Neal and I were lucky enough to have some wonderful house guests over the last few months. We had Grissel and Jorge join us for a
week in February and were officially our first house guests We had a blast with
all 3 trips Jeff & Jess made in between their Australian adventures in
February, March and April before they moved backed to Canada a few weeks ago.
We were sad to see them leave but so grateful to have been able to share such
incredible memories with our best friends throughout our adventures in New
Zealand and Australia. Our last house guest was Derek who came and visited us
for 2 weeks in March; where Neal and Derek attended the infamous Melbourne
Grand Prix for the Formula One in Albert Park.
I will highlight some of the adventures we had around our
new and amazing city of Melbourne.
St. Kilda Night Market
During the summer months, the popular suburb of St. Kilda has
a Night Market outside of the famous landmark of Luna Park. The small park is
filled with incredible food stalls, souvenirs, clothes and vintage records. St.
Kilda has more of a backpacker/ hippy vibe and that was evident in the people
and music at the night market. We had such a blast there that we went with both
Grissel and Jorge and showed it to Jeff & Jess. Along Ackland Street are
also the famous cake shops with elaborate displays of all their decadent
desserts!
desserts!
Melbourne Foodies
Melbourne is well known for being food and coffee snobs.
They take both of these very seriously; which is a win-win situation for us
because you are almost always guaranteed great food and delicious coffees.
According to TripAdvisor the #1 restaurant and most recommended by friends is
the Tramcar Restaurant. This is exactly how it sounds and is a restaurant built
in a tramcar that includes a 3 or 5 course dinners that you enjoy while taking
in the sights of Melbourne. We decided to celebrate Jeff’s 30th birthday
by having dinner here and it was incredible.
The Lui Bar is a very popular place to grab a drink and take
in the spectacular views of the city from the 55th floor. We took
all of our house guests up here for pre dinner drinks and to enjoy the beautiful
sunsets.
Lygon Street is the “Little Italy” of Melbourne and because
the street is chokkas with little Italian Cafes you can negotiate some pretty fantastic
deals when coming out for dinner during the week. We frequented this several
times with Jeff, Jess and Derek. Neal and I usually come here a few times a
month for our pizza/ pasta fix as it is only a 15min walk away.
Kangaroo has been a consistent request of our house guests to
try before the leave. We found quite a few places that serve a great kangaroo fillet.
If cooked properly it is a very tender, slightly gamey and delicious cut of
meat that we have come to enjoy.
There have been so many fantastic restaurants and bars in
Melbourne that it would take ages to mention them all. Let’s just say if you
love food, wine and amazing cocktails then Melbourne should be on your list of
places to see. Neal and I eat out every Friday night and love discovering all
the places in the little alley ways and side streets that Melbourne is founded
on.
Melbourne Bike Share
Melbourne has a bike share program all
over the city. You simply put your credit card into the machine and pick a daily
or weekly rental and enter how many bikes you want. You get a code to unlock
the bikes and can take any of the abundant bike paths around the city and as
long as you dock your bike in a station every 30 minutes then it is free. There
is even an app that tells you where the nearest bike station is and how many
spaces and bikes are available. Jeff, Jess and Derek used the bike share a lot
to see some of the various areas of city. It is a fantastic way to see Melbourne
and not be committed to having to use the bike all day. Helmets are sold in the
7-11 for $5, they are unused and you keep them after. Jess and I were even
interviewed one day while we went out for a spin, check it out! http://media.theage.com.au/news/national-news/will-free-helmets-save-melbourne-bike-share-4131981.html
Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is one of our
favourite places to go for a day trip. It is a 1hr30min drive from Melbourne.
We go to relax on the beautiful beaches, enjoy wine at the various vineyards
and the small little towns are amazing to explore. We took Jeff and Jess out
here and enjoyed our 32 degree summer day!
Yarra Valley
On Jeff and Jess’ last visit with us we
spent the day out in the Yarra Valley. It is a 45minute drive outside the city
and is in a beautiful valley with the “mountains” in the distance. Neal volunteered to drive so Jess and I got to
indulge in the wine/ cider tastings at Punt Road, Coombe Farms and Innocent
Bystander. We bought our favourite cheese at Yarra Valley Dairy and ate
delicious wood fired pizzas at Innocent Bystander. There is plenty to do in the
Yarra Valley that we have yet to explore but it is yet another favourite place
to spend a day. The exceptionally large bottle of wine below is one that survived the bush fires in 2009 and Prince Harry also gifted 60 of these gigantic bottles for Will & Kate's Wedding After Party!
Melbourne Grand Prix, Formula One
The Melbourne Grand Prix is a street
circuit held every year at Albert Park. Neal and Derek had tickets on Turn One
and enjoyed the event despite all of the rain. They were a little disappointed that
Kimi Raikkonen won and not Louis Hamilton (Neal’s Favourite).
Crown Casino
Crown is an impressive Vegas size resort complex
built on the Yarra River bank in Southbank. Crown is filled with Casinos,
Cinemas, Award-Winning Restaurants, Shops and Nightclubs. There is a popular
fire show on the several pillars outside the complex running along the banks of
the river. We enjoy taking people here for dinner and a night out. It feels
like you’ve taken a trip to Vegas without the flights!
We still highly recommend the Philip
Island Penguin Tour, which Grissel and Jorge did and thoroughly enjoyed. Derek
did the Great Ocean Road Tour, which Jeff and Jess also saw on their drive from
Adelaide to Melbourne. This is also a place we have been a few times on our own
and encourage people to take the trip out there.
That is just a small glimpse into some of
the fantastic things that Melbourne has to offer. It is a wonderful city to
visit and live in as there is always something going on. Whether it is
concerts, festivals, museums or sporting events; there is a never ending supply
of things to keep you entertained!
All the best!
Laura
