Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne runs on coffee and takes it seriously enough to be tedious about it. The city is widely credited with inventing the flat white alongside New Zealand, and the two countries have not settled that argument. Order one anywhere and it will be good.
The centre is a grid, which sounds dull until you find the laneways running between the blocks: narrow service alleys that filled up with bars, coffee places and street art and became the reason people visit.
Things worth doing:
- Walk the laneways. Hosier Lane is the famous one for street art and is repainted constantly, so it is never the same twice. Degraves Street and Centre Place are where to eat.
- Queen Victoria Market has been running since 1878. Go in the morning for produce, and in winter for the night market.
- The National Gallery of Victoria is free to enter for the permanent collection, and has a water wall at the entrance that children refuse to walk past without touching.
- Take the tram. The City Circle route is free and runs a loop around the centre in old wooden trams.
- St Kilda for the beach and, at dusk, the little penguins that come ashore on the breakwater by the pier. They are wild and free to watch.
A few practical notes:
- Locals joke about four seasons in one day and they are not exaggerating. Carry a layer whatever the forecast says.
- Melbourne is the sports city. If the AFL is on, the atmosphere around the Melbourne Cricket Ground is worth seeing even if you have no idea what is happening.
- The Great Ocean Road starts about ninety minutes away. It is a long day trip and better as an overnight.