11 & 12 February 2025

Tuesday was an early morning to catch a flight to Melbourne. We arrived late morning and enjoyed the sunshine while reading in a park before we were off to our foodie tour recommended my mom from my parents’ trip last year.

The foodie tour was excellent! Our guide was very knowledgeable about the city, though he was hard to hear at times. We had:

• Macarons (creme brûlée for Spenser and blueberry violet for Sarah)
• Coffee (obligatory, given we were in Melbourne; we both had flat whites)
• Pork banh mi (at a place owned by a Vietnamese family)
• Dumplings with your own mix of soy, vinegar, and chili oil (mackerel, pork, and zucchini – we would never have guessed the mackerel ones contained fish and these were Sarah’s favorite; it’s owned by a woman from Shandong)
• Gelato (salted caramel for Spenser and passion fruit for Sarah; the owners are not Italian but studied gelato making in Italy)
• Hot and cold chocolate (a dark hot chocolate and then a cold summer chocolate with raspberry – they were perfectly light and drinkable while still tasting incredible; it was started by a Swiss woman in a tiny space that used to be an elevator shaft)
• And finally, beer (lager) at a little place tucked away in the shade

After, we cooled off at the hotel for a bit before grabbing a quick slice of pizza. We ended the day at a cocktail bar called 1806. 

Wednesday morning we explored on our own a bit, getting to see more of the park and arcades. Melbourne has been encouraging businesses to move into garages in a number of narrow laneways downtown (in the 1800s these were the roads servants would have used to enter houses and remove trash) so there is no lack of places to eat or shop at. We also spent a short time in the National Gallery of Victoria.

After lunch, we slathered on plenty of sunscreen and spent a couple of hours kayaking in the Yarra River that cuts through the city. We finished our time in Melbourne with a lovely dinner. We thoroughly enjoyed this city. That concludes our Australian adventures – tomorrow we’re off to Queenstown.