen restless hours of crossing the Pacific in a flying sardine can, I finally caught my first glimpse of Australia.
The trip through customs took a lot less time than expected. Before I knew it I was taking an Uber from the airport to my hostel on Flinders Street. I was only able to sleep a couple hours on my flight so by this point I was very exhausted, but I didn’t want to go to sleep just yet when I had a world to explore.
In order to orient myself to my new surroundings, I decided to start roaming the city and taking pictures of the sites. It only took a few hours in this city for me to fall in love with it. I’ve never been anywhere like Melbourne before. The architecture is very unique and there are new skyscrapers under construction all around me, rising high above old Victorian buildings. There are shops, restaurants, bars, and parks everywhere, almost seeming to be stacked up on one another. I could explore this city for ages and still find something new and exciting to look at.
Below are some photos from my first couple days in Melbourne. I hope they have captured well some of my initial impressions of this wonderful city.
Flinders Street train station
Vagrant Bucket 