Melbourne City in 3 days – AKA Australia’s New York

Melbourne City in three days!?   No thinking twice when asked by my daughter to join her – packed my bags, booked a flight and off we flew.  Well it was a bit more involved than that, but it was three days and we had some amazing experiences in 47 hours (which included travelling from Brisbane)

We spent a jam-packed three days with a walking tour, cooking and cocktail classes, shopping a legendary “tram ride” and so much more…..

Arriving in Melbourne

Flying in from Brisbane we arrived at our Punthill Manhattan apartment in Flinders Lane.  What an apartment – five rooms for the two of us, serviced daily!  Plus, a view of the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) and Rod Laver Stadium– bargain.   Can highly recommend, especially as it was cheaper than a hotel and so centrally located.

Dumping our bags at the apartment we went for a hike around the central shopping district.  Shopping not in mind, just looking at the amazing architecture and tree lines streets around Melbourne City.

Our first free City Circle tram got us safely back – we definitely found our bearings of Melbourne City that first afternoon!

Melbourne City is well known for experiencing four seasons in one day. Well we probably only had two – sunny and “windy”.  The wind was coming straight from Antarctica and we were glad of having at least one jacket – which was worn every day!

Where to Eat Dinner?

Gazi (Greek) Restaurant was an easy choice as it was only 100m down the road from Punthill Apartments and we enjoy Greek fare.

Luckily we had booked because the place was packed, abuzz with an amazing atmosphere, great food and a hanging terracotta flower pot ceiling!  The food was delicious:

• braised beef souvlakakia
• asparagus with fetta
• Kroketa – Moussake
• Riceball, yoghurt

Free Walking Tour

A Melbourne City Free Walking Tour was the start to our day.   Heading over at the State Library on Swanston Street we were met by three local guides and 75 other keen walkers.  After being split into three groups we headed off with our guide, Andreas.

Walking on the first half of the tour was quite “brisk” and we were introduced to the old and modern Melbourne history by visiting the following places: (Not necessarily in this order)

• State Library of Victoria – this was the meeting point.
• Carlton Gardens – so lush and green. This city of “green infrastructure” has to be seen to be believed, it’s just a mass of parks, gardens, vertical walls, rooftop garden and tree lined streets.
  

  Colourful skyline from Carlton Park.

• Royal Exhibition Centre – a grand old building that is world heritage listed. The building was having a scrub up while we were there ready for the summer onslaught of visitors!
• Old Melbourne Gaol – here we learnt about Australia’s famous bushranger, Ned Kelly.
• Melbourne’s Laneways – food, food, shops, street art, coffee culture – did I mention food!
  

  Coffee. Culture and Shops

• The historic Royal Arcade with such a variety of specialty shops.
  

  Royal Arcade, Melbourne – part of the Walking Tour.

• Eureka Tower – the tallest modern building – soon to be usurped by a taller sky scraper being built next door.
• Chinatown – apparently the longest Chinese settlement in the Western World and the oldest Chinatown in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Princess Theatre – this is an amazing grand old Victorian theatre (heritage listed).
• Parliament House.
• Parliament Gardens – home to the Coles Fountain where in the warm weather people stand close to get sprayed and cool off by the cascading water. (It was super chilly so we didn’t bother!) You’ll also see a lifelike memorial for two of Australia’s most prominent indigenous leaders – Pastor Sir Douglas and Lady Gladys.
• Bourke St Shopping Mall – H&M, David Jones and all the popular places that rob your purse.
• Flinders St Station – this massive historical building takes up two entire city blocks. A grand old building if ever there was one.
• 

  Flinders Street Station that takes up two city blocks!

• Federation Square – amazing public open space.  But, like many people the design didn’t really grab us – apparently there are lots of differing opinions on the aesthetic look of the building.

Halfway through the tour we had a 10-minute pit stop – just enough time to grab a delicious Japanese beef curry bun that recharged our batteries!

In Melbourne City it’s important to tip the guide because they don’t receive payment and they are worth their weight in gold (or paper!)

Ponyfish Island

People Watching at Federation Square was a must and then the tour finished at the Yarra River where we crossed Princes Bridge.  Wandering along Southbank we saw this cute little bar called Ponyfish Island in, what looked like, the middle of the river.  Couldn’t resist and headed over part of the pedestrian bridge, down a few stairs to the river level and found a couple of spare seats. Quite an experience!

Free Tram Zone in Melbourne City

The Free Tram Zone means that any tram trip you take that starts and ends within the City Centre (designated as the Free Tram Zone) will be free.  Fantastic for visitors (like us) who were staying in the city as we had at least 6 rides to get us from place to place.

Victoria Markets

A ride on the free trams took us to the Victoria Markets – high on the list of “must do” items.  Contrary to the website, the markets close at 3 pm on Fridays, which is when we were there, so we decided to go back on Sunday before flying home.

TIP – visit the Victoria Markets website for opening hours because they are different each day.

Christmas Shop

With the Jolly Roundish Man in Lapland already planning his deliveries, we dropped into the Christmas Display at Ambiance Gifts outside the entrance to the markets.

Well…there’s Christmas Shops and Christmas Shops and we’d never seen anything like this one!  It was HUGE and a few times I got lost among Santa’s elves and the other myriad of Christmas items.  How could you not resist buying little girl and boy elves to hang from the tree, or a string of coloured glass holly to go over a picture window, or one of the other 10,000 items!

Then it was time to discover more of Melbourne City’s culinary delights in the famous laneways.

Tapas in Degraves Street

The Tapas menu caught our attention at Degraves Espresso.  Luckily our friendly waiter suggested we only order two plates each and not three because they were large – and so they were!

• Brushetta
• Fried Eggplant stack
• Prawns
• Chicken Satay Skewers
• Tirmisu to finish off the night!
  

  Tapas in Degraves Street

Dumpling Cooking Class

This dumpling cooking class had been pre-booked at Otao Kitchen, Richmond, where we lined up with 12 other budding culinary experts!

With utensils at the ready we concentrated on our kneading, chopping and rolling technique that resulted in 30 dumplings each filled with:

• Pork mince
• Wombok Cabbage
• Oyster Mushrooms
• Water Chestnuts
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Spring Onions
• Garlic Chives
• Soy Sauce, vegetable oil and a sprinkle of sesame oil.

(Sadly I overstuffed my dumplings and only made 13 not 30!)

Steamers were waiting to cook the dumplings while we cleaned our work space.  Then… we sat at the bench with our mouth-watering creations dipping them into two sauces.  One black vinegar and the other soy sauce with a dash of Sesame Oil.

Even with a cold Asahi Beer to wash them down we still took four takeaway containers back to the apartment.

NB – These are Thermomix friendly!

Myer Music Bowl

Walking was definitely needed after stuffing ourselves with dumplings, so after a quick taxi ride back to the city we crossed the river to the Myer Music Bowl in the Kings Domain Gardens.  Most of you will know about the popular Carols by Candlelight that’s held there every year.

Sitting on the grass without another person in sight it was easy to imagine being on stage singing along with Judith Durham (of Seekers fame)!

Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park

At this impressive complex we were fascinated to see about 40 ball girls and boys being trained, probably for the Australian Open tennis in January.   These young people were so fast in retrieving the ball and scooting it back up the sideline – maybe the prize of chocolate by the coach had been added incentive!

MCG, Melbourne City

The legendary MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) was out last walking stop.  This complex that holds just over100,000 when full to capacity and you can see several famous players set in bronze around the outside. Dennis Lillee was my favourite as he’s the fast bowler I remember well when my Dad used to watch the cricket on the TV.

Cocktail Class at 1806

Hey ho, hey ho, it’s off to work we go…..our “job” was learning to make cocktails at the1806 Cocktail Bar, Exhibition Street, only a quick walk from the apartment.

Did you know that 1806 was the year that defined the cocktail? 

Again this class had been pre-booked and we had a private “sitting” at the bar with our own very experienced cocktail waiter called Hamish.

Our creations were:-

• A mixed Gin Daisy, and
• A shaken Martini Espresso – this really worked the old arms out!

All the ins and outs of how to pour, mix, shake and taste were learnt in an hour and then we relaxed and enjoyed our creations.

Street Art and Laneways

With only half a day left to explore Melbourne City, we sought out street art in several laneways.  Hosier Lane is probably the most well-known, but there are many others hidden throughout the city featuring incredible artwork – some worthy of a global award.   These lanes included:

• AC/DC Lane
• Croft Alley
• Duckboard Place, and
• Rankins Lane, among others.

Victoria Markets – a Revisit

Back on the trusty tram to Victoria Markets we took up where we’d left off on Day Two.

These 140+ year old open-air markets are the largest in the southern hemisphere and had 600 stalls for us to explore.  Because we were flying home to Brisbane not a lot of time was spent in the meat and fish halls, but beef jerky and giant Kalamata olives were squeezed into our carry-on luggage!

And…it’s impossible to walk past the buskers without stopping for a look and listen.

TIP – When you visit the markets buy street food from one of the 30 stalls and enjoy the music without rushing.

After two hours of looking, walking (and a bit of spending) it was back on the tram, collect our bags from the apartment and head to the airport.

It goes without saying that three days is NOT enough time to even scratch the outside of Melbourne City and surrounds, which means we have to go back!

Handy to Know for a Melbourne City Long Weekend:

1. Myki Card – if you plan to use buses you need to pick up one of these cards from a Myki machine at Metro railway stations, 7-Eleven stores and many Melbourne City retailers.
2. Free Walking Tour – perfect way to get an overview of the city.
3. Walking Shoes – sturdy ones because of cobbled streets.
4. Free Tram Zone – anywhere in the CBD and Docklands.
5. Clothing – be aware of the change of seasons (!) and always have a jacket.
6. Umbrella – a must, just in case.