Melbourne Hobbying: Rock Climbing

Time to get out the city. Today's hobby is...rock climbing!

Sophia's Hobbyaholic Score: ****

Time Commitment: A couple of times a month
Sociableness: You'll need a few trusted buddies
Entertainment Value: Top notch.
Cost: Free if you have equipment, or else around $40 including kit hire.
Verdict: I'm shaking in my boots. Awesome.

So this hobby is pretty awesome. You get to explore some of the best views that Australia has to offer and there are heaps of spots near Melbourne to try out if you get in to it.

If you haven't been before, you'll definitely need to go with a professional. And if you're going with friends, make sure that you trust them! Someone will have to belay you and they'll have your life in their hands. Really. So once you've picked your friends carefully, or found an instructor, head out to rural Victoria! 

This is Werribee Gorge - a popular spot for climbers. There are routes to suit all levels, so it's a good place for beginners to come. 

There's plenty of rock to share, but it's best to arrive early so you don't have to hand around.

I'm not a professional, so I won't offer any advice on how to climb, but I assure you this is an excellent way to spend a weekend. See if you can squeeze a hike in too whilst you're out in the bush.

Struggling to get up the rocks? You can always cheat and set up an absail down them instead!

Road Trip!!! Rotorua, New Zealand

Sophia's Road Trip Rating: *****

Views: Am I on the moon?!
Atmosphere: Jurassic Park III
Best time to go: Summer
Difficulty: Pretty straight forward with room for adventure.
Craziness: Out of this world.
Ideal timeframe: 2 days in Rotorua, 2 weeks on the north island
Distance from central Melbourne: 4 hrs by plane

So if you're looking for a road trip a bit further from Melbourne, this one's for you! Victoria is the perfect place for adventuring, but every so often even the most hardcore fans need to break out of the state for a while. For my first out of state road trip, I give you Rotorua, NZ and the surrounding area.

Rotorua is famous for its thriving Maori culture, big lakes and its moon-like landscape. Located in the centre of the north island of Aotearoa (New Zealand), Rotorua and other neighboring towns are small and welcoming.

In its heyday, the Victorian era, this part of New Zealand was the place to go for medicinal thermal treatments. Today people still go to the bath houses to enjoy the hot springs. The hot water bubbles naturally from the ground as a result of tectonic plate movement deep beneath the ground. Rotorua was founded for local Maori and pakia (white men) to share after an earthquake destroyed nearby towns. Rotorua is actually located inside the crater formed by the volcano.

The Rotorua museum, above, used to be a medicinal bath house which Victorians would visit to cure all sorts of ailments. The rest of the town is a celebration of New Zealand culture. There's artwork and spas dotted throughout the town and a friendly mix of locals and backpackers to keep you company. I recommend the Polynesian Spa if you're looking for relaxing thermal pools. It's not too expensive and you can enjoy different pools set at different temperatures with a beautiful view of the great Rotorua lake whilst you bathe.

As beautiful as Rotorua town is, it's small and you'll be looking to get out and road trip around pretty quickly. Top of your list should be Wai-O-Tapu. It's a geothermal park located 20 minutes from Rotorua and it's mind boggling. As you road trip around the north island, you'll see steam coming from between the trees. After spending some time in Australia, I presumed these were bush fires but the truth is much more exciting.

Wai-O-Tapu is the perfect place to find out more about this mysterious phenomenon. There are leaflets packed full of facts for those of us who like to know why all the time and there are three walks to explore around the park.

Depending on the time of year you go and how much it's rained, the park will look very different. But I can promise you, it's always awesome. Here's some pictures taken inside the park:

Nearby, in a separate part of the park, you can watch as a man pours a mysterious powder into Lady Knox geyser to make her erupt. Apparently she's very active on her own, but the powder makes sure she performs on time each day. It feels a bit weird messing with Mother Nature like this, but the effect is pretty spectacular.

Next, head to one of the many Maori experiences. Sadly it's not quite the real deal, but it's important to keep the culture alive and get an understanding of the Maori heritage. 

Want to prolong your road trip? Head to Taupo, town of adventure sports!

This town is very cool. There's slightly more to do than in Rotorua and you get a sense that this is where the backpackers like to be. I can see why - there are loads of tour operators running adventure tours from this area. Anything from sky diving to white water rafting to parasailing is possible in Taupo.

Me? I chose mountain biking as my adventure sport. There's a great path to Huka Falls from town. Bring your bathers because there's a free natural hot spring pool on the way. Hot water flows into the cold river making it a perfect spot for bathing.

The glacial water is an awesome blue colour caused by the oxygenation of the pure flowing water. If you're not in to mountain biking, there's a great walking trail to get here as well.

Want more? Continue your cycle on past the falls to Craters of the Moon. Here you can cycle or take a walk round another geothermal park.

Melbourne Hobbying: Bike Riding

In an effort to reduce my carbon footprint (that, or I can't afford a car - you decide) I took up bike riding. I'm not talking leathers and a roaring engine. I'm talking good old fashioned pedal power. Yeah!

Sophia's Hobbyaholic Score: *****

Time Commitment: As often as you like.
Sociableness: Directly proportional to the number of brunch and coffee stops you make.
Entertainment Value: Never ending.
Cost: $2.70 with Melbourne Bike Share or $300+ if you're getting your own bike. Free once you have a bike and helmet sorted out!
Verdict: Hell yeah!

I've chosen a hybrid bike - they're low maintenance and you can take them anywhere <insert 'your mum' joke here>. The drawback is that it's pretty heavy and slower than those trendy road bikes. If you haven't got a bike, there's loads of places to hire them from or you can use Melbourne's very own Bike Share bikes for a small fee.

Here's my bike:

Ok maybe not..! Spotted this cool dude at the cycle festival in South Melbourne. Here's my pretty bike:

Melbourne is an awesome city to cycle in. There are so many trails and they're well connected, so you rarely have to share the road with pesky car drivers. There are a lot of paths that lead out to rural Victoria if you need to escape the city. 

If you don't know where they are, you need a book! Here's my favourite:

I'm a big fan of the Capital City Trail. It's a big loop around Melbourne and the scenery is really diverse. It's about 30km, but you can extend or take short cuts along the way. The path is really well signposted the whole way round, and there are heaps of cyclists and walkers who will help you out if you get lost.

Need a coffee? No worries, there are heaps of places to stop en route. I can't really pick a favourite - basically just pull up any time you see a large amount of bikes. Cyclists know their espressos.

The great thing about cycling in Melbourne is the diversity of the scenery. The trails really show off the city and keep you coming back for more!

Suburb Spotlight: CBD

Melbourne's CBD is definitely the place to be to see what Melbourne is really all about. Packed full with hidden bars, graffiti artwork and a mixture of mainstream and one-off shops, this is a great place to visit or live.

Fed Square and Melbourne Central train station are popular with the tourists but also still a popular meeting point with the locals. Fed Square is always host to cultural and sporting events like the tennis and the AFL.

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image is conveniently located in Fed Square; as is part of the National Gallery of Victoria - these are good for rainy days or a break from the sun.

Restaurants and coffee shops pave hidden lane ways coated in artsy graffiti.

Up the top end of town, the library is open to the public and has visiting exhibits and viewing platforms to excite the librarians amongst us. Parliament is also up that end of town, which is worth a perusal whilst you're there.

All in all, whether you've headed straight to Collins Street for the shopping or you've had  a proper look around town, the CBD is a great place to begin a Melbourne adventure.

Road Trip!!! Ballarat and Sovereign Hill

Sophia's Road Trip Rating: **

Views: Wild Wild West Hollywood
Atmosphere: Am Dram
Best time to go: Autumn / Spring
Difficulty: My granny could manage.
Craziness: Obscure
Ideal timeframe: 1 day
Distance from central Melbourne: 1hr 15mins

One of the regular tours from Melbourne is the coach trip up to Ballarat and Sovereign Hill. Don't confuse the two: Ballarat is a small town founded on the gold rush and on the passing trade of those travelling further inland to mine gold. Sovereign Hill is a purpose-built village just outside of Ballarat which aims to give you a feel for how it was to be a miner during the gold rush of the 1850's. 

Ballarat is home to the recently discovered 5.5kg Ballarat Nugget and proud of it. The name Ballarat is derived from the Aboriginal words 'balla' and 'arrat' meaning 'resting place'.

There isn't a great deal to do in Ballarat, but historically it's pretty interesting. The Eureka Rebellion of 1854 began here - a historical event so important that the Eureka Tower in central Melbourne is both named after and designed to represent the revolt.

The gold at the top of the tower represents the gold rush, and the red stripe represents the blood shed during the Eureka Rebellion. The miners had their very own Eureka Flag upon which they swore an oath to defy the government.

The best part of Ballarat other than the gold mining history is the lake! Lake Wendouree is nothing special to look at (I didn't even take a photo), however the origin of its name is a classic! According to the folk tale, a settler in Ballarat asked a local aboriginal woman washing her clothes in the then-swamp what she called this place. Her reply was 'wendaaree!' meaning 'go away', and so the lake was named 'go away'!

Soverign Hill is a different story all together. A movie set style village on one side and a museum on the other, this feels like a tourist attraction straight out of the U.S.A.

You can ride around the village on a horse and carriage, visit different types of mines and explore shops selling souvenirs and goods that would've been sold during the gold rush.

If you've come to Sovereign Hill, you have to go on the gold mine tour. They'll take you on an underground tour of a constructed mine.

There are actors and actresses dotted around the village working in jobs which would've helped contribute to the mining boom in the 1850's.

All-in-all, Ballarat and Sovereign Hill make for an interesting day trip, but because Sovereign Hill was purpose-built after the gold rush you get that distinct feel of a tourist trap. You have been warned!