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Traveling with Jo and Peter |
After a test pack, we are confident what we want to take will fit in our suitcases.
What we are not 100% confident of is that we have not forgotten something but that is anxiety we are coping with. With 5 no-sleeps until we jet out to Istanbul and beyond, things are exciting.
The final run has last minute marking, reporting, housey things to do but nothing that will not get done.
Contemplating 6 weeks away is overwhelming, but bring it on!
Determined to get a feel for the place, we went out of our way to explore more than just the city area. Although we walked (or at the end of the day trudged) nearly everywhere, this blog looks at things further away – where we needed transport (public or hire) to get there.
We knew little (apart from how delicious the ones we had tried) about the wine of the Yarra Valley so booked on an Epicurean tour of some of the Wineries there. We were picked up, ferried from one cellar door to another, talking grape varieties, aspect, soil types and terroir (that particularly French term for that intangible combination of climate, position and magic) that all turn grape juice into fine distinctive wine.
Tasting varietals, blends and single-vinyard brews you gain some appreciation of the stunning variety of taste, attack, sustain and decay (to borrow a sound mixing metaphor) or flavour. The region produced dry whites predominantly and medium body reds and we found some to add to our home cellar.
Part of the tour was a bubbly (boozy) lunch at Domayne Chandon, along with tastings of vintage bubbles – charcuterie and duck/fish was a lovely meal. The day went by really quickly, we saw lots of damp but interesting countryside and that autumn tinge we do not see in Brisbane – nothing quite like the reds, oranges and yellows of autumn.
Not far from Melbourne CBD is the Mornington Peninsula, so we hired a car for the day (we had booked a little zippy car but they gave us a new auto Jeep – a new driving experience for Peter) and we headed out along the coast roads, avoiding the motorway (we have found that motorways are great for getting from point A to point B if you are not interested in seeing anything).
The trip was interesting as the Mornington Peninsula is at the end of a long crescent-shaped bay that almost bends back on itself. We headed to the Peninsula Hot Springs – a hot bore that has been directed into a graded series of pools from hot (40+ degrees C) to cooler along a wooded valley. The complex was very well designed and appointed, each pool was stone lined, with seats to marinate and much of it was kid-free (a rule enforced). We hired towels, robes and leisurely moved from pool to pool, getting out when cooked to be “refreshed” by the nippy air – a wonderfully relaxing way to spend a morning.
We then motored into the mountains and wine district (yes, very different styles grown here) and stopped at a winery/general providore for hearty lunch and relax. We had planned a bushwalk but it was blowy and the wind lazy (going through you rather than bothering to go around) go we went on a scenic drive instead, taking in the vistas as we went – at one point we were directly opposite Melbourne (which appeared to float on the horizon) as the bay curls around – very picturesque.
When dining on the tram-car restaurant, we sort of passed through the outskirts of St Kilda and so we vowed to travel there to see what there is to see. We walked a short distance from our digs to a tramstop on the correct line to take us near Melbourne’s Southbank. As Brisbanites, we thought we understood river-side life but it is no wonder that Melbournians poke fun at our city – they have thoroughly integrated the river, arts, restaurants and parks to make the most of their river. We in Brisbane have that flooping huge freeway effectively cutting us off from the river – a great pity that it was not planned better.
We caught a tram at the end of our southbank stroll which took us to the outskirts of St Kilda, then we walked the waterfront, taking time to walk out on the pier. It was blowy and cold, but we could imagine the pier and surrounding beachfronts packed with people in summer – the long curved beachfront as far as the eye can see.
We walked Ackland Street drooling at the cake shops, stopping at The Monarch for tea and cake as a warmer-upper before tramming all the way back to the city. All tram lines are in what Melbourne trams call “zone 1”, meaning you can travel really quite vast distances on them for nearly nothing – other cities (Brisbane especially) could learn that cheap public transport means that people use it – we saw very little car traffic in the city and I am sure it is a result of this.
It has been fun exploring Melbourne and surrounding districts – we had no idea what was here and now we at least have our bearings – there are so many other places to try the food and wine so I am confident we will be back, although I do not think we could do a winter visit – autumn was cold enough for us – there are only so many layers you can wear and manage when travelling – the climate here was similar to that we experienced last year in London, cooler than we experienced in Paris – we will have to make do with the times of the year that are best for us to travel in however.
We have travelled to Sydney a few times, and love the city and harbour but neither of us can remember visiting Melbourne. Our parents say we visited as kids but neither of us have any useful memories of that visit, and something tells me it _may_ have changed a little since then.
We decided on an Easter-ish visit, outside of school holidays (mainly because we did not want to share our holidays with hoards of holidaying kids as well – selfish/practical?).
I have a lot of Long Service Leave accrued and we have vowed not to waste it on anything but getaways, so we planned last year (2013) to do Melbourne in the autumn of 2014. We picked this time of year because it is not right in the middle of the Siberian cold that Melbourne is famous for, nor too close to the furnace summer it is also famous for. Apparently there are about 7 perfect days in Melbourne, weather-wise, and we may have sprung the jackpot on this trip.
What can we say about what we have learned about Melbourne so far? Quite a bit really:
Weather:
They say Melbourne can be 4 seasons on one day and I think that is fairly accurate, particularly at this time of year. We have woken up to bleary skies, been rained on whilst getting to a tramstop, umbrellas blown asunder as we dash to a department store from the destination tramstop, shop and emerge to a fine, sunny and hot day. One day we had every type of weather (except for snow) while on a bus trip exploring the wine districts of the Yarra Valley. The way to manage Melbourne, at least in Autumn, is to plan layers – the cold can be profound so have warm things that you can peel when it is too hot – feet and shoulders first, the rest next – common sense prevails. Nothing more miserable than being miles from your digs and cold/wet so plan. ‘Nuff said. It is said there is no such thing as poor weather, just inappropriate clothes – true that.
Trams:
Simple to use, slow, can be crowded and clunky but they get you where you need to go in the CBD – they have a poorly working smart-card thing (a little like a gocard) but the readers are not very powerful and you end up smooshing the card on the reader for ages until it registers you are there. The “MiKey” card offers weekly deals (we got a weekly) but you have to pay for the card also, and that is not refundable. You take your life into your hands weaving traffic to get to a tramstop sometimes, or from one the to footpath, but that is part of the fun. Avoid the free city circle tram – unless you like playing sardines with hundreds of freeloaders. Interestingly, others have disagreed and admittedly we base these comments on journeys on a Saturday arvo – it was really busy but the city circle route does take in many interesting places in the CBD and we ended up mirroring it using our MiKey – the free option might be just as good.
Shopping:
Huge department stores, amazing food courts, food halls and markets. For fresh produce you would be hard pressed to beat the Queen Victoria Markets – we spent a morning in the food section provisioning for our week, and bought pastas, meats, dips, sweeties, veg – amazingly fresh and we think good value. We did not spend time in the other sheds of the markets – they go for a few city blocks – a 2do for next time.
Food and Wine:
We toured the Yarra Valley on a food and wine tour – a great (but boozy) day where we discovered some lovely Pino Noir and Chardonnay varietals (the area is particularly known for these) – we bought nearly a dozen and had them shipped home, leaving us a couple of “working bottles” for the week here as well. There is a LOT of really good wine to be had here – in the restaurants we frequented they had a good range “by the glass” and there is lots to taste. The food culture here seems really important – so many really good eateries – some showy, some in really out of the way places (a bagelry that we would have missed if we did not know where to look, down an unmarked alley). We have had some standout meals, the Hellenic Republic Greek feast still shines for us as abundant and delicious from start to finish. The cafes and smaller places are worth seeking out – amazing food (we have not had a dud meal) reasonably priced for what you get. We also found plenty of places for tea/coffee and cake/sweet treats (more later).
Art and Kulture:
We went to the National Gallery of Victoria (International) – a wonderful building full of some amazing stuff both in permanent collection and we found the temp exhibits interesting also. We avoided the NGV (Australia) – nothing there seemed very interesting to us. We visited the ACCA (Aust Centre for Contemporary Art) – an out of the way rusty twisted building and found the Next14 exhibition really interesting, but it is a bit of a hike to get there. We also went to the Australian Centre for Moving Image (ACMI) on Federation Square to see a Dreamworks exhibition and that was really neat – their “small screens” permanent exhibit is also a time sink, full of stuff to see and interact with.
Sweet Treats:
We admit to being a bit spoilt by the patisseries of Paris, but have found much to covet in terms of sweet treats, pastries, exotic cakes, pies, chocolates and macaron. A MUST visit is La Belle Miette – a maconry in Hardware Lane – yum! Sweet tooths should also visit the David Jones foodhall or the many chocolate specialists around the CBD – you will pay for the quality but wow, just wow.
Anti-Tea:
(see previous post) Melbourne’s anti-tea field is weak – with a little care a perfectly reasonable cup of tea can be made with tap water which was a nice surprise – we both need tea and it is good when it tastes like it should.