Don't just read about Melbourne getaways... get out and try one! These day trips from Melbourne are paved with cool things to see and do, and driving means you won't miss a thing along the way. Just choose your direction and hit the road.
Melbourne has always been a pedestrian-friendly city, and we have excellent public transport. Heck, trams are even free within the CBD. But public transport is old news, and walking is so passé. Suddenly everyone in Melbourne seems to be hopping aboard e-scooters and riding in style.
But how do you get one of these prized rides? There are two companies participating in a trial of 1,500 e-scooters in Melbourne, Lime and Neuron. The lime scooters are white with green accents, and the Neuron are bright orange. To start scooting, you need to download the Lime app or the Neuron app (or both, which is probably the smart thing to do). When you find a scooter, scan the QR code with the in-app scanner. If the scooter is available and charged, it will then unhook the helmet for you and you can get on your way. You can use the Lime or Neuron apps to find available scooters near you, and you can reserve one for 15 minutes while you get to your ride. Both apps charge $1 to get them started and 45 cents per minute, or you can rent them for a day for $15. You can ride them anywhere in the municipalities of Melbourne, Yarra or Port Phillip, but the power will shut off if they go outside of those council areas.
I tried to get a scooter twice on the weekend, with mixed success. The first time was about 10pm on Friday night in Southbank, and while there were a lot of scooters littering the promenade, almost all had dead batteries and were unavailable. The map in both apps is imprecise at best, and there was a lot of wandering back and forth muttering, "But it says there's a scooter right here! Where is it? Where could it be?" Many of the scooters that showed on the maps did not show up in real life, and neither app had a very good bead on my actual location. After an hour of fruitless scooter hunting, I gave up and took an Uber.
Saturday, though, was a different story. I wanted to get from Docklands to the Regent Theatre for a 7.30pm performance of Moulin Rouge, and scooting seemed like an enticing possibility. Neuron's map said there were two scooters down a laneway, so I took off in pursuit. The promised scooters were indeed present IRL, and my friend and I scanned, helmeted up and hopped aboard. The scooters are easy to figure out and much more stable than you'd think. You need to kick off to start them moving, as the motor does not start from a standstill. The scooters are permitted on bike lanes and shared paths, though be aware that you will feel every bump in the road and the motor struggled up the big Collins Street hill from Docklands to the city. The cost of the journey was $12 each, substantially more than a tram would have been. But can you really put a price on riding in style?
