Standing at the edge!

Yesterday was Melbourne Day and it was one hell of a tiring day.
We were out for almost 14 hours yesterday from 9am in the morning.

Will blog more about the entire day in another post but I have to say that the most exciting thing about yesterday was the Eureka Skydeck 88.

We have been wanting to see Melbourne from a different view ever since last year but somehow we never managed to. We went there once but it was after 9.30pm (last entry time) and talked about it later on but never made a trip there.

Since there was the 2 for 1 Melbourne Day promotion, we decided that we should go. We wouldn't want to pay full price for the event and if we didn't go yesterday, we'd never go for it.
After such a long tiring day, we stopped to have dinner at Ghin Khao on Swanston Street and rushed to Southbank for our Eureka experience. We didn't want to be late and we wanted to have ample time up there.

Admission for the Skydeck 88 (obviously on the 88th floor) was $11 (concession price and 2for1 promo). This admission allows you to take the lift up to the 88th floor where the view is absolutely breathtaking. Walking on the streets of Melbourne on a daily basis, you never realise how beautiful the city is from the top.

Eureka Skydeck 88 is the Southern Hemisphere's highest viewing platform!
So you can only imagine the view.
From the top, landmarks like the Shrine of Remembrance, Flinders Street Station, The Arts Centre, Federation Square and everything else lights up so beautifully.
The city looks so calm and serene at night and it is more lit up that what I expected it to be.

At the top, there's a bar which sells snacks, hot and cold drinks and a small selection of beer and wine. So, a visit to the top would be an ideal place for the perfect date. With the one you love/want to impress accompanied by the best view of Melbourne.

The best part about the experience is the EDGE experience.


This is the world's only edge experience where you're in a glass cube which projects out from the building with you in it, at 300 metres above the ground.

Confused?
A few pictures will do the trick.

The Edge is that small tiny box there that juts out from the building.
It's this glass cube in which you can stand in and look at the city right under your feet.

The best part about it is the fact that you don't walk out into that glass cube. They first make us wear this blue shoe protection thing-ies so that any dirt from our shoes do not scratch the glass that we're about to stand on. We then go into another room where we've gotta leave all our belongings inside the shelves provided. No mobile phones, cameras etc are allowed in the glass cube. Then, we enter the cube (which feels just like a small room) with another 5 people or so. The skydeck crew says "Are you ready?" and we feel the space around us start to move. With sound effects from the speaker, that small cube thingy starts moving outwards, out from the building until the entire glass cube is projected 3 metres out the building and we're suspended 300 metres above ground level.

So, wherever you look, whether it's to the left, right, top or bottom, all you see is the magnificent view of Melbourne. Of course, if you're scared of heights, you wouldn't be loving the view so much. But for those who don't care about how high you are from the ground, walking around in the glass cube and looking down at the city under your feet feels spectacular.

After a few minutes, its picture taking time. Since we're not allowed to bring any of our personal belongings in, there's a camera inside the cube itself. Each group takes their turn, standing at the end of the glass cube while everyone else stands on the other end of the cube, making sure they don't get included in the photo. It would be almost impossible to take a photo using our own cameras at night because you'd need a super good SLR camera with a tripod to make sure that you get the view, your faces and it doesn't go blurry.

After the photo taking session, we get to walk around the cube for a few more minutes and then the glass cube starts moving back into the building where it's safe for those who have a terrible fear of heights. There was this older couple who went for the EDGE together with us. And she was so scared of heights, when the glass cube projected out of the building, she was grabbing hold of the railing and she only dared to step on the steel parts of the cube, staying clear from the glass panels!

That's how much the glass cube comes out from the building.

The experience is awesome, something that cannot be explained and it's worth every dollar paid. The EDGE experience is a separate admission compared to the Eureka Skydeck 88. Tickets to the EDGE can be purchased once you arrive at the 88th floor of the building.

Edge Admission Costs:
Additional to Skydeck Admission

Adult:	$12.00
Child: (4 to 16 years)	$8.00
Concession:	$10.00
Family: (2 Adults & 2 Children)	$29.00
Family: (1 Adult & 2 Children)	$19.00
Extra Child	$6.00

And there wasn't a 2for1 promo for this so we paid $20 to have Melbourne at our feet for about 5 minutes.
After that wonderful experience, it's time to pay more money for the pictures that were taken in the EDGE cube. That's the only way we can get photos for it.
Each picture costs $15 and for an additional print, it's $10 each.

The thing about this place is that there are two different spectacular views of the city, day and night. And the only way to get both the experiences is by arriving at the Skydeck at about 5pm ish. Then you'd be able to see the city both with natural light, witness the sunset 88 floors up and see how the magnificent city of Melbourne turns on its lights to welcome the night.

All in all, we paid $11 for the admission into Eureka Skydeck, $20 for the EDGE experience and $15 for the photo of us in the EDGE cube.
But the magnificent view and the experience, definitely priceless.



Till the next one,
Happy Birthday Malaysia!