In March 2025, I attended the Avalon 2025 Airshow in Geelong, Australia, about an hour south of Melbourne. I flew Qantas from DFW to Brisbane and then to Melbourne, which took around 20 hours. I attended the 2023 Avalon Airshow, and had stayed in downtown Melbourne two years before, this time we stayed at a different hotel across the Yarra River. This allowed me to explore much more of the city center. Melbourne, with a population of about 5.5 million, is a giant, spread out city comparable in size to Sydney.
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This year, there was an airplane crash at the airshow the day after we left, and the pilot died later. The plane that crashed was one of the four shown flying upside down above in the Airshow poster.
We hung out at the Good Heavens Rooftop Bar every night before dinner, drank a lot of cider every night, walked for miles every day and had a good time. We went to a lot of the same places that I had been to in 2023 but added museums and the Melbourne Market. Ate in China Town, at the Farmer’s Daughter and Indian food at the Black Prince. Also hung out at the British pub and a fun rock bar called Cherry Bar down the street from our hotel.
Australia is such a large country with about 1/15th the population of the US. Most Australians reside in the major cities along the coasts, leaving a sparsely populated area in the center of the country. I would like to go to the west and north coasts someday.
