Iconic Aussie soap, Neighbours, celebrates its 40th anniversary in mid-March and, having inspired so many to pack the suitcase and head to Oz already, it might just tempt you to do the same. Just make sure you cover your holiday investment by buying your worldwide travel insurance the minute you book your tickets. That way you’ll get cancellation benefits in place!
If you do decide to put Melbourne on your travel itinerary, you won’t find Erinsborough in the city, as it’s purely fictional. The same is true of Ramsay Street. But what you will discover is a city brimming with art and culture and creative types, plus some great places to visit.
Sport is always top of the agenda in Australia and you could head to Melbourne for the annual Formula 1 Grand Prix, at the Albert Park circuit in mid-March, or to catch a cricket match. The world renowned MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) has been the undoing of many a batsman and bowler and you can relive some of this in the interactive and multimedia Australian Sports Museum there. There is also a behind-the-scenes MCG tour to be enjoyed, in which you can visit the media centre in which world journalists have penned lines about The Ashes. You can also tour the changing rooms in which players visualised success at the crease.
As a river-based city there’s always the option of a river excursion, in this case on the Yarra. Known as Birrarung (River of Mists), by the aboriginal people here, you can learn more of its story in the Koorie Heritage Trust experience.
Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash
Melbourne from above ... and from the ground
If you want to see Melbourne from up above, head to the Melbourne Skydeck, the highest observation deck in the southern hemisphere. Not only will you get a great view with the naked eye but you will also be treated to a an augmented and virtual reality experience, featuring full sensory immersion, as you tour Melbourne and wider Victoria.
When back down to earth, the Royal Botanic Gardens are the perfect place to explore. Brimming with plant life, thrilling with lakes and stunning vistas and even offering the opportunity to go punting on the Ornamental Lake, these exquisite gardens will not disappoint. If you fancy stretching the legs, why not take the Aboriginal Heritage Walk?
More natural wonder can be found at Werribee Park and Mansion, where picnicking in the formal garden is a joy. If architecture is your thing, get yourself to the Webb Bridge, where a unique design evokes an indigenous Koorie fish trap. When lit by night, this man-made feature is absolutely stunning.
Other things to do in Melbourne
Federation Square in Melbourne is a honeypot for culture lovers, featuring music, performance, events, street dance and galleries. The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) can also be found here. Other places at which to enjoy cultural dwell time are the National Gallery of Victoria, Scienceworks – full of challenges for curious minds – and the Heide Museum of Modern Art. Once you’ve got travel insurance in your pocket, you can relax and enjoy a multitude of things to do.
For fun and games, for instance, you can head to Luna Park, Melbourne and ride a rollercoaster, or catch some waves at the URBNSURF surf park, Australia’s first surf park with artificial waves. Just check that surfing is an included activity on your worldwide travel insurance policy.
Those who love to nosy around boutiques will not be short of things to do in Melbourne, where the Laneways will draw in anyone who loves artisan craftsmanship, coffee culture and colourful street art.
But if it’s animals you want to be around, there is Melbourne Zoo but also the option to go penguin spotting on Phillip Island. Take a special tour and you can watch penguins emerge from the water after a hard day’s fishing and waddle right past you to their nests.
The need for worldwide travel insurance for Australian travel
Whilst overseas visitors can access some subsidised healthcare in Oz through Australia’s Reciprocal Health Care Agreements, such healthcare, available through Medicare, is limited. You should always check whether your particular country has an RHCA with Australia before you travel.
In any case, you should bump up your medical protection through the purchase of comprehensive worldwide travel insurance. This will not only pick up all the non-reclaimable costs of medical care, if necessary, but also get you home, through medical repatriation, should that prove necessary. That’s something the RHCA cannot do.
In addition, it can be a deep dive into the bank account to fund a trip Downunder, so don’t put that expenditure at risk by not having cancellation insurance in place. Travelling that far – and potentially hopping from place to place whilst in the country – can also expose you to more losses of baggage and personal belongings and, of course, theft.
Don’t run the various risks – whether that’s injuring someone with your surfboard, or having your trip curtailed by a severe weather incident. Buy your single trip or annual worldwide travel insurance policy from Europesure today and your trip to Melbourne should not turn into a soap opera plot. Just remember to advise the neighbours of this too, if its them, rather than you, that’s on the track of Scott and Charlene!
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