Travelling to Australia (Part 2)

Yuhuuu.. Kangaroo!!
Yeah, my lifetime dream to see kangaroo is actually over achieved! I hand-fed Kangaroo myself.. it was unbelievable. They actually very tame and not dangerous..

Me, hubby, and my 15 months old daughter went to Australia for year end holiday in 2016. I have been wanting to go to Australia for years, but it is quite expensive destination for Indonesian, so we need to save first.
Here's the breakdown of cost that I spent along my journey:
1. Air ticket. I got this quite cheap because I booked 7 months in advance. I got 7.5 Million IDR fare ticket per person, plus 500K IDR for additional infant below 23 months. In total, we paid around 15.5 Million IDR.
2. Visa. Infant is paying full, hiks.. so we pay for 3 people, means 3 x 1,500,000 = 4,500,000. For visa application information, you can go here.
3. We booked our hotel through traveloka, although they actually partnered with Expedia. Sydney hotel is more expensive than Melb's, in total we spent around 7 million IDR for 8 nights. Not bad, hehe.. because we're staying in a budget hotel.
4. We exchanged money around 1,000 AUD, but ended up spending more using credit card to rent car. We didn't plan to rent a car there, but the Philip Island tour that supposedly picked us up, was cancelling the trip few days before :(

In total, we spent almost 40 Million IDR. Quite expensive right? but if you go on a tour, it will be more expensive.

Here's some tips for traveling on a budget in Australia:
SYDNEY

• Sydney is very accessible through metro/ subway, and the good thing is their Opal card is free. Just get it on the airport, on the entrance of airport metro station. Remember, if you bring infant, you can't take taxi or any car without baby seat. They will get fined.

• Our hotel, Springfield Lodge, was quite nearby the king cross metro station, and there are a lot of foods stall and supermarket nearby, can save your money $$$! The hotel was not bad, just a little cramped, but the location is superb. Although King cross is famous for it's night bars, thus it is not recommended for female solo traveler.
• Take Sydney free walking tour to get to know the city history, but prepare your sneakers! Basically they didn't charge fixed amount, but you can give some tips for the guide. Usually the guides are college students who are looking for extra money. I took the I'm free tour, highly recommended!

MELBOURNE

• Melbourne public transport is only trams, and the tram card is quite pricey. If possible, book a hotel in the city center and walk everywhere. Our hotel is a bit on the city side, so we walk quite far to the city center. But everything is Melbourne is cheaper than Sydney, the foods, clothing discount, etc.
• To save money, fortunately our hotel has kitchen, thus we bought some frozen foods like pizza or pasta and just heat it in the microwave. The cheapest supermarket in the city is countdown, although Cole's is not bad as well. 
• Renting a car could be a cheaper option to go outside the city if you travel more than 3 people, rather than going on day tour. You need to visit stunning places outside Melbourne, such as Philip Island and twelve apostles. I hand-fed Kangaroo in Philip Island wildlife park, paid ticket fee of AUD 14. We also went to twelve apostles, definitely stunning, this photo even doesn't do the justice: