Weekend in Melbourne

A return to bougie brunch. Rediscovering the Melbourne public transportation system. The beginning of panic buying in grocery stores. One last weekend of semi-normalcy before a worldwide pandemic.

Throughout my time in Australia, I continued to tell myself I would spend more time in Melbourne. Back in February 2019, I thought I would go to the Grampians for two weeks and then return to Melbourne, get a job, and enjoy the city life. That never happened. I thought maybe I’d spend some time there after Tasmania, but then had the potential to relief manage at a hostel in Apollo Bay, so down the Great Ocean Road I would go. Maybe after Apollo Bay and my goodbye in the Grampians, one last Melbourne hoorah before leaving Australia…this of course was one potential idea before COVID-19 put the world on lockdown.

Regardless, I was excited to be back, even if it was just for a 3 day weekend!

I stayed with Giovanni, a friend I met in the Grampians back in October. He had to work during the days, so I spent my time exploring. With Maria and her friend Emily, we found an amazing brunch place in Fitzroy, wandered through Queen Victoria Market to celebrate the Turkish Festival, and ate strawberries lounging in the park. On my own, I borrowed a bike and headed to St. Kilda - reading my book on the beach, soaking up the sun, and devouring a burrito. I went to the Moomba Festival along the Yarra River and watched the finals for water ski jumping, joined a silent dance party, and debated playing carnival games but in the end, decided luck wasn’t with me.

Gio and I spent the evenings cooking, drinking wine, and catching up. I’m happy to say I showed my excellent skills as a sous-chef. Give me a vegetable to chop or dishes to wash, and I’m on it! But really, Gio, the excellent chef that he is, made kangaroo with veggies and millet (a grain new to me!) and an amazingly simple yet delicious pasta dish and eggs for breakfast…and wow I’m noticing a trend of food loving throughout this post. Maybe it’s the fact that I survived on free shelf food and road trip cuisine for the previous 6 weeks?

I used the time in the city to catch up on errands - buying new deodorant, lotion, underwear - all the important items and daily stuff I’ve continued to put off replacing. And the non-exciting part of travel I don’t always share! But yes, buying new underwear was one of my happy moments in Melbourne!

Here’s hoping for more time in Melbourne before I leave Australia. Anything is possible at this point.