meander 'round Melbourne

What to do on the non-holiday before Cup Day - a relaxing day off in Melbourne...

Catch the 10:30am #220 bus at 10:25am (finally twigged that city-bound buses are currently running 3 - 5 minutes *ahead* of schedule, so made sure to get to the stop early/on time for once!)

Alight outside Crown Casino/purgatory in Clarendon St, and stroll west along the riverbank, towards Spencer St. Given that it's the beginning of November, it's impossible to avoid horsey things anywhere in Melbourne, so despite doing a sharp left before encountering the Melbourne Cup parade in St Kilda Rd, we encounter the Melbourne Cup... ummm... celebrity tents, on the river bank, outside Crown, and observe the Channel 7 morning show celebrities broadcasting their morning drivel whilst neatly blocking the view of the river.

A quick stop for what turns out to be a decent soy latte (from what turns out to be another of the 'top 100 coffee spots in Melbourne') at a gelateria in the Crown complex, then continue across Spencer St to the new boardwalk on the Yarra outside the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

Continue strolling along the boardwalk, completely un-fenced off from the adjacent river (a situation which seems to scream 'duty of care' and 'lawsuit' to me!), passing the now high-and-dry Polly Woodside, outside the new Melbourne Convention Centre. Keep walking past the renovated wharf sheds until you reach a small sign indicating that you can descend to a new shopping centre, conveniently located underground alongside the hopefully well-reinforced riverbank; the new South Wharf DFO. Stroll around and window-shop for an hour or so, desperately seeking an exit.

Walk back alongside the Convention & Exhibition complexes, to Spencer St, and catch the 112 tram a few stops up Clarendon St to South Melbourne. Alight at Dorcas St, stroll around Clarendon St briefly to admire the 19th century streetscape, and stop for sensational fish & chips for lunch on the footpath at 'Fish and Chippers'. A few doors up, the 'Cafe Bastille' beckons for gallic-style coffee, but the mostly Indian staff, while friendly and helpful, don't do a great soy latte.

So it's a beautiful day, low 20's and a little humid... why not walk down Dorcas St, cross St Kilda Rd, and climb the hill, past the Shrine of Remembrance? After the rains of the past month or so, the lawns are lush and green like I never thought they'd be again, and ground has that fresh, damp, earthy smell that makes you feel like you're in the country.

It's so invigorating, that you might as well keep walking, around the Shrine, to the Botanic Gardens. Also refreshed by the recent rains, the Gardens are a delight in the afternoon sunshine. Stop and sit near a lily-covered pond, and soak up the sun for 15 minutes or so. Then keep walking through the gardens to the tram stop at Domain and Birdwood. Jeez, how far was that, anyway??

The #8 tram trundles along right on time 5 minutes later, and quickly gets you to South Yarra station. It's around 3:30 by now, but it's the middle of the Cup long weekend, so traffic is like you wish it would always be... sparse and flowing.

The Sandringham train shows up right on time! (Yes that exclamation mark indicates 'surprise', and will usually appear when I mention the words 'train' and 'on time' in proximity!)

A few minutes later, alight at Balaclava station. A few doors up the street, 'Lava' serves the *best* gluten-free banana-and-date loaf with berry jam (and a pretty good soy latte as well), in the whole of Melbourne.

Then the #3 tram gets you back up to Orrong Road, where the #220 bus arrives (complete with the same lovely lady driver that collected us in the morning) to drop us back where we started, at around 4:30pm.

But wait! The day isn't over yet!

After a break to refresh and rest the feet, a quick drive through decidedly un-peak hour traffic to 'Crust' pizza in High St, for a couple of the best gluten-free pizzas I've ever tasted.

Detour home via Richmond to visit the Ikea store at the only sensible time of day - evening, when the mums and kids aren't there, and cruise home around 8:30pm... just enough time to watch a movie before exhaustion catches up.

If only every day was a holiday :-)