A friend asked me about places to visit around the Australian city of Melbourne. I spent a month and half cycling around Melbourne in Sept-Oct 2016. So, I jotted out a few suggestions of places I had visited and found interesting. Some of these are less known especially in Indian travel circuits. Here were my suggestions,

Atisha Buddhist Center:

Especially for people interested in Buddhism / Spiritual centers and such. This can be a great place. And for vegetarian Indians this place works because they have a cafe there which provides vegetarian/vegan food (though if you are going for a day visit, then it would be good to call and find out if they have prepared anything that day). They have a senior Buddhist monk who gives regular discourses and conducts meditation sessions – if it is Geshe Rabten, then he is from India and I was told can speak Hindi. I personally never went up and spoke to him, I tend to be socially weird at times.

Stay: They have decent rooms with heater facility. The rooms are shared typically with people of the same gender. Shared bathrooms. They also allow camping on their grounds at a lower cost.

Lovely library, temples, Buddhist shrines and monastery. Huge Stupa coming up nearby – the Stupa of Universal Compassion! And it was surrounded by the Aussie bush when I was there. If it is accessible, go for a walk.

Bendigo & Other small towns:

You would probably pass through Bendigo if you are heading to Atisha Buddhist center. It is worth a bit of stroll and look. All these small Australian towns have a certain charm to them. Another one called Maldon which is at a distance from Bendigo has some old mills, wooden railways and other ruins. Castlemaine had a very interesting garden and feel too. Geelong has an interesting beach town feel with art structures, public facilities and more. It would be good to stay in one or two such towns for a bit. Try out an interesting cafe (Australia is very vegan friendly). Go on a heritage walk – though for Indian people most things over there won’t feel like “heritage” cause it’s only a 100 or so years old. Unlike Indian heritage which is 1000s of years old. But it can be interesting to see the architecture and planning.

Stay: I would suggest an Airbnb where you stay with a local. So you can chat with them to get real local feel.

Gold Prospecting in Inglewoods:

Like the American Wild West, Australia is also a country where at one time, a lot of people ventured out into the wild and unique ecological landscape in search of rare stones, gold and other precious metals. Many made quite some money back in those days.

Remnants of that can be seen in towns like Inglewoods where prospectors still spend some time whenever they get a bit free from daily hubbub of life. And they find small bits and pieces of Gold or other precious material every now and then. Serious prospecting would take quite a while until you find the better spots where there is a chance of finding something and then actually finding something. But if you stayed in the Inglewoods Inn, for example, you can catch up with a few prospectors and hear their stories. If they are friendly you could try out their prospecting gear and give it a shot too.

Stay: Inglewoods Inn has friendly owners back when I was there. They allowed camping for a lower cost.

Great Ocean Road:

One of the top tourist attractions near Melbourne. And quite worth it. The sea views are stunning. You could self drive it or self cycle or bike it too. Another interesting way to experience the ecology is by going on a long hike from Torquay. A 40 km stretch has been developed and you can camp or stay in a hotel enroute.

I cycled this stretch and enjoyed it.

Would recommend heading onto some lonely beaches and exploring the rocks, stone structures and the various elements.

Stay: There are quite a few hostels, airbnbs, hotels and such on this stretch as it is a tourist attraction.

Note: the Great Ocean road tends to be a lot more expensive than usual Australia.

Explore the BUSH!

I had earlier published some pictures with the magic of the Aussie Bush. There is something different about it and a certain feel there. Would definitely recommend. While you could go for a walk in any of the national parks. It is also possible to simply find some wildish piece of land around small towns and explore those.

Atisha Buddhist center had a little Bush area back when I was there. Even when we stroll up to the monastery there, it’s a walk through the bush. Many bush walks possible from the Great Ocean Road. Inglewoods Inn also has a bush area at the back. Within and very near Melbourne there are many other wilderness walks that you could take up.

But definitely, explore a bit of the wild fauna and flora there. Seeing koala bears, llamas, kangaroos and other exotic wildlife is very much possible as you amble around in the Aussie countryside!

That’s all I got from my stay there.

You got any recommendations? Comment and add them for everyone to see 🙂