A week in Melbourne

For the first week of the school holidays I took the boys down to Melbourne - they'd never been and I haven't been a tourist there for 20 years, so definitely time for an explore. We drove down (about 660 km on very good roads, so an easy day's drive) but I didn't take the car out again when we got there - it was trams and trains and walking! And that in itself is a novelty for my little suburban children.



Melbourne is very cool - easy to get around in, great public transport, lots going on but not at all rushed or unpleasant. My older son took masses of photos of buildings and streets, just whatever pleased him. I was quite resolved not to make any of the decisions other than transport and accommodation (it's too hard) so we spent a lot of time figuring out what to do next, and where to eat, and how to get places. Tiring, but good practice for them for endless travel in the future, without mum's credit card.



We went to the Zoo, which was fantastic, and the Museum, and Scienceworks, and Matilda the musical which was very good indeed. We went for walks along the riverfront, to the markets, took the tourist tram around the city, and visited the Shrine of Remembrance. We didn't eat many vegetables, and slept like bricks in a perfectly cool, dark and quiet apartment.



We stayed over the road from the Botanic Gardens, just out of the CBD, and spent some time walking through the gardens, and occasionally stopping for a sit down. We caught up with friends who - due to a recent job change - have just moved into a house actually in the Botanic Gardens, which is a bit of an awesome place to live. We had a look round and saw the empty mews and cottages and stables ... full in 1876 but not much call for a coachman now.



And then drove back yesterday through the densely populated south-east corner of Australia. If your attention span and bladder could stand it, you could put the cruise control on 110 km/hr and keep it on for six hours.