parking

Melbourne Airport Terminal Parking

When you park at Melbourne Airport to pick someone up you have a couple of options; the Melbourne Airport Wait Zone, which is free, but you have to contend with the 'Public pick up' which, while free will test your patience quite a bit.

Through the trees, the front of Melbourne Airport

The next realistic option is "Terminal parking" which is the car park located opposite the airport terminal. I've parked here on a number of occasions when picking my dad up from the airport.

The occasion before I parked in the wait zone parking I did just so, parking in the Terminal parking. I discovered that you could pre-pay parking to save some money. (Something I was not aware of prior to that.)

On this occasion I did pre-pay, you get a QR code to scan upon entry and exit, at least that is how it is meant to work in theory.

Melbourne Airport Public pick up zone

In order to book the parking you need to state a time that you're going to arrive and depart, the latter is easy enough; time of flight arrival plus 40 minutes in case of problems. 

Time of arrival, in theory is also easy enough; travel time plus 25 minutes. Because Melbourne traffic is so variable sometimes an accident or incident can quickly add up to mean that you're not going to arrive at your destination at the right time. 

So I'd set my arrival time for 2:30 pm. 

But due to the traffic not being terrible I actually arrived near the airport at 2:00 pm, I knew (because I read the T&Cs) that there was 15 minute leeway for entry, so I went for a drive past the airport.  (This 15 minute leeway window applies to booking of under 4 hours according to their T&Cs, over 4 hours and you get a 2 hour window)

However, in writing this post up I looked through their FAQ at the bottom of the 'Parking refunds' page which states that you can arrive 2 hours before your booked entry time and not incur a fee.

As I'd arrived early, and not wishing to incur a fee, I instead drove past the airport parking turn off, driving past the airport and heading for Sunbury on the Tullamarine Freeway. Then I did a U-turn at the Oaklands Road roundabout, that's also where the aircraft viewing area is for runway 16. In hindsight I should've just parked up there and watched the planes come in.

Ramp up the levels of the car park

I did the U-turn and drove back, turning off at the exit that's simply labelled as "Airport", which takes you past what I'd assume to be the aircraft fuel storage, and around and under the Tullamarine Freeway, pushing you out near the BP and Maccas at the exit of the airport.

I drove up to the entrance to the Terminal car park entrance and scanned my QR code to enter the car park, a little awkward to get your phone under the scanner on the parking machine. But easy enough, to enter, exiting would be another thing however...

View from car park

I elected to go up to Level 3 - the roof, or up to there and then more parking atop that, as in the past that's where people haven't parked, and therefore was easier to park.

Nope, not this time, it was quite full. 

At first I thought it was just that there was building work going on that was using up spaces in the car park. You reach level 3 by going up the circular ramps on the side of the car park (that is if you enter from Arrival Drive).

Level 3 - Section L

I ended up parking in Level 3, section L, with a pleasant view out south east out of the car park. It's under cover of the second part of the muli-storey car park.

First thing I needed to find were toilets, of which there are few within the car park itself, I did briefly consult the National Public Toilet Map app, but it wasn't helpful. I headed towards the terminal, but found that the car park does have toilet facilities. They're located on the ground level. They are functional, but not big, one male, one female and a disabled toilet and each door just goes straight into the toilet, so it's a combo toilet, sink and Dyson airblade dryer. 

Terminal car park toilets

The men's toilet (as they tend to do) smelt of urine, so unsure how often they're cleaned. These car park toilets certainly had an air of being less cared for than those within the terminal building itself.

Terminal car park map in lift.

Having relieved my bladder I went back up to level 3 to time how long it takes to walk from the lifts to the edge of the terminal car park, where I'd parked. Because my dad loves to complain and I knew he'd find any opportunity to complain about stuff. So I set a timer and set about walking back to my car to check how long it would take. 

2 minutes 30 seconds.

The car park spaces are of a decent size, especially if you park next to a support column where there is extra room on one side of the space.

US-style pick up truck in spot.

But even if you're driving a large American-style pick up truck, they will still fit relatively well. 

All that I saw were reversed in, which I used to do when I had my Ford Ranger, as it's the most effective way to get the vehicle into a tight spot and fit it properly.

On Level 2 of the car park there is "Premium" and Valet parking, where the car park appears to have been renovated, with paint on the concrete and a more fancy walk way painted blue that is separated from the road with barriers.

Interior of Melbourne Airport

After waiting around for about and hour and a half or so until dad's flight landed, it was time to exit. I had my phone and the QR code held on it ready to scan at the exit and the screen said "Ticket Not Valid". I tried again, and again and then it said I needed to pay a further $30. 

Which means essentially I had paid twice and it ended up costing me about the same as I would have paid had I just rocked up and paid to get in.

Immediately upon returning home I submitted a refund request on Melbourne Airport's website, submitting both the booking number for my QR code entry and a photo of the receipt from the machine upon my exit.

The processing time for this, as listed on their website is 8-9 business days, which is a surprisingly long amount of time, not even 7 business days, but 8-9.

After 10 business days I sent another request with the reference number, and was issued with another "A case has been opened for your request".

14 business days on from sending the first parking refund message and they refunded the money I had to pay to exit.

The result of all this? 

Well, I probably won't pre-pay for the parking, as it seems to be fraught with mistakes, and by the time you want to exit, you just want to leave. And at the ticket machine there's no apparent option other than to pay the additional fee.

Maybe if I get there early I'll go and sit in the aircraft viewing area?

Or maybe I'll drive out further to Bulla or something. 

I won't park and wander the airport, and I'll just adjust my time to arrive accordingly. 

I'll obviously still need to park in the airport, but it'll be a much, much shorter time.

The District Docklands east car park

I went here for the Car Expert Open Day. I've never been to this car park. I don't think I've ever actually driven to the Docklands either. Have been to the Docklands in the past, but have usually come in via the tram. It's just an area of the city I've never found I've needed to go to.

Getting to the car park itself is very easy, coming off the CityLink going over the Bolte Bridge it's the first exit onto Footscray Road where there's significant roadworks going on. 

Then it's the first right onto Waterfront Way, and then I used the Waterfront Way entrance, but there is another entrance around on Little Docklands Drive.

The height limit is 2.17 metres, which should be fine for all passenger vehicles on the road at the moment.

You need to stop at boom gates and push a button for a ticket, the machine prints your numberplate on the ticket, and it is reading your numberplate into the system as well as I'd find out upon exit.

The passage in is a little, not confusing but basically if you're in there for 90 minutes it's free, which is presumedly to cover people who are going shopping at the Woolworths which is on the same site, and there are defined 90 minute parking bays again I presume for this purpose.

Then you continue through until you locate a ramp up for 'staying longer'. I went up to the staying longer level as I wasn't sure how long I wound be staying at the Car Expert Open Day. 

View of the city from the car park.

As I made my way through the car park I did briefly glimpse at a parking ticket machine in the middle of one of the levels. 

However once I made it up to I think the third level I didn't see another ticket machine, not at the lifts and stairs where I walked up to the roof where the Open Day was being held. 

I did notice once I wandered up to the Open Day area that there was a second lift area which might've held a ticket machine, but I didn't explore that.

The car park itself looks new and well kept, the bays large enough for my ute, although I reversed in to get the maximum use of the space there.

Upon departing I had not spent 90 minutes, I'd only been in there a little over an hour, but I had the ticket ready and my wallet ready just in case. And I was looking around for a ticket machine just in case.

There were a few A-frame signs placed directing towards the exit which eventually led me to hard to line up for exit.

As I slowed down and readied to insert the ticket the machine showed an animated smiley face / thumbs up emoji and the gate opened allowing me to exit. Which evidently meant it was reading the numberplate as you entered.

Little Docklands Drive and neighbouring car park.

The exit was on Little Docklands Drive. I realise now looking at the map I should have just gone straight ahead, as that would have led me to Footscray Road and turn left onto it.

Instead I made the mistake of going down St Mangos Lane, which led me back to Waterfront Way, but meant I had to do an awkward u-turn in front of Observation Drive. 

Which was...inelegant, I at least was going slow enough that when I hit and mounted the curb it wasn't too bad. I should've just gone around the block again and gone out on Little Docklands Drive.

Chadstone Car Park C during early 2023 works

EDIT: Information below is no longer valid as of November 2023, as the layout of this car park / its entrance has now changed.

My preference for parking when I visit Chadstone is Car Park C, what has often been known as the "Coles Car Park", this is accessible from Warrigal Road, via Middle Road and City Circuit. 

It's my preference as I'm usually getting to Chadstone from the Monash Freeway, so am exiting onto Warrigal Road for Chadstone.

Currently there are building works and road works ongoing at Chadstone and will be for the next 6+ months moving forward. 

At the moment all traffic on Middle Road is funnelled either left or right at the traffic light intersection, there is no forward traffic allowed. 

If you're visiting Chadstone and intending to park in Car Park C; when turning onto Middle Road from Warrigal Road turn right from the farthest right of the right turning lanes and keep to that lane as you go around the corner. You'll be next to the median strip as you get onto Middle Road (and inevitably be sat waiting at the traffic lights).

First entrance, do not enter here, but exit here when you leave.

Turn right from the far right lane onto City Circuit. Don't be tempted to get into the left lane and do not try to enter the car park from the first entrance. That's what everyone tries to do.

Don't panic, it does look like the other entrance of Car Park C (there used to be two one after the other on City Circuit) is blocked, that's because it is. 

One way road - City Circuit. Car park entrance is just after this bend.

Additionally the road becomes one way as it goes around the corner. 

Follow City Circuit around the corner and there is a second entrance into Car Park C. Turn left here (around the road works barriers) and then immediately turn right and go up the ramp to level 3 of the car park. 

It's generally not as busy up here because everyone goes in on the lower level, does several loops and then, and only after a few more loops do they get up to level 3. 

Level 4 used to be accessible but has been blocked for building works.

Car Park C ramp to level 3.

Also, if you're driving a 4x4-type ute or SUV don't panic...too much, I drive a Ford Ranger and it fits into Car Park C. It doesn't look like it, especially when you're driving up the ramp and looking at the scratches on the roof, but it does. However always double check the height of your vehicle and the height of the car park (2.0 metres). 

Note, when exiting do not go out the way you came in as that will deposit you back onto City Circuit and you can't go back around that one way section. Instead at the bottom of the ramp turn right, then left and then follow the car park around to right and then left you can exit, there's signs or you'll see cars coming in. This will let you exit out the first car park entrance, the one everyone was using to get into the car park. Then you can depart wherever from there.

Melbourne Airport Wait Zone

Plane just about visible taking off.

Picked my dad up at the airport. In previous times when picking him up I'd park opposite the airport and wait for him, but last time he complained about how much the parking was (even though I said it had already been paid), so this time I thought I'd take advantage of the wait zone car park (also referred to as the "Ring & Ride" or "Airport Wait Parking")

Arriving and turning off on Exit 18 of the Tullamarine Freeway onto Mercer Drive, I didn't immediately want to turn into the waiting zone car park, so continued to the roundabout at the intersection of Mercer Drive and Airport Drive, then turned left onto Airport Drive and went down to the BP which is a short drive down from the Wait Zone on the corner of Airport Drive and Link Road (address: 182-184 Airport Drive, Melbourne Airport)

It's not really on any aerial maps, it seems to have been completed in late 2020. It's viewable on Google Street View and Apple Maps' Look Around. But not their aerial from above offerings. Bing Maps does show it.

I didn't need fuel, just wanted to get a drink, there's a Maccas there as well.

Depending on where you park, wanting to get back to the waiting zone car park will involve a U-turn by going some distance along Airport Drive to the Sharps Road intersection and doing a U-turn there.

Bing Maps helpfully has arrows showing you how to exit. Source.

If instead you leave via the truck parking area, you can exit and turn left onto Watson Drive and turn left onto Link Road, and then turn right back onto Airport Drive. Then you need to do a U-turn at the Mercer Drive / Airport Drive roundabout that you previously turned left at. 

This is because Mercer Drive is a one way road, coming off the freeway, so you have to access the wait zone car park from Airport Drive.

Driving into the wait zone car park is a little...not confusing, but there's a ticket machine, but the boom gate was up and the screen just said "Free Passage" with a smiley face emoji.

So I drove in and parked. While I was parked there I did see a few people driving in and also being confused by the parking machine / lack of the boom gate being down. I guess you don’t expect it to be free immediately. The Melbourne Airport website does say it’s free for 30 minutes, then from 30 minutes to an hour it’s $4. Anything beyond that is charged at the regular parking rate. 

At least that’s what the website says, but I know I was there for more than 40 minutes and didn’t need to pay anything. 

There is very little shade, there’s one or two trees that hang over the car park, but they’re small ones. I saw some people put their windscreen sun protection up to keep the heat out. 

You have the choice of looking out to the other car parks or out into grassland.

It’s surprisingly quiet there, especially considering it’s right next to the airport.

I got out of my ute and had a wander around, there’s not much.

Information board.

There are two bins, they’re unlabelled but there’s looks like there’s one for rubbish and one for recycling, when I dropped my empty can of V into one it sounded like it was the only thing that was in the bin.

There’s a pay station for presumedly when the ticket machine / boom gate is working.

There’s a mid-sized screen showing the arrivals of flights which is almost impossible to view with the sun beating on it.

And there’s an information board of where to go when you leave the waiting zone.

There is no grass around, it’s all compacted sand footpaths. That has not stopped some people letting their dogs shit on the side, I saw two piles that had not been cleared up by their owners (at least I hope it was dogs). 

Incidentally there are no toilets at this car park.

Exit and Entrance.

Then as I readied to leave I did half worry that the boom gate may go down as you approached, as the parking opposite the airport is done via credit card and reading your number plate, and thought they might have applied a similar process here. But it seemed not. (I had tried to watch people leave, but they seemed to not encounter anything like this)

So I just drove out and headed for the arrivals parking area.

The “Public pick up” was not amazing. Everyone is impatient, while in theory you should be able to drive up and easily park as you do at drop off at the terminal, in practice people are parallel parking. This results in more impatience, and people speeding in right at the 10 km/h speed limit and then getting annoyed by everyone and tooting their horns in impatience. There is a 1 minute limit for pickup.

Canberra 2021 road trip - 2 - National Gallery of Australia

in

I've driven to Canberra twice in the past neither of which I had GPS in my vehicle so I must have just written myself instructions to navigate.

It's not tricky to navigate in Canberra, but I certainly appreciated having my phone plugged into my ute with CarPlay giving me Google Maps directions to the National Gallery of Australia (underground car park). There weren't too many places with awkward directions, but it was appreciated having that (metaphorical) hand guiding me. 

There's no outward indications that there is an underground car park for the National Gallery. It's opposite the National Gallery rather than being underneath it, and it's got a park on top of it. 

It's located at Parkes Place East.

The sign says it's 2.0 metre height clearance, but driving through it definitely feels lower. Going down the ramp there is a left corner and then you're in the car park. It's two long lanes to park with the option turn at two locations. 

Be careful exiting the car park, there is a slight dog leg from the exit lane which requires a left and then you need to be straight on to get your window level with the ticket machine which is at the car park level (there is a barrier at street level that opens automatically). Don't follow really closely in the line to exit, as you need that extra car length to manoeuvre properly to line up with the ticket machine.

Exiting the car park on foot is either lift or stairs, both depositing you to the entrance of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA). 

I'd gotten there early, and mindful of the COVID conditions, didn't want to try and enter the exhibition too early than what my ticket read.

So I went for a little wonder around outside. 

The High Court of Australia is just across from the NGA, and it has a nice view of Lake Burley Griffin also. 

There were a few school groups at the NGA as well, many congregated outside. A bunch of high school kids shouting "wanker" to anyone (including me) as they walked past them.

Inside there were a lot of older people in the NGA and the exhibition I was there to see as well.

The exhibition itself was…fine?

About 10 years ago I visited the NGA to see the exhibition "Masterpieces from Paris" which included Van Gogh's Starry Night, and that was a really moving exhibition. I remember being able to lean in quite close to look at Starry Night, see the globs of paint, the 3D-ness of the painting, something I'd only ever seen in print or on a screen. Seeing it in person was a moving experience for me. 

This exhibition Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London was somewhat…underwhelming. 

Although still insightful, the different ranges of artists and styles on show were broad and really explained and displayed a lot. 

I feel a saw a lot of different styles.

The two drawcard paintings Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Monet's Water Lillies were…good?

Both paintings I learnt from the information cards beside were one of multiple versions of the paintings.

Although the version of Van Gogh's Sunflowers was one of two that was signed by the artist himself. 

So that was interesting and notable seeing that.

Monet's The Water-Liliy Pond was kinda underwhelming. 

Probably because I've seen different versions of this artwork, this version (one of more than 200+) was somewhat odd.

It's quite oddly shaped, while it does show the bridge and the lily pond below, it doesn't show the banks of the pond. 

The information beside the artwork claims "this shows it floating above the water". But to me, it just seemed an odd perspective, like the painting had been poorly cropped.

The exhibition is three and a half rooms, with paintings generally on three of the four walls. There is one half room  covering “The Grand Tour” as one of the tour people described a grand tour as a "kind of gap year" (where {the tour guide said} the people on it were expected to churn out paintings while on it). 

There were some large and interesting paintings of Venice in this room.

Overall it was the other paintings that really enlightened me on the styles of the periods covered, not those draw card paintings that were on display. 

One slightly detracting thing were the tours that were being run of the exhibition. One was alright by a woman who seemed professional and part of the NGA, she had an official looking lanyard at least and spoke with knowledge and authority (and not in too much of a loud voice), and had a small gathering of older people with her.

The other was an American woman, and she had a raised voice, had to keep checking the information plaques on the wall, didn't speak with much authority and was kind of annoying. I tried to stay away from her, but it did get close to irritating and kinda ruined the self discovery of the art works as I wandered around looking at them.

The exit, through the gift shop

You exit through a gift shop, not THE NGA gift shop, that's downstairs near the exit. This gift shop was just for this exhibition. There were various books, mugs, water bottles and other collectable things related to the art work. Plus other things like tea towels and napkins that seemed to tout their Australian-ness, but when you looked closer the might be designed in Australia, but their actual manufacture was a little less clear.

Eureka Car Park review

Location:

70 City Road, Southgate (technically)

Entrance actually from Southgate Avenue

No one does reviews of car parks. I know my previous write up of two car parks was essentially for a larger vehicle and this is again more of my noted experience rather than a completely detailed review.

Because there was a cricket thing on at the MCG and having had previous experience with football things making it difficult to park at the Federation Square car park I decided to err on the side of caution and park elsewhere. I didn’t park in the QV which is often my alternative car park location because I was going to be going to the lower end of Elizabeth Street.

The car park I selected was the Eureka Car Park owned / run by Wilson Parking. Their website had a photo of the car park, which I’d also checked out on Google Street View and it listed the height, always something useful to know.

I discovered it was also significantly cheaper than Federation Square being $9.00 on a weekend.

It is a minor detour from CityLink and it also slightly further from the city, if you’re heading to Swanston Street or somewhere like that.

But compared to the $16.00 at Federation Square this is something of a saving.

One thing that it didn’t list, which admittedly would be hard to list on a website where you’re trying to provide good basic information to the potential customer and this was the drivability of the car park.

Left is tight corner

Left is tight corner

Basically I measure this by how easy it is for me to drive my Ford Ranger up / down the levels of the car park.

It was easier than QV car park because of the height of each level meant you could look over the top / around the parked cars to see cars approaching the choke point in the car park which is where the corners are. In the QV car park these corners are very blind and sometimes involve an S bend.

I didn’t go all the way to the top of the Eureka Car Park but I did get to level 5 which is where I parked. I did reverse into the spot with my tow bar basically touching the wall. My vehicle was in...well close enough in. The wheels were basically within the parking spot.

Things of note, there is a ramp immediately after the ticket machine entry. It’s steep. It covers at least one level, probably closer to two as the lift that deposits you on this level (which is the Southbank exit) is level 2. It’s probably as steep as the exit from Jeff’s Shed is. Thankfully you don’t need to stop at the top like you do there. But it is notable in its steepness.

The other notable thing is the lack of stairs. There are two lifts that service the car park and two potential floors to exit the car park. Level 2 deposits you on the same level (after walking down the ramp) that you entered the car park from. It leads to Southbank. The other the ground level leads to the Eureka Skydeck entrance. I left via the former.

Given its relative closeness to the city and the cheaper price compared to Federation Square I think it’s good as an alternative car park to Federation Square, especially when there’s some sort of sporting event on at one of the sports grounds that’s close to the Federation Square carp park.

Parking a big ute in Melbourne

According to the Victorian Planning Provisions 52.06-9 the length of a car park space is a minimum of 6.7 metres for parallel and 4.9 metres for 45º, 60º and 90º parking bays.

I have a four door Ford Ranger. It has a tow bar and a roo bar on it.

According to the Ford Ranger brochure it is 5531 mm long. This doesn’t include the roo or tow bars.

Before getting started here’s the lengths of other utes in a similar class as a four door Ford Ranger:

  • Mitsubishi Triton is 5389 mm long.

  • Holden Colorado is 5347 mm long.

  • Nissan Navara is 5296 mm long.

  • Volkswagen Amarok is 5254 mm long.

  • Isuzu D-Max is 5030 mm long.

Notably, none are as long as the Ford Ranger.

None of these utes’ brochures / websites seem to take into account the addition of a tow bar which many come standard with.

As roo and nudge bars are extra features none list these.

When I first began driving and more importantly parking my Ranger I discovered one very notable thing, which is probably obvious given the dimensions listed on this page so far.

If any car parks are built to absolute minimum regarding their degree-based parking bays there will be trouble because the bay is smaller than the vehicle.

This isn’t too much of a problem when you’re in the suburbs, there’s usually space to park away from everyone. At least I try to park away from the main thoroughfares of car parks so my Ranger is not poking out too much.

In almost all situations in parking bays I have found, and had to learn to reverse park, because I have found it to be quite difficult to get the Ranger into a space where it has some semblance of fitting. Because reversing in means I can get it right up to the line with the aid of sensors and reversing camera.

In Melbourne this becomes even more necessary. In the city you don’t have the luxury of being able to park away from where the busy bits are, in a parking structure there is no ‘quiet’ part in the city. Everyone’s looking for a parking spot.

I have found two locations where I’ve found that I can squeeze a little more space out of a location to fit my large vehicle.

Firstly the Federation Square car park.

Which at first glance doesn’t have any spaces that offer any more room than any other location.

Federation Square car park slatted wall

It is easy to get to, if you’re coming from the south, south east or east. It’s accessible from CityLink via Batman Parade or if not the tollways then going along Wellington Parade and joining Flinders Street from the east.

Inside the parking structure there’s one or two things to note if you’re parking a larger vehicle. Due to the way that the Federation Square car park is constructed you can see there’s gaps between the support bars that hold the structure up. This allows you, if you’re reversing in to get your vehicle back a little further, or more to the point the tow bar back against the metal mesh. It gains you a couple of millimetres here.

Secondly, and this is more for other people, though also for yourself to keep your vehicle out of the way.

The way the Federation Square car park is laid out the ramps leading to each level are not right at the far side wall of the car park (as they are in some car parks). This means there’s about four parking spots on the east side of the car park which aren’t in the way of the car park traffic trying to go up or down the levels of the Federation Square car park. It’s here that I often try to park as they’re easier to reverse into (as it takes me a few goes to get it absolutely right) and here you’re out of the way even if while the wheels may be within the parking spot the car is not.

Federation Square spaces on east beside ramp

Federation Square spaces on east side near ramp/stairwell

Next up is the QV car park.

This is not as easy to get to.

It’s in the middle of Melbourne.

My preferred access is from Russell Street, just after the Lonsdale Street intersection.

It’s an entrance where you have to have some trust that they’ve designed it properly because the turning from the street level looks like a brick wall and you have to turn left into it. <Street View link>

Thankfully it’s actually a lot easier than the blind corner that it is would suggest. Just beware of pedestrians who ignore the fact they often do not have a green crossing signal.

Once inside and down the surprisingly steep ramp down into the car park don’t bother with the first level. Continue down to the second or even third level.

QV car park - extra space

Here you need to find car park spaces along the furthest back wall, they’re thankfully numbered so I can say number 2253 or around abouts that.

These spaces have been drawn onto the floor, but there’s space, overhang behind it which is not counted within the space. This allows people with large vehicles to back (or even drive in forwards as there’s a surprising amount of room) and have your vehicle fit into the space with ease.

These are the only two car parks I’ve parked in with any regularity in Melbourne. As these two are basically perfectly located for a majority of things I might need to do in the CBD.

The other thing to note is height, which does determine from the outset which car parks you can even get into.

Here’s the dimensions for the above utes.

  • Ford Ranger: 1848 mm

  • Volkswagen Amarok: 1834 mm

  • Nissan Navara: 1795 mm

  • Holden Colorado: 1780 mm

  • Mitsubishi Triton: 1780 mm

  • Isuzu D-Max: 1735 mm

Ideally a height limit for a car park would be 2.0 metres. There are a lot of car parks in Melbourne that list their max height as 1.9 metres.

Federation Square car park level 3

As that only leaves 52 mm, I prefer to find car parks with 2.0 metres, that at least gives me 152 mm. Still not a gigantic amount but it’s a little bit better, just in case there’s something rogue hanging down.

Not that this is likely to be an issue, but I used to drive a car that compared to the Ranger was significantly lower. I used to park that in the Victorian Arts Centre which lists their height restriction for their car park as 1.9 metres. That car park in particular feels a lot lower than 1.9 metres.

To wrap up now.

Federation Square’s pros is that it’s easier to get into if you’re coming from the south or east as it’s not within the CBD. Cons are that all the spaces are mostly the same size and any that allow over hang (as I mentioned for the QV) are positioned close to the lifts which means they’re always already taken. Another con is its position. It’s within walking distance of the MCG. This is a problem because it fills up quickly and overflow is in vacant land beside the car park. Not good if you want to park and know your vehicle is securely parked.

QV level 3 car park

QV’s pros are there is overhang which means you can fit larger vehicles into the spots. Cons; it’s in the middle of the CBD, getting into it involves a seemingly narrow turn, exiting involves going up a steep incline (if you exit onto Little Lonsdale street), once within the turns to get down to the second and third levels are somewhat blind and narrow.

But as I said being able to fit my vehicle into the space is a significant plus.

Price wise both Federation Square’s car park’s prices and QV’s car park’s prices are listed on their websites. There’s about $2 difference between them, the only notable thing is that QV’s night rate begins an hour earlier than Federation Square’s.

See also my separate review on the Eureka car park