Changes

=== Direction [[Sydney]] ===For a lift to Sydney via the [[Hume Fwy Highway]] (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. Thumb it or use a sign.

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.

=== Direction [[Traralgon]], [[Bairnsdale]] (East) ===Take If you're headed to Canberra follow the directions above onto the Hume Hwy. Once you have a train lift that is taking you to Yass or further it's best to ask the end of driver if he/she can take you into Murrumbateman (a small town which is a 10-15 minute drive after the Pakenham line to Pakenham, then exit onto the station Barton Hwy (theres only one platform25) off the Hume Hwy). From there all traffic must slow down and go straight along the street ahead (should if you're coming from Melbourne) it'll be Henry st)late in the day when everyone is commuting back to Canberra. Henry st turns left follow Alternatively, there is a large service and truck-stop station just outside of Yass but if it then turn right at 's late in the first right, should day most people are commuting back South and it could be king st. Follow that to the Princes Highwayawhile (and dark) before you find someone headed into Canberra.

Cross the highway and follow ''Some'' hitchhikers claim that it is very possible indeed to the right for like 100m more or less stick your thumb out anywhere on ''Sydney Road'' in Melbourne and just get lifts towards ''Sydney'' from there should be a dirt area where cars can pull over.

This spot has worked for me=== East towards [[Traralgon]], but after [[Bairnsdale it would be harder to get picked up, if you want to go to ]] (and [[Sydney, I would recommend ]] the scenic way) via the Hume [[Princes Highway rather than the coast road.]] ===

=== Directon = Option 1 ==== Take a train to Officer Station (on the Pakenham line), exit the station and walk south down Officer South Road, turn right at the roundabout and walk (or hitch) west down Rix Road about 1km, then turn left and walk south to the end of Stephens Road North. You should find yourself facing the Princes Freeway with a large wall leading away from you to the right. Follow this wall on the freeway side for about 500m and you will come to the BP Service Station (Officer) on the freeway. It is very easy to get a ride east from here by ask drivers filling up with petrol or in the carpark, its not unusual to get a ride within the first few people you ask. The walk from Officer station to the BP service station takes about 30 minutes. ==== Option 2==== Take a train to the end of the Pakenham line to Pakenham Station, exit the station (theres only one platform) and go north straight up Henry St. Henry St turns left, follow it, then turn right at the first right into King St. Follow that north to the Princes Highway. Cross the highway and follow it to the right for around 100m where there is a dirt area where cars can pull over.  A possibly better (but as of yet unverified) alternative to Option 2 may be to walk south-east down Bald Hill Road from Pakenham Station, turn right at the first roundabout and head south down Koo Wee Rup Road to the Princes Freeway On Ramp. There should be ample room for cars to stop on the side of the road on the on ramp. ==== Other Options ====It is possible to start hitching closer to the city at on ramps along the Monash Freeway although it might take a few shorter rides to get to the first service station at Officer. Some options are:*One hitchhiker has successfully got rides at the last traffic lights on Batman Avenue before the start of the Monash Freeway, right near the Rod Laver Arena. *The Warrigal Road on ramp (walk to it from Holmesglen Station) sees a lot of traffic and there is a small space for cars to stop on the on ramp.*Take the 901 bus to the Stud Road on ramp. One hitchhiker swears by this spot. There is a lot of east bound traffic here, the traffic doesn't go too fast, there is heaps of visibility, and there is lots of room for cars to pull over. Its easy to get a ride to the BP service station at Officer about 25km from there.  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 way. For a more direct connection to [[Sydney]], the [[Hume Highway]] is better recommended rather than the scenic coast road. === West towards [[Adelaide]] (West) ===

 Take a train from Southern Cross in direction Ballarat and get off at '''Rockbank'''. Walk ''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 [http://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/ ptv.vic.gov.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 stationstop. 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.

''Rockbank'' is in Myki zone 2, so If you get a ride going to Ballarat it'll cost you s a good idea to get dropped off at the BP gas station around 6,50 $ on weekdays and 3,50 $ on weekends. The trip takes about 30 minutes + 15 minutes walking, but the train goes only about every 2 hours, so check the timetable on [http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/ metlinkmelbourne.com.au] beforehand5 km before Ballarat.

If you get a ride going to Ballarat make sure to be dropped off at the BP gas station 5 or so kilometers before Ballarat.* ''(Last verified: December 2012)'' === Direction Southwest along the Great Ocean Road (South-West) ===

=== Direction Northwest towards [[Bendigo]], [[Mildura]] (North-West) ===

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). === Southeast towards [[Wilson Promontory]] === Catch the Craigeburn bound train to Essendon Cranbourne and from get out at the last stop. There, walk 15 minutes on the Gippsland Highway to the M420 just after the intersection with the C047 You can start to hitchick there . I had to wait 15 minutes for my first lift and I took 7 lifts to reach the Wilson promontory national park (each time waiting less than 15 minutes) Cross Korumburra, Leongatha, and Foster. In Foster, cross the city walking (it not a really big town) and follow the signs "Wilson Promontory". and you can start again C445 or wak until the C446 which goes to the park. == Food, public transport, sleep ==  ===Food===  [https://www.facebook.com/groups/foodnotbombsmelbourne/ Food Not Bombs Melbourne] cooks and serves vegan dinner on Mondays and Tuesdays in the city, and Wednesdays in Coburg. ===Regional Trains=== 2023 update: Regional V/line fares have been capped at $9.80 full-fare and $4.60 concession state-wide, meaning you can get a ticket from anywhere to anywhere in Victoria on the V/line train and bus 483 towards Sunburynetwork for these ticket prices. There are a couple of exceptions that can be found on the v/line website though. Just bear in mind  You can still save a couple of dollars on the regional myki train network by using the following method if you're really penny saving: Regional Victorian V/Line trains have conductors that check myki cards and paper tickets on the 483 bus leaves every train, and because of this blackriding is not so easy. However, there is a way to take vline trains with a full fare myki for $6.50. If you want to take a train to just say Traralgon for example, which now costs $9.80 minutes full fare, just buy a new myki card and put $0.50 credit on it, touch on and jump on the train. When the conductor scans your myki card on the train, they don't care how much credit is on the card, they are just checking that the balance is not zero or negative, and that you have touched on. As long as there is some credit on the card there should be no problem. If the conductor comments on weekdays so your low credit, just tell them you were running late for the train and didn't have time to top it up and that you will top it up when you get to your destination. When you do arrive, if there are security watching people touch off, just touch off as normal which will make the balance go to -$3.20, and then just throw the card away. You just saved $3.20. Just make sure the station you want to click the link below get off at is a station you can travel to see the timetable by clicking with myki. The solid purple line on this [httphttps://static.ptv.vic.gov.au/timetablesPDFs/lineMaps/Network-maps/1485494075/2256PTV_Regional-Train-Coach_Network_Map_2017.pdf V/ hereLine Map]is where you can go with a myki card.