Things To Do In Melbourne: Eureka Skydeck

Timing My Skydeck Trip Perfectly

When I booked my trip to the Grampians I paid an extra $5 and received tickets for the skydeck and edge experience normally costing $18.50 for the tower and an extra $12 for the edge. I was lucky to get tickets via a promotion and save money – there are several companies in Melbourne with great offers like this. As mentioned in my Grampians blog the company I used as Autopia Tours.

It took several weeks after receiving the ticket to actually head up the tower, why? Because I wanted to head up on a sunny day and I wanted to time it perfectly to see the sunset and capture Melbourne in the ‘golden hour’ and at night. This ruled out any day I was at work and any day when the sun wasn’t out. Finally we made it up at the end of last month.

We arrived at 4.40 pm knowing we had a bit of time before sunset around 5.15 pm. Ideally we’d have arrived a little earlier to capture more of the city in the golden light however I snapped enough photos in the first 20 minutes to make up for that. With no queue we were up the tower within minutes of arriving. Greeted by the golden glow of the sun and suddenly realising how high above the city we were. The views from the tower are incredible with 360 degree access. There was even an outside viewing deck which looked over Albert park, the MCG, Flinders St Station, Fed Square and some of the CBD.

The atmosphere inside was very relaxing and come sunset there were crowds of people just sat by the window staring out in awe at the scene unfolding in front of them. It amazed me how far away the sun and horizon seemed. Being up the tower at this time really was perfect, the colours of the sunset and the reflection on the city was beautiful like only Australia is.

After sunset we headed for the edge experience, handing over our ticket at the desk in exchange for a pager which would go off when it was our turn. We waited barely five minutes before it started to buzz. Upon entry to the edge we were given shoe covers, as not to scratch the glass and had to hand over all camera equipment. The policy of no camera equipment automatically made it a disappointment for me. Had I not have received the edge free I wouldn’t have paid the extra $12. The experience of the box moving out from the building and being suspended was a bit edgy but then other tall buildings have glass boxes and glass floors to experience free of charge.

Witnessing Melbourne change to darkness was beautiful and I would highly recommend heading up for sunset and stayinguntil darkness. I couldn’t have timed my visit any more perfectly.