This continues on from part 1 and part 2 of my Melbourne by train adventure 2019! You can start here or read from the beginning.
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Day 3 in Melbourne
After accidentally staying up until midnight and forgetting about the daylight savings switch (losing another hour of sleep), we started the day later than planned. Meeting up with our friends at 11.30 am, we choose to checkout Brunetti that I was told was a must-visit in Melbourne. The cafe is huge it’s at least four times the size of most cafes in the area. The cafe is split up by stations. For example, the cakes are ordered at the front whereas savoury dishes are towards the back. I thought it was mostly sweet items so we ended up having cake for breakfast which I didn’t mind. I choose apple strudel. It wasn’t the best I’ve had but it was pretty good. The coffee wasn’t too bad either.
Our next destination was the train museum. It made sense to visit especially when we travelled to Melbourne by train. When we originally planned this part of the trip it was only going to take 25 minutes to get to the museum. Track work meant that we needed to change trains, making the journey take a little longer. Given this, we decided to continue our journey to Newport for a light lunch. We picked Williamstown Mussels, a local fish and chips shop. I shared calamari and chips with my friend whilst my partner had a chicken burger as he’s not a fan of fish. The calamari was soo tasty and not overcooked like it is in a lot of places.
As we were in the area we decided to walk around the beach area a little. Just on the edge before entering the beach we came across a very old drinking fountain that I decided to drink from. I’m not sure if this was a good idea but it didn’t seem to have any negative effects.
Continuing our way around we also discovered an old navy ship that you could explore. If we weren’t planning to visit the train museum we would have likely jumped on board. It was still cool to see it up close.
With the next train departing soon we headed back to the station towards the train museum.
Day 3 Train Museum
The museum was a short walk from the station no more than 5 minutes. Entry for adults was $10 each. The museum was quite a lot larger then I was expecting. Some of the carriages were only open at certain times so we got lucky with our arrival time as two had just opened up. It was fascinating hearing about some of the history. It was also a lot of fun climbing the carriages where we could.
This was also the first train museum where I had seen cranes attached to the carriage.
I think we spent at least an hour at the museum before heading back to the CBD in search of Mjolner, a Viking themed bar.
Mjolner has two sections to it. A restaurant upstairs and a bar downstairs. Just a warning this place is quite expensive but fun as a once-off. My friend ordered a cider in a horn! The drink looked epic. When your getting to the end try drinking from the side so an air pocket doesn’t form, causing it to spill everywhere. I ordered the Fog of War which arrived with sorbet and pop rocks. The pop rocks made this into such a fun drink. My partner also ordered a Fire that was quite strong tasting but delicious. This came with a piece of dark chocolate that brought out another level of flavour to the drink.
We also shared a small cheese platter. For the amount, you pay you don’t get a lot of cheese but the cheese was amazing. Overall it was a fantastic experience and I would consider going back.
Needing some more substantial food we headed to Vapinios. The food isn’t too bad and the prices are fairly average. It’s a good spot for a quick feed. The rest of the evening was spent chilling and eating more cheese. Because you can never have enough cheese!
Returning home – Melbourne by Train
To not feel rushed ahead of our journey home we woke at 6.30 am. Similar to when we journeyed from Sydney to Melboune by train we dropped off our bags and went off in search of breakfast. We came across Kinfolk a voluntary café run to raise funds for charities supporting social inclusion. The food was pretty good and the coffee wasn’t too bad either.
The journey during the day was nice in the sense you get to see the sights as you go by. Although I prefer the night journey as it gives the ability to do more during the day.
We started the morning out with some scones, jam and cream which was really tasty and a great treat. I spent a lot of the journey writing this post and doing a little reading.
I recommend that if you plan to use your phone to have a power pack handy so that you can recharge your phone as there are no charging points on board.
For this return journey, we also tried the hot meals. They were pretty tasty and not too badly priced.
Overall
Travelling to Melbourne by train was such a great experience. I would highly recommend doing the overnight trip in a sleeper carriage. While the train journey is significantly longer it does have many advantages. You arrive in Melbourne early in the morning leaving the whole day to explore and you don’t have to pay for an extra night of accommodation. You also don’t have to get from the airport to the CBD making it much quicker to start your adventure!
Have fun!
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