The clues for the second destination are as follows:

• Difficult for Jennifer – Founded by John Batman, this city was almost named “Batmania”.
• Medium for Alexander – This city is Australia’s sporting capital.
• Easy for Charlotte – Maybe you will feel like you are “bourne” again here.

Take a moment to venture a guess before scrolling down past the envelope pictures to reveal the answer.

The second destination is Melbourne, Australia! The first clue misled us to incorrectly guess Tasmania. The second clue did not immediately click for us but definitely made more sense after the third clue. This is a new first time location for everyone in our family!

A short flight on Virgin Australia brought us from Sydney to Melbourne. These two cities in Australia have a friendly rivalry and half of the Australian population reside in one of these two citifies. Australians love the coast, so although Australia is about the same size as the United States, the population is about the same as only New York.

We stayed at the InterContinental Melbourne The Rialto for three nights and had two full days for activities in Melbourne. We were still a bit jet lagged, so our days generally began in the dark before dawn and ended when we fizzled out when it got dark around dinner time.

On our full first day, we grabbed an early breakfast of toasties (grilled sandwiches) at The Simple Foodie before taking a self-guided exploratory walk along the Yarra River through the maritime, arts, gardens, and sports areas of Melbourne.

To recover from miles of walking around the city in the chilly morning, we relaxed back at the hotel before our afternoon tour. Alexander and Charlotte swam and played in the indoor pool and wanted to have In-N-Out (unfortunately not available in Melbourne) for lunch. We found Royal Stacks across the street from the hotel, which conveniently satisfied the kids’ craving for burgers, topped off with a Tim Tam milkshake.

After lunch, Fred from Oceania Tours picked us up from the hotel and we spent an amazing rest of the day learning about native Australian animals at the Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park in Pearcedale before driving through The Nobbies to witness the penguins parade at Phillips Island in Summerland. We ended the night full circle with views of the lit-up Melbourne skyline reflecting on the Yarra River.

We had another early start for our second and last full day in Melbourne. We took the free City Circle Tram from our hotel to the edge of the CBD city center where we met up with David from Wine Hop and Coastal Tours across the street from The Victoria Hotel. We hung our legs off the side of the Puffing Billy for a scenic steam train ride from Belgrave to Lakeside before spending a few hours at the Healesville Sanctuary to soak in more Australian native animals.

After a long day, we treated ourselves to some ice cream cones at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery before having dinner at Alluvial back at our hotel.

We were not able to fit in the Great Ocean Road before leaving Melbourne this time, but would definitely have this on the top of our list for a return visit to Melbourne in the future.

Stay tuned as we move on to Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #3!

• A Brief Programming Note: Secret Trip 2.0 Is Here
• Trip Introduction: Secret Trip 2.0 is Back with New Players
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #1
  • Another Great Meal at the Delta One Lounge LAX
  • Air France Lounge LAX Review: Great Food, Poor Location
  • Delta One A350-900 LAX-SYD Review: A Long But Great Flight
  • Four Seasons Sydney Review: One of the Best Luxury Hotels for Children
  • Excellent Views and Plenty of Fun: Taronga Zoo Sydney
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #2 (this post)
  • Virgin Australia Lounge SYD: Simple But Easy to Access
  • Virgin Australia 737-700 Business Class Review: Short And Sweet
  • Intercontinental Melbourne Review: A Good Location But Not Luxury
  • Penguin Parade & Moonlit Sanctuary: The Best Melbourne Day Trip
  • Melbourne Day Trip: Puffing Billy & Healesville Sanctuary Review and Highlights
  • Supernormal Melbourne: What We Liked At This Fusion Spot
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #3
  • Marhaba Lounge MEL: It’s A Priority Pass Lounge, What More Can You Say?
  • Garuda Indonesia A330-300 Business Class: Excellent Service And The Best Price
  • Andaz Bali Review Part 1: Why We Didn’t Want To Leave This Beautiful Room
  • Andaz Bali Review Part 2: All The Excellent Kid-Friendly Activities
  • Andaz Bali Review Part 3: The Food Is Why We Love This Resort
  • The Ultimate Ubud Day Trip: Culture, Monkeys, and a Fun Swing
  • Need To Wash Clothes In Bali? Check Out Sunrise Coin Laundry
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #4
  • Tujuwan Lounge DPS Review: Simple But With Great Fruit
  • Singapore Airlines 787-10 Business Class: Good But Not Great
  • Singapore SilverKris Lounge SIN T2 Review: Good But Changi is Better
  • Singapore Airlines 737 MAX 8 Business Class: Good Hardware, Simple
  • Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur Review Part 1: Luxury in One of the World’s Tallest Hotels
  • Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur Review Part 2: We Fell In Love With These Restaurants
  • Batu Caves And More: An Easy Kuala Lumpur Day Trip
  • Le Petit Chef Kuala Lumpur Review: What We Liked About This Gimmick for Kids
• Secret Trip 2.0 Destination #5
  • Sky Suite Lounge KUL Review: You Should Not Spend Your Time Here
  • Comfortable: Malaysia Airlines A330-200 Economy Class
  • Shangri-La Far Eastern Taipei: Excellent Breakfast, But Room Is Dated
  • How To Use the Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) In-Town Check-In
  • Our Favorite Activity In Taipei: Eat The Delicious Food (and Desserts!)
  • China Airlines Lounge TPE T2 (4F): Good Noodles For All
  • China Airlines A350-900 Business Class: A Great Price Across The Pacific