Melbourne’s cityscape doesn’t have the drama of Sydney’s Port Jackson but I’d plump for it over the capital of New South Wales given the choice.
We arrived on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve fresh from the Yarra Valley and parked ourselves in our funky hotel, the Ovolo, situated in the Laneways, a district famous for its Victorian nooks and crannies, alleys and lanes, just yards from Chinatown. After unpacking, we went out for a walk before a night celebrating the arrival of 2018.
The Laneways is fascinating, a mix of old and new, stylish bars, restaurants and shops, colourful street art, Melbourne’s famous coffee places and theatres. Chinatown was as chaotic, colourful, smelly and crude as Chinatowns the world over, but beyond the Laneways we discovered wider streets with their corner pubs, stores and crowds. Trams trundled past and large numbers of homeless men lay sprawled on the pavements. We walked down to the Yarra River, to Flinders Street Station, a handsome Victorian edifice, and the modern but ugly Federation Square.
The good-humoured crowds were out in force down by the river later in the evening when we walked to the Eureka Tower in the modern South Bank development for our night out. We stopped en route for a drink in a funky bar set up in an alleyway, called Chuckle Park. The Eureka is a giant of a tower and our New Year’s Eve party was on the 89th floor, designed to give us great views of the city, the sunset and the fireworks at midnight. For a substantial fee, we also got ‘free’ booze, generous canapés and a couple of good bands. We got drunk, counted down to midnight, watched the fireworks (mostly and curiously from above) and spent an hour or two dancing.
Not surprisingly we both felt a bit rough next day, which dawned hot and sunny, and the streets were very quiet. It took us quite a while to pull ourselves together and catch the tram down to St Kilda and its beach. An attractive suburb, it was already swarming with people enjoying their public holiday and a couple of bars were heaving with the determined. We took a walk along the pier and stopped for tea at the recently rebuilt, historic pavilion at its far end. Just beyond is a long breakwater famous for hosting a small colony of penguins but we only managed to spot one hiding in the rocks, looking terrified at being pestered by a gaggle of over-eager photographers.
The sun was too intense for lazing on the beach so we walked along the shore and then diverted inland to find the botanic gardens, passing some particularly beautiful homes on the way. The gardens, however, were no more than a glorified park and a bit of a disappointment. Still, St Kilda was fantastic and a town I could easily park myself in for the rest of my life thanks very much. It still has something of the bohemian and cosmopolitan about it that made St Kilda famous all those years ago, although gentrification is evident too.
Acland Street is a highlight, overflowing with cool bars, restaurants and shops – especially a string of the most fantastic bakers and patisseries. We stopped for lunch and a couple of cooling beers and watched the world go by. Ironically for what was meant to be a lazy day, we ended up walking for miles before getting the tram back to town via the rapidly changing Docklands district.
St Kilda is cool. But then so is Fitzroy, a district to the north of our hotel and one recommended to us as a place to seek out evening food and booze so we went for a wander. En route we passed the grand Hotel Windsor, the government district and St Patrick’s Cathedral. Away from the CBD, the streets were largely low-rise and many still boasted their original Victorian and early 20th century buildings.
Brunswick Street is Fitzroy’s main drag, a long road that has its fair share of quality bars and eateries. Many were closed for new year’s day but the ones that were open proved to be achingly trendy, hipster and funky. Exposed brick was clearly the essential design element.
With our dining options limited, we eventually plumped for Mario’s, a wonderful and iconic Italian place. We followed that with more drinks at a small bar where the music was excellent and the pale ale glorious. Nice.