One Cappuccino For the Road
With only one day left of our road trip south of the border, it was only right that we squeeze in as much as possibl today. Before we could do anything, Rossco ventured cautiously downstairs to check on the trailer - firstly, whether it was still standing in its little laneway possie and secondly, whether we had been fleeced of its contents. With a huge sigh of relief, Ross came back and reported good news on both counts - still there, still full. Maisy also reminded us of the added bonus that no-one had taken to it with spray cans (even though, she said, the art could have been really good and it would’ve been a nice memento of our trip). Glass half full.
We have realised that most of the recommendations people have given us regarding Melbourne, have been food-based. This really does have to be the foodie capital of the world. If we acted on every single suggestion and ate even a morsel at each of these amazing cafes, restaurants, ice creameries, coffee shops…we’d have to hire a truck to haul us all back to Sydney in the trailer. With only three meals in a day, and being so spoilt for choice, we knew we would have to choose wisely.
As promised, we visited Toby’s recommended coffee shop - St Ali, in South Melbourne - for a late breakfast. It takes up almost a whole block and may as well have its own postcode. The bright pink menu, apart from offering delicacies like bacon and tomato sauce sandwiches, Milo thick shakes and milk chocolate and sea salt toasties (that’s an interesting one) also advertised a bright pink jumpsuit for sale, featuring a unicorn on the back. It could be yours for a cool $225. I asked our animated waiter whether he had one himself and he replied that of course he did, after all, unicorns were his third favourite animal. It had to be asked…what came in at number one and two? Confidently, without hesitation he told us the humble duck took out pole position, closely followed by an Orca at number two. No one was expecting a duck. We wouldn’t have even had a duck in our top ten. Maybe ducks don’t get the credit they deserve?
Oh yeah, in case you were wondering, the coffee was GOOD; well above average.
Toby is our conscientious objector when it comes to museums and galleries but now that he was no longer holidaying with us, there was a whole world of art out there to see. We started at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) with an exhibition called: . Who’s Afraid of Public Space? The brochure told us the exhibition was “organised according to a dispersed, distributed structure, encouraging a polyphonic and polycentric understanding of our increasingly complex public realm”. What? One set of headphones, that we all thought was broken, was simply there to represent SILENCE. Deep stuff indeed. (Perhaps a little too deep for us).
We had a lot more fun at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) where we checked out hand carved statues and pots from all over the world, one of which dated back to 2400BC! Mind-blowing. We saw original Picassos, Monets and Van Goghs sitting right beside up-to-the-minute sculptures and abstract installations. So much variety! It was great while it lasted but four members of the family seemed to hit our art gallery threshold within a few minutes of one another, ready to find the EXIT as soon as we could. Miss Molly, our resident art buff wasn’t quite ready to leave; there was still had SO much to see. I think she spent just as much time in the gift shop as she did in the whole gallery (and didn’t buy a thing).
The sun was shining, so we took a stroll along the banks of the Yarra, perusing all the sporting arenas on the other side - AAMI Park, Rod Laver Arena, the MCG, Margaret Court Arena…They are all so close together. The Botanical Gardens were beautiful too and as we walked past the Myer Music Bowl they were getting ready for the big Carols By Candlelight event next week.
Sam’s friend Pav, had recommended Collingwood for some good shopping so we trekked back to our accommodation to extract the car from the basement with the car elevator, the novelty in no way having worn off. It’s so freaky. It feels like the car is remaining stationary but the walls are moving.
Driving around Melbourne is not for the faint-hearted. I tried it once and have avoided it ever since. The markings on the road are so different to the ones in NSW and are infinitely confusing. There are U-Turn bays in random spots all over the place and the turning bays just spring out of what you think is the shoulder of the road but is actually a lane. The city is crawling with trams, sharing the same road as the cars and creeping up behind you when you’re least expecting it.
I spent some time a couple of years ago with my friend Rosemary from Melbourne. We were driving around Sydney in her car and suddenly, she put her blinker on and, in a wide arc, did a U-y at the lights. What the heck? When I questioned her what on earth she was doing, she had no idea it was illegal and said “oh we do that all the time in Victoria”. She was right. People were swinging around the traffic lights all over the city like there was no tomorrow. Sam was eager to give it a go. (!) The first time was a disaster, resulting in a near miss with a tram and a red light run, leaving us all a little shaken (and stirred) in the backseat. The second time though, he nailed it and with a huge smile on his face and a lot of whoo-hooing from the gallery, declared: “how can something so wrong, feel so right?'“ He also attempted a ‘hook turn’ - a ridiculous, death-defying right-hand turn from the left-hand lane. It’s all about accommodating the trams apparently. Let’s just say that he may or may not have allegedly run another red light in the process of trying but, a lot of chewed fingernails later, had them down pat by the end of the day.
Tonight we visited St Judes church in Carlton and, going to the service associated with Melbourne Uni, found, not surprisingly, it was full of uni students. Ross and I were feeling like we were over the hill. The service was great though, and so was the building - blending a modern extension with the traditional church. It was all renovated inside and was very cool.
Our last dinner in this southern metropolis was spent at a great pizza restaurant back in Carlton - DOC Pizza & Mozzarella Bar. The food was sensational and we thought we’d found another local Melbourne treasure, that was, until Sam informed us it’s a chain and there’s actually one in Sydney.
Alarms are set and bags are packed and, providing our trailer is still there when we wake, we’ll be hitting the road in the morning for a big day of driving, heading back home tomorrow night. We’ve had an incredible holiday and are so grateful for all the awesome things and places we’ve seen and done along the way and for the quality time we’ve spent together as a family.
Thanks for reading along with us and following our travels!
See you soon. x
PS Our prayers are with our friends on the Northern Beaches tonight after that horrific storm hit this afternoon. It was the top news story down here in Melbourne!
