Melbourne

We had a lovely 5-day break in Melbourne during the last week of the autumn school holidays. Nicholas said it was the best holiday. We were all much more relaxed than our last big trip. As we knew where we like to go in Melbourne and had family and friends to visit, it made being away easier.

More Melbourne photos here

The weather was very cooperative when we went down there. We only had a day of gloominess and drizzle. Our apartment at the Adina on Queen St was spacious, comfortable and conveniently located. We used the pool, sauna and gym quite a bit too.

We bought groceries for breakfast every day and ate out or had takeaway for lunch and dinner. We did well with food this time and were able to go to some places on our list which the kids even enjoyed. Our favourite place was the sushi train at Sakura Kaiten Sushi. The food was fresh and delicious and there was lots of variety. The kids also liked ordering a few things from the iPad menu which was then delivered straight to our table on a mini double-decker bus on a track. Phil and I tried sea urchin for the first time and it was remarkable. More Melbourne yumminess include dumplings at Din Tai Fung, the best macarons at La Belle Miette, satisfying ramen and fried rice at The Little Ramen Bar, scrumptious ricotta hot cake at The Grounds and tasty beef brisket and a rich peanut butter pie at Big Boy BBQ. I also had my first Melbourne magic (coffee) at the popular Chez Dré in South Melbourne. Going to the markets there was another first as was using Uber a few times to get around Melbourne.

We went to the footy on Sunday afternoon and watched North Melbourne play Hawthorne. The game was fun and there was a bit of drama with a couple of nasty collisions. One of the players who got knocked out had just become a father that morning. On Monday we watched Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs – a thoughtful and clever movie.

Along with also visiting their favourite places like the Zoo, ACMI and the Melbourne Museum, the kids loved their time with their youngest cousin. We went to see family first thing when we arrived. It was heartwarming to watch the cousins interact. Nicholas and Catherine looked forward to every meet-up and were helpful with pushing the pram and feeding time.

We left Melbourne on the evening of Anzac Day (public holiday). It worked out well that we caught up with long-time friends for brunch in Mentone. Then said our good-byes to family at a BBQ lunch in Malvern. It was a laid-back day with good company. We arrived back home in Canberra later that evening.