This one's a little tricky. So certain things like the "Edge" and the cafe were closed so that's a…read morenegative, but on the upside they opened up hours early just for us (cruise line tour groups). The workers were very pleasant and were always smiling. What I hold against them though is the gift shop and the eye viewing things upstairs on the observation level. It's cool that they are fixed and label what you are looking at but they would have benefitted from them being more like a telescope with some zoom. The other thing I hold against them is that they don't accept American Express considering it's a major travel card.

The edge experience is terrifying. Seriously, do not do this unless you are ok with going out in a…read moreglass car away from the building and being able to see all the way down to the street. At first, you can't really see out as you drive away from the building as the car is tinted. Then, dramatic music plays and the entire glass car goes from black tint to where you can't see anything to where it is clear and you can see all around you. Every single person in there with me grabbed onto the railing as we all thought we were going to die. The actual skydeck is pretty sweet. There is an indoor area with a bar. There is also an outdoor area where you can go outside for pics, and then there is as I described above, the edge experience. I got lots of great pics. I recommend looking up when sunset is and coming 20 minutes before then. Then, you'll get to experience the skydeck at day and night for views.

This is sort of an end of the line station, though you sort of can go further, but that would…read morebasically be on a steam train that doesn't run all that often. Anyway, the station it self is quite charming, located in the centre of town, and even though it is one of those sixties style buildings, it is pretty accessible, and has decent facilities as well. Trains are reasonably regular, but being an end of the line station does indicate that they aren't as regular as some.

The end of the Belgrave line. If you are going to Puffing Billy go to the end of the platform and…read morefollow the painted line past the old falling apart carriage to get there. To return just retrace your steps. You can tap in and out at the end of the platform with your myki. This will save you walking up and around. Clean station with good facilities and is staffed. Good bus interchange to get where you need to go.

Doncaster Park and Ride is pretty damn awesome and it makes life easier for hundreds of people…read moreevery single day. It is basically a massive 400-car car park located next to a bus bay. It can be accessed via Doncaster Road and is just before (or after) the entrance to Eastlink freeway. The bus services that run here are: Route 207 - City - Donvale via Doncaster Road Route 280 - Manningham Loop via Tunstall Square SC, Shoppingtown Route 282 - Manningham Mover via Templestowe Village SC, Shoppingtown Route 284 - Doncaster Shoppingtown - Box Hill via Union Road Route 285 - Doncaster Shoppingtown - Camberwell via North Balwyn Route 309 - City - Donvale via Reynolds Road (Freeway Exp) Route 313 - City (Russell Street) - Doncaster Park + Ride via Eastern Freeway and Kilby Road Route 907 - City - Mitcham via Doncaster Road (SMARTBUS Service) Route 908 - City - The Pines via King Street (SMARTBUS Service) In the mornings this place is awesome because buses run almost every five minutes during peak hours. Smart buses are in operation here and screens at the bus stop display exactly how many minutes until the bus will arrive and depart. There is NO myki machine here so you will want to top up your card before you turn up. There are ticket machines though. If it is raining there is plenty of shelter to keep you dry. Perhaps the only bad thing about this place is that during the week the car park is often full by 7.30am and leaving at the end of the day can be painful when all the city workers arrive back at their cars at the same time. Otherwise though it is a super awesome idea and I am a big fan!

Although many believe this place should have a second level, Doncaster Park and Ride is so…read moreimportant for the scarce public transport options in the Manningham area. Having lived in Manningham the majority of my life, I hate explaining that there is no train stops near my house and a 15 minute drive to the station is around 30 minutes via bus. If you drive to Park and Ride for your morning commute to the city you can expect a 20 minute ride to Spring Street which is amazing for peak hour!

In a way this is a major suburban railway station, namely because it happens to be a stop for the…read moreV/Line trains as well as a number of the suburban trains (well, actually all of the suburban trains that head along this line). It is basically a fully serviced railway station, and quite accessible as well, though I'm not entirely sure if it actually sports restrooms (a lot of them don't, and when they do it happens to be locked). Still, trains are reasonably frequent along here.

Essendon Junction does not have a lot to offer, but it does provide a train station (Craigieburn…read moreLine), tram stop (rout 59), bus depot (many routes), 7 Eleven, a couple of bars and a cafe. Essendon station has a lot of parking, but fills early. It is also close to Windy Hill, if you happen to need to go there for some reason.

A nice clean and tidy, well laid out Train Station. Now goes underground and has a good bus…read moreinterchange. Toilets are much cleaner than most and there are disabled and baby change facilities. Café has coffee and fast food etc, with limited indoor and outdoor seating. Manned office and plenty of exit and entry stalls make for quick arrival and departure. Lifts and ramps along with stairs to get up and down to the 2 platforms. One of the better stations on the network.

Fantastic sunset tour of Great Ocean Road with the multi-talented Sherif as our guide/driver…read more Long drive, but worth every minute. Sherif had much information to share about the history, geography, and wildlife of this beautiful area. Views of the ocean, cliffs, Twelve Apostlesand sunset were stunning. It was fun to see and photograph kangaroos, cockatoos, and even sleeping koalas. Sherif (a professional musician) even performed a very memorable demonstration of the didgeridoo for us. This tour also helped avoid the crowds. Thanks Sherif for a great tour!

We went on the one day Great Ocean Road tour where we started off at Bells beach, had lunch at the…read moreCape Otway lighthouse (and we climbed up the lighthouse). And I would give this tour a five star except the lunch was merely a light snack that included two small sausages, potatoes, and a salad and since it's a ~13hr tour, everyone was quite hungry by the end. Anyway, we got to see the koalas and were lucky enough to see one awake, walking and climbing a tree! We didn't get to see the kangaroos due to the season but that's out of the tour guide's control. The major highlights of our tour were the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge! The pictures don't do justice, you'll have to go there and see them for yourself! Our tour guide was AJ, he was nice and informative.

I did catch a train from here years ago, and I believe that this used to be one of those stations…read morewhere form basically follows function. However that has changed since they decided to elevate the railway line over the road, namely so that traffic wouldn't bank up whenever a train passed by. Well, the station looks much more modern these days, and has a lot more facilities as well, including a warm waiting room, a ticket office, and of course toilets (which are sorely lacking from a lot of the older stations). Another thing that I certainly appreciate about this station is that it happens to be located near some shops, which means that it is good to stop off at for a coffee, or grabbing a bite to eat.

If you happen to be a fan of punk then this is certainly a place to check out. I'm not sure if one…read morecan call it a Melbourne Instutiution, but when I mentioned it to a housemate who loved his punk he had nothing but praise for this place. And they certainly crank it out, especially with the live bands, and honestly, live bands are probably the only place you are going to get decent music these days. They also have a good range of beers, but in the end it is the live music that you come here for.

This is undoubtedly Melbourne's premiere rock'n'roll venue. Forced to close last year due to insane…read morelicensing restrictions, the Tote set the ball rolling for a 20,000-strong march to parliament to pressure local government to amend stifling security requirements for venues (see documentary: 'Persecution Blues'). It worked, and through the tears, the dust settled and another party took over the place. Famous for its sticky carpet, the Tote is not a family-friendly (though you do see the odd hardcore kid there for the Saturday arvo shows) gossip den, but a serious rock pub that offers serious rock music every night of the week. They don't do food (outside of the odd barbie in the garden), they don't do cocktails (straight shooters more the flavour of the place) but they do do music and the do do atmosphere and they do both of those things especially well. It's an institution, check it out for the tumble-down hundred-year-old architecture alone.