Melbourne - now that's what you call a city!

There were supposed to be three of us drinking flight ER407 dry but a certain Mr Elmore decided to relinquish his seat in favour of Mt Eden’s top boozer The Cloakroom (good luck with the new job Kyle). As it was, the two of us did our utmost to miss the flight, having overlooked the need for visas – and we call ourselves experienced travellers. The result: a frantic 30 minutes trying to secure the damn things before boarding. And it came down to the wire – a big thank you goes out to Emirates’ staff! Unfortunately, the delay meant no final Lion Red with Marit’s good friends Jenny and Jinx who’d insisted on driving to the airport straight from work to wave us off. Instead it came down to a quick kiss and embrace as our names bellowed out over the intercom. As it happened, once we’d dodged customs and side stepped the bar we found ourselves bringing up the rear of all other passengers - why do people make a run for their seats an hour before take off when they know the words “gate closing” actually mean “you have time for one more at the bar”? On the plus side, Mr Elmore’s seat had been left empty (no such luck when it came to eating his meal) affording us the luxury of all that extra space to spread out. Time to sit back, kick back, and enjoy everything Emirates could throw at us – and they did. The three hours passed in a heart beat, a tribute to Emirates’ flawless service and, for once, excellent grub. On arrival in Melbourne it was easy. Jump a cab and head to the suburb of East Brunswick where we were to ring on the door of yet another Dutchie, the good man Pim and his lovely Espanic girlfriend Yvonne. No sooner had we stepped through the door than we were treated to a selection of ice cold Aussie beer, if you can call Melbourne Bitter beer, and proceeded to chat the night away as though we’d know each other for years. There’s no denying, the Dutchies are everywhere and always make you feel at home!

Almost 10 years to the day since we were last in Melbourne it was great to be back in a city that actually strikes you as a “real” city. Not knocking Auckland (we are) but Melbourne ozzes class. It has everything you want in a city and more, and so it proved as we walked and talked, ate and drank, and embraced everything this wonderful city has to offer. To cap it off the city was playing host to the Australian Open. The city was alive, with a vibe we’d not seen or felt for what seemed like years. First the Victorian Markets, next the newly established wharf. Onwards into the city centre for a stroll along the wonderful Yarra river, which is aligned with more bars, cafes and restaurants than you can poke a stick at! Everywhere you look the sky scrapers tower above as old architecture meets new. A walk through the beautiful botanic gardens, a visit to the outstanding war memorial (by which time we were shagged and decided to call it a day with a bottle of Maclaren Vale’s finest shiraz overlooking Flinders Station).

Of course, there’s no rest for the wicked so, a bit lighter for the vino, we teamed up with Pim and jumped a tram (we love cities with trams) to the funky Richmond suburb where we partied late into the night courtesy of Ray and his wonderful hospitality. And what a great night it was too matched by some wonderful story telling and … Among the group of revellers were yet more Dutchies, Bart and Annelies, the aunty and uncle of Pim and our good Auckland buddy Paul (it’s a long story). It’s with these guys that we hit the southern Melbourne suburb of St Kildas for a spot of sun worshipping, drinking and reminiscing the next day (it’s where Marit was based during her 2000 stay). Then back into the city centre – the public transport is perfect - where we all decided (madness) to grab a lift to the top of the recently completed Eureka Tower, the world’s tallest residential building (253.5 m). There’s no disputing the views are stunning, but Kris felt less than comfortable atop the 85 story beast – you should’ve have seen his face when he was invited out onto the top deck to pose for some pics!

Back on terra firma normality resumed, as did the colour in Kris’ cheeks, and we decided to see in the sunset with a couple of coldies almost forgetting we had some where else to be. Once again it came down to a mad dash and without Pim and Yvonne I don’t think we’d have got to the airport on time to board our flight to Tassie!