Australia Part III: Melbourne

We enjoyed Sydney, but we loved Melbourne. A couple people said the only things to do in Melbourne are

You can't fool me fake Target!

eat, drink and shop - and thankfully, they were right! Even though it's not that much smaller than Sydney (4 million people instead of 4.5), Melbourne has a very different feel than Sydney. It felt much more diverse, and the downtown is a network of alleyways that are jam packed with little cafes, boutiques and graffiti. 

Part of me started to wish we'd ended up in Melbourne instead of Auckland, but I quickly realised that moving to Melbourne wouldn't have been the change we were looking for. It has too many of the comforts of  the States (including GAP, Costco, Fossil and Nine West).  It even has a fake Target! 

We had a grand time roaming the "laneways" of Melbourne and stuffed ourselves senseless more than once. Although I'm glad we don't live there, I can't wait to go back!

For lunch our first day, we rode the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, which was recommended by a friend. The tramcar was operational, and took us to the beach and back while serving us a 4-course, all-you-can drink meal. Welcome to Melbourne indeed!

Nerds doing nerd things - the top row provides a glimpse of my ideal house (to include a row of Vespas), and below is inspiration for our future library (to include a wall of comic books). The Vespa rocking horse is just a bonus item I would like to own immediately. Time for some woodworking classes!

Food picture! Starbucks makes the cut because unlike New Zealand, Starbucks in Australia has iced tea. I cannot express how much I miss black iced tea here - no one here drinks it, sells it or understands it. The place in the bottom right was our last meal in Melbourne, and serves only soups, tacos and tea - perfect!

On our last day in Melbourne, we did a tour of the Yarra Valley that included visits to 4 vineyards, a brewery, a dairy farm and a chocolate factory. Please take a minute to admire the scarf I made Rob for our anniversary (top right) and the beer keg-turned-stools I'd like to own one day (bottom left).

Until next time, Melbourne!