Exploring Melbourne

Our first few days in Australia were spent exploring Melbourne and the Yarra Valley with our family and friends. Great fun, but it turns out that consolidating media for the blog is far more faffy than it ought to be! Anyway:

Day 1: The Yarra Valley

Our first full day of adventures took us outside of the city – Stop 1 was Olinda for coffee and scones, not particularly Australian but delicious all the same. We were celebrating Dad’s birthday, so the next stop was Many Hands winery for a tasting and lunch. What a feast! After tasting 4 different wines, the owner said for $55 we do an all you can eat style menu – Pizza, Pasta, Antipasti platter and dessert. Safe to say it really was all you can eat: 2 full pizzas, a huge antipasto, 2 sharing plates of pasta, and desserts that we had to take home!

Feeling like rolling we went for a beautiful walk through the Alowyn Gardens and maze where we saw the ‘lesser spotted V-flicker’ as named by Uncle Dave!

No trip to the Yarra Valley is complete without a visit to the Yarra Valley Chocolateries so we had to give their chocolate a tasting just in case as well.

Finishing off the day with some real wildlife spotting and a Cockatoo eating a banana on someone’s balcony. Safe to say we won’t be able to buy a house in Melbourne anytime soon!

Day 2: Melbourne Central extravaganza

Today we spent the day exploring with some special friends Georgina and Greg in Melbourne – our local tour guides! We started with a stroll through the botanical gardens, they really are beautiful but at 33C by 10am it was a sweaty stroll!! Melbourne is a foodie heaven we spent the day eating, drinking and exploring…again. Started at the Queen Victoria Markets trying freshly cooked jam donuts followed by a visit to the Cheese Train. A unique experience and who new coffee pairs so well with cheese. A little slice of luxury before our 3 months of beans on toast!

After all the eating we decide to go for a stroll around the city - the Dr Seuss gallery, Gog and Magog (very random!), Fortress Melbourne, the Yarra river, Opera in Federal square and toured the incredible street art on the laneways.

22000 steps later we were ready for the sofa!

Day 3: South Yarra Suburbs

Kiwi friends round 2!! We met Lucy and Alex some friends from NZ at the Prahran Markets for pastries and a catch up. These pastries challenge even the likes of Lune – look how cute the coffee croissant is. Thanks for treating us Lucy and Alex!

We though 33C was crazy hot on Saturday but little did we know it would hit 37C on Sunday. We went for a walk round Fawkner park at about 3pm only to have to stop for an emergency ice cream – what ‘Golden Gaytime’ it was! Blooming delicious, wish we got 2.

A hot day is never complete without a trip to the beach and Brighton’s Bathing boxes were on the cards for an evening stroll/swim with mum and dad. An Unexpected incoming storm quickly lit up the skies with bolts of lightning, but we didn’t let that stop us from a quick dip – The first of many Aussies swims to come. Although as Chloe’s sister pointed out we may as well have just been in the UK!