The Land Down Under - Part 2: Melbourne

Final Stop: Melbourne

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The Basics
Time there: 9 nights
Where we stayed: With family in Melbourne (specifically in South Morang)
Highlight: Hanging out with my loud and crazy family!

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We made it to Melbourne the day before my cousin's wedding. Even though we had never met Julie or Anna (my other cousin) it was easy and effortless! My aunt and uncle from Vancouver were also there as well as my mom, my great-uncle and his wife. They were all in Vietnam for a few weeks prior to coming to Melbourne.

• How do I have family in Australia? I talked about it on the first leg of the trip

Julie and Dung's big day was beautiful. Julie was the most elegant and gorgeous bride!

Julie and her dad at the tea ceremony

There was a traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony the morning of her wedding day.

Her bridal party made the boys jump through some hoops before they could come inside. They had various games and shots of soy sauce, eggs and other not-so-tasty shots.

Anna and her husband Hai at the tea ceremony

The reception party in Melbourne was great. The family drank a lot of wine and ended the night with cognac, obviously.

Linda said I couldn't wear a jumpsuit to a wedding, I said "what kind of nonsense is that?! I'm wearing my jumpsuit!" BAHAHAHA.

With my sister and my aunt from Vancouver. You might remember her from our Pacific NW trip.

How amazing is this photograph that the couple took? It was taken in New Zealand and they incorporated it into their wedding video. GORGEOUS.

Did I tell you how beautiful it was? Because it was.

FAMILY TIME.

Mom, middle, and her two sisters

Congrats to Dung & Julie!! I'm so glad we were able to be there for the big day.

Since Julie's wedding was the first few days of our Melbourne leg, we were able to spend the rest of the week doing some touristy things.

We spent one day driving along the coast to see the 12 Apostles. This is a full day trip on some very winding roads so give yourself plenty of time!

On our way there, we stopped off in the city of Geelong. There's a cute little pier area with apparently some of the best fish and chips in the state of Victoria.

Checking out a lighthouse that is apparently really popular in the area and has been filmed in various shows in Austrailia.

This is the 12 Apostles, but there's never been 12 rock formations. Odd.

It was freezing the day we went but Patricia still managed to eat ice cream. Crazy kids.

When we returned, we took the shorter route which reminded me of Ireland--so lush and tons of sheep!

In between various side trips, we ate and drank and explored various pockets of Melbourne. We visited a few breweries but nothing blew us away, unfortunately.

What is this? It's a smoothie with cotton candy on top. Insane.

Taking the family to Stomping Ground Brewing. Very hipster vibe with good beers. 

Noshing on cheese and wine flights.

The sun is really bright in Austrailia you guys.

Melbourne has some really fun night markets during their springtime. We went to one night market in the downtown area that was mainly a food fair. Tons of yummy eats everywhere!

We also went to the Queen Victoria Night Market, which is mainly focused on eats too!

One of the coolest things we did was the Healesville Sanctuary.

At this sanctuary, you're able to pet wombats, kangaroos and koalas! Oh my!

While it was a great trip, Micah suffered some major allergies while we were at the sanctuary. Come to find out, it was one of the WORST days they've ever seen for hay fever in the Melbourne area. I even had some sniffles and one of my uncle's got some pretty bad allergies as well.

On our last two days of our trip, Micah (who was already suffering from allergies) also came down with some kind of viral infection and I wasn't feeling that great either. So that put us on our asses the last full day on vacay, which was disappointing to say the least. What's so crazy, the day after we left, Melbourne there was a massive allergy/asthma attack that killed several people and sent hundreds more to the hospital! Even though we suffered some of that the few days before, I'm glad we got out of there before that storm came through! Whew.

Sickness aside, Melbourne was a great time spent reconnecting with family! It was so nice and heartwarming to eat homemade family meals with my extended family.

Our first family meal on our first night in Melbourne.

I can't thank my Aussie family enough for their hospitality! They made the trip so memorable and enjoyable. We ate a lot, drank some and laughed a lot. I can't wait to return... just not during the spring.