Melbourne

Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia.

Towards Sydney
For a lift to Sydney via the Hume Fwy (M31) catch a suburban train to Craigieburn (which is also the last stop on the line of the same name) Walk north down Hothlyn Drive and Walters Street about 10mins, until you get to a nice set of traffic lights with an onramp to the Hume Hwy. Here the cars must slow down for the lights and there is a lane for traffic to pull over.

Similarly just walk east along a road that has an on-ramp onto the freeway, the walk should take a maximum of 15 minutes. Its pretty doable to get to Sydney within the same day as long as you leave Melbourne early enough in the morning. Follow the signs to Seymour (Road 55) and don't get confused with the different numbers on the signs, Seymour should be always right. Alternately, you can catch a 40 minute train from Melbourne Central Station or Southern Cross Station towards Seymour to Wallan. Wallan is just outside Melbourne and from the train station it's a 10 minute walk straight onto the Hume Highway.

If you're headed to Canberra follow the directions above onto the Hume Hwy. Once you have a lift that is taking you to Yass or further it's best to ask the driver if he/she can take you into Murrumbateman (a small town which is a 10-15 minute drive after the exit onto the Barton Hwy (25) off the Hume Hwy). From there all traffic must slow down and (if you're coming from Melbourne) it'll be late in the day when everyone is commuting back to Canberra. Alternatively, there is a large service and truck-stop station just outside of Yass but if it's late in the day most people are commuting back South and it could be awhile (and dark) before you find someone headed into Canberra.

Some hitchhikers claim that it is very possible indeed to stick your thumb out anywhere on Sydney Road and just get lifts towards Sydney from there.

East towards Traralgon, Bairnsdale
Take a train to the end of the Pakenham line to Pakenham, then exit the station (theres only one platform) and go straight along the street ahead (Henry St). Henry St turns left, follow it, then turn right at the first right into King St. Follow that to the Princes Highway.

Cross the highway and follow it to the right for like 100m more or less and there should be a dirt area where cars can pull over.

Between Bairnsdale and Eden, there is a long stretch with no bigger towns in between. Be prepared for longer waiting and possibly need to sleep outside. Not the fastest way in order to get to Sydney, but definitely doable, and loads of interesting spots at the coast along the road. For a more direct connection to Sydney, the Hume Highway is better recommended rather than the coast road.


 * (Last Verified: January 2014)

Option 1
Go to one of the central Train Stations and get a ticket to Ballarat. It is about 10 $ (in 2010). The ticket will let you get on what ever train you need to travel to the Southern Cross Station. From there the train takes you about 120 km out of town. Once in Ballarat your train ticket will also get you on the buses for the day. Cross the road from the station and take the bus 3 Creswick. Ask the driver to drop you at the Freeway on-ramp to Adelaide. This will save you a 5 km walk to the freeway. Walk 200 m down onto the freeway then hitch.

Bear in mind that if you choose this option you will basically travel over a hundred kilometers out of Melbourne and spend at least 2 hours on public transport.


 * Vline timetable
 * 3 Creswick timetable

Option 2
Take a train from Southern Cross in direction Ballarat and get off at Rockbank. Rockbank is in Myki zone 2, so it'll cost you around $6.50. If you yet haven't got a Myki card, they won't let you board the train without and no paper tickets are available. So be aware of another $6 for the card. The trip takes about 30 minutes, but the train goes only about every 2 hours, so check the timetable on metlinkmelbourne.com.au beforehand.

Once in Rockbank, walk into the village eastwards into Westcott Parade and turn left at the roundabout or into Elizabeth street. Walk along the highway until you see a bus stop. This place is a good hitchhiking spot where cars can stop easily. However, if you don't mind walking for another 1-2 km, there will be a Service Station further down the road (you are able to see the big McD's sign from the bus stop). There it'll be easier getting a ride by talking to the people.

You can basically just take any lift you get offered, as you can stand virtually anywhere on the highway to Adelaide. Keep in mind that people who go all the way to Adelaide are more likely to leave Melbourne early, since the whole trip takes 6-8 hours.

If you get a ride going to Ballarat it's a good idea to get dropped off at the BP gas station around 5 km before Ballarat.
 * (Last verified: April 2014)

The original option
 30 minutes+ of walking

To get to the Great Ocean Road take a train to Geelong (ca. 8A$ as of January 2013). Go right out of the station and onto the main highway. There's no awesome hitchhiking spots anywhere near, but cars can be stopped in different spots along the road. If you walk about 2 km (or more...) down the road, you will find a really good spot just before the bridge. From anywhere else between Torquay and Apollo Bay, rides are extremely easy to pick up.

The easy option
20 minutes of walking

Take the V-Line train towards Warnambool and get off at Marshall (2 stops after Geelong but costs you the same price). Bear in mind that the Warnambool line doesn't run as often as the Geelong line so check the timetable. As you get off the train bear left and walk for about 200 meters until you get to Marshalltown Road. Turn left again and follow the road until you get to Turquay Road/ Surfcoast Highway. If you turn left and walk down the road for a hundred meter or so you'll find a busstop where cars can pull over easily.

The suburban option
15 minutes of walking and most of that is walking through a nice little park.

Get on the train towards Werribee (Zone 1+2) and go all the way to Werribee. As you get out of the station you'll be on Comden Drive. Turn right (i.e. opposite direction from Woolsworth) and walk down down the road for about 200 meters until you see a footbridge over a river on your right hand side. Cross the bridge and follow the trail for about 10 minutes and you'll get to the main intersection. Just after the intersection there is a big area for cars to pull over.

Northwest towards Bendigo, Mildura
Catch the Craigeburn bound train to Essendon and from there get on bus 483 towards Sunbury. Just bear in mind that the 483 bus leaves every 80 minutes on weekdays so make sure to click the link below to see the timetable by clicking here.

If you get a nice busdriver you might be able to convince him to drop you off at the BP gasstation/Macdonalds rest area in between the stops Calder Park and Duncans lane. If he doesn't want to then get dropped off the stop called --> Duncans lane/Calders Freeway. From there you can either choose to walk back to BP/McD's as that's a really good place to find long lifts (15 minute walk) or hitch directly from the busstop (beware of cops).

Public Transport
Melbourne Metro trains can be a bit tough to blackride, but it's totally doable once you figure out how - and really worth your while and definitely more ethical than going along with the company's extortional scheme of making you pay 6A$ just for a card that then you have to top up with money to be allowed to ride!

In most stations (except central/major stations that have barriers with somebody guarding; find a blind spot to hop over the barrier or wait until the guard is distracted and walk through the wheelchair gates) you can just walk onto the platform and the train - perfect for just going between suburbs. Occasionally there's ticket inspectors on the trains, rather heavy-handed fellows and not especially polite. If you're not Ozzie, however, there's not really any way they can make you pay a fine - except if you live in Australia and give them your real address, but who would do that?! Don't show them proper ID, show them something with your name on it (like a credit card) and then give them a fake address. They might make you ring somebody to confirm that address (they tend to find entries such as "mum" in your phone; they can really be aggressive), but if you set up somebody who knows which fake address to give you'll be golden. Enjoy!

Food
Lentil as Anything offers yummy vegan & vegetarian food at a number of locations around Melbourne. The grub is by donation, so if you're skint you can eat for free. It's really worth supporting the effort, though.

trash:Melbourne isin: Australia