Sydney-Melbourne; emphasis on (bad) hostels.

On my last day at Sydney I did the daytrip to Blue Mountains which was quite ok apart from our group being too big which led to too much waiting and standing around. While in Sydney I stayed at the Sydney Central YHA which was big, noisy and dirty – carpets and ventilation of the rooms were in dire need of an update. Six guys in one room need more fresh air! Also cleaning of the toilets should take place more often.

Next morning I joined my small tour group to Melbourne. This time there were only four people on the bus. We started by driving to nations capital, Canberra, where we familiarized ourselves with the Parliament House as well as the National museum. Both of them are free to visit and there are lots of interesting pieces at display. Like I’ve stated before I’m really not a big museum kind of a guy but I have to admit that especially some abstract works in the museum were worth checking out.

From Canberra we continued towards Thredbo alpine village where we stayed for the night. I’ve been feeling a bit congested for the past couple of days and it did definitely not help that River Inn where we stayed had a strong and distinctive smell of mold in it. Again one example of a hostel which had old carpets in a humid environment without proper heating or ventilation systems. This seems to be a bad trend and it needs to change. 

The next morning we hiked the Mt. Kosciuszko walkway which is 13 km and 3 hour roundtrip to the peak of the highest mountain in Australia (2228m). Very cold and strong wind did not actually make the walk very enjoyable but that was my own fault since I left my gloves and wool hat behind because the weather in the valley looked so good. There was also one part after Rawson pass that was still ice and snow covered so we had to improvise a little bit to get back to the path. I was the only one sliding down once. To sum up the walkway: I recommend doing it but be prepared for cold weather as well as some snow on the way. From Thredbo we continued after our little mountaineering experience towards Lakes Entrance.

We stayed at Lakes Entrance RSL which was by far one of the best hostels I’ve stayed on my trips. Clean, fresh and quiet with good service – what else is there for hostel level accommodation? It is really not rocket science as they say.  And on top of a nice dinner at hostel restaurant we enjoyed beautiful sunset at the waterfront.

Too bad we had to leave early the next morning as we headed towards Wilsons Promontory National Park at the most southern tip of continental Australia. There we enjoyed a scenic walk to Squeaky Beach which does exactly what the name suggests when you walk on it. After some additional wildlife spotting we finally continued to Melbourne where I stayed for two nights before taking the direction towards Great Ocean Road. The limited time in Melbourne did not allow much so I did just a short city tour and that was about it. The weather has been really windy and rainy for the past few days which has been a bit of a surprise – I have only had one day of constant sunshine in Australia so far.(!)

My hostel in Melbourne – Nomads Industry at 196 A’beckett - was one of the worst places I’ve ever stayed. Hostel is noisy, dirty, moldy and has plenty of nonfunctional devices. Overall,  it is a disgrace to the good name of hostels. I have gained some perspective on my trips to say that this property should be declared as a health hazard until totally renovated. Well – nice to know what kind of business Nomads run.

In my opinion hostels are reflection of their owners and the management. If they want to run a nice, clean and cozy business, it can be done – I have seen some great places; they do exist. On the other hand if there is a constant stream of travelers (=money), there is also a big temptation to forget quality and maintenance which is disappointing. 

I’m a funny guy that way – I expect people and services continuously to try to do their best and try to improve. Maybe that is a bit idealistic in this greedy age of time but that is the view I want to maintain.