Just Southeast of Melbourne

Mornington Beach Boxes, Mornington VIC

2013 has been a complicated, but wonderful year. At the start of the year, we had been focused on finding work in the US. We sold many things, lightened our load. When that didn't pan out, we shifted our energies towards a goal of living on the road.  We were caravan bound. We even bought a new truck to tow our dreams.  [Don't worry. Craig does most of the the driving]. Then rather unexpectedly, Craig came into a new job which he starts today at Amazon in Australia.  With that, it seems we'll be planted in Sydney for the next few years at least.  There's been a lot of turmoil only to find things haven't changed much at all.

With my destash windfall and Craig's gap between jobs, we decided to pop down to Melbourne for a few days. As winter settles in, it is currently low season in the Melbourne area making it much more affordable to travel.  I thought I'd share some of the highlights of our trip for anyone planning a visit to the area. This is our sixth or seventh trip to Melbourne, we normally fly in but decided to drive this time to explore the area southeast of the city.

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A Few Days to the Southeast of Melbourne

Accommodation

We stayed at the Seasons Heritage on St Kilda Road, which is a comfy modern hotel fronted by a gorgeous historic building which houses reception and a restaurant. The hotel is situated by one of Melbourne's main tram routes, St Kilda Road.

The Seasons Heritage is a somewhat upmarket hotel, and we normally wouldn't splurge on accommodation. We like to spend less on a room, and spend more out in the town. Low season worked in our favor though. We found a deal for an executive one bedroom including a kitchenette, in-room laundry and parking on Wotif for just $99/night which is significantly less than their typical rates.

The suite was tidy and modern. The couch and bed were comfortable. The staff was exceptionally professional and friendly. It would be hard for me to find any faults with our accommodation choice. Although it isn't in the heart of the CBD*, we were exceptionally pleased with the location.  Despite having our own vehicle, we used the trams quite a bit to go into the city for dinner and drinks. That way we could fill up our glasses with regional wine, and leave the keys at home.  Along with easy access to trams; it was just a short walk to Prahran, Greville St and Chapel St.  I would definitely recommend the Seasons Heritage to anyone planning a visit to Melbourne.

*For those overseas readers, the heart of most Australian cities and towns is referred to as the CBD, central business district. In other areas of the world, this might be called downtown or city center.

Eating

Having visited Melbourne many times before, our journey was as much about the food as it was about the city. When we were deciding where to visit, the mere mention of ChinChin sealed the deal for both of us. When we travel, Craig and I tend to snack or eat small inexpensive meals throughout the day, capped by one tasty meal at night. With that in mind, here are the highlights from this trip:

ChinChin - Our favorite restaurant in Melbourne is undoubtedly ChinChin on Flinders Lanes not far from Federation Square in the CBD.  We like it so much that we ate there twice in our three nights in Melbourne this trip. This was cutting back just slightly from our last trip when we went three times. ChinChin has an extensive menu with a fusion of Asian styles. They serve everything from curry and crying tiger to ceviche and spicy filled rotis. All tasty, but not for the faint of heart when it comes to spice. The dishes are best shared, so you get a mix of a flavors. Nearly 80% of the menu can be made gluten-free, so there's plenty available for Craig. The restaurant can be quite busy, but the time passes quickly while you wait in the GoGo bar downstairs.  This is undoubtedly one of our favorite places in Australia to eat.

Mamasita - On a friend's recommendation, we filled our third night in Melbourne with upmarket Mexican at Mamasita on Collins St. This is another restaurant where shared dishes are the way to go. Every dish on the dinner menu is gluten-free. Our favorite dish was the corn-on-the-cob starter. That sounds really bland, but it was roasted and rolled in queso and spice. The tostaditas and tacos were also winners in our book.

Oscar Cooper - The Prahran area was close to our hotel, so Craig and I wandered that way for breakfast one morning. As we were wandering, we stumbled into Oscar Cooper. Melbourne cafes are known for their outstanding coffee, and from what we've seen - Melbourne does a good breakfast. Oscar Cooper was no exception turning out amazing corn fritters and a bacon benny that knocked Craig's socks off.  More than the food, what won us over was the congeniality of the staff. "Oh, you are visiting... let me tell you about the area..."  which was followed by a short history lesson on Greville St. 

We visited three restaurants in Melbourne this trip. All of them winners. The tourism board might like a new slogan, Visit Melbourne, Enjoy the Food.

Brighton Bathing Boxes, Dendy St Beach, Bayside VIC

Things to Do

On previous trips to Melbourne, I've enjoyed the National Gallery of Victoria (NVG) for its collections and hosted exhibitions; Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) for film, television and video game exhibits; the Queens Night Markets in the summer and driving the Great Ocean Road. Having done those things before, Craig and I decided this time we'd explore further a field on the southeast side of Melbourne. Rather than an over planned holiday, we decided to grab a few tourism guides and look for things that called to us.

Brighton Bathing Boxes - Our first port of call on our day exploring was visiting the brightly colored beach huts at Dendy Beach in Brighton. The Brighton Bathing Boxes are just a short drive approximate 15km from our hotel. They are also accessible by train on the Sandringham line. [For the crafty folks, this is the same train line that you'd take to Amitie in Gardenvale.] Rather than parking right by the huts, we parked about 3km down the road and made a morning adventure of walking around Port Phillip foreshore. The Bayside and Brighton areas give you a choice of paths to view the coastline at beach level or from above. It was a great start to the morning. My highlight was, of course, seeing all the rich color soaked bathing boxes.  The 82 Brighton huts are fascinating because they are all uniform in size and materials. Their personality is infused in their color. If I were visiting again, I'd come later in the day when the bathing boxes were drenched in sunlight. 

Mornington - If you follow the coastline around from Melbourne, you'd find yourself on the Mornington Peninsula. This area is known for wine and romantic getaways, along with outdoor adventure. Wine tasting was off the cards for us, as we had a big day of driving ahead but we did venture as far as Mornington for their Wednesday markets which line Main Street. There you could find all the goodies you'd expect at an Australian market - craft, clothes, fruits and fudge. As we made our way down Main Street to the coast, we were pleased to see ...more bathing boxes! There were fewer huts, but the same rich bright tones that sang for us in Brighton. As the first photo on this post shows, these huts were less uniform than the first ones we saw. Still very much lovely. It was wonderful to see them sun kissed.   As it turns out, there are a few more towns with bathing boxes around Port Phillip, so perhaps one day I'll be down for another visit.

Mornington Coast, VIC

Phillip Island - From Mornington, we made our way across the farmland and over to Phillip Island. It is beautiful countryside to drive. For most people, the reason for visiting Phillip Island is to see the Penguin Parade when each night hundreds of penguins waddle ashore. At $22 each, Craig and I decided we weren't up for the expense but that didn't dampen our trip. We did low-budget travelling on Phillip Island.  As were were driving, it because clear that wildlife is everywhere in Phillip Island and they love the roads. Watch out for the birds became a mantra as we drove about. Phillip Island is home to some of the rarest geese in the world and for some reason they kept playing chicken with our truck. We were so startled that we forgot to get pictures, but you can pop over to Pete's Flap to see the Cape Barren Goose.  *As an aside. Is this when it starts?  We turn 40 this year and we're becoming a pair of birdwatchers?  Along with the geese, we also saw quite a few roadside wallabies. At the far end of Phillip Island is the Nobbies, a boardwalked clifftop walk around very scenic coastline. In those cliffs, penguins make their nests. And guess what? There we saw a baby penguin flapping about... for free. I guess we can tick the Phillip Island Penguin box after all. =)  As we left Phillip Island, we stopped in at Panny's World of Chocolate for a cuppa for the road. We regretted not popping by earlier as the curry smelt fantastic.

And that was our day out exploring the areas southeast of Melbourne!

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Melbourne is one of my favorite places to visit in Australia. We could both see ourselves living there, but not any time soon. As I've sent Craig off for his first day of work this morning, we're well planted in Sydney and here to stay for a while.