Queens Birthday Weekend in Queenscliff

In early June, a group of friends and I spent the Queen's Birthday long weekend in Queenscliff, a 1.5 hour drive south of Melbourne. We hired a holiday house only a block from the main street, where we cooked, drank, and played a lot of poker. We also attempted to fish for squid off the pier, on the coldest and wettest day of the weekend; watched a steam train rejig its carriages at the historic Queenscliff station; took walks along the water and checked out the marina; and finished up the weekend at Point Lonsdale's spectacular lighthouse. It was the perfect winter holiday. Here are a few of my pics.

Squid fishing

Queenscliff pier shelter

Water life

A cold view

Steam train at Queenscliff Station

Steam train steaming

Local boat dock

Pelican, boat and bridge

Suburbia

Queenscliff Marina

360Q observation tower

Point Lonsdale Pier
Running on pier - older boy (1 of 3)

Running on pier - older boy (2 of 3)

Running on pier - older boy (3 of 3)

Point Lonsdale Pier
Running on pier - younger boy (1 of 3)

Running on pier - younger boy (2 of 3)

Running on pier - younger boy (3 of 3)

Nice view of Point Lonsdale lighthouse ;)

Point Lonsdale Pier

View from Point Lonsdale lighthouse

The Lui Bar

In my opinion, some places are simply better experienced than described. This post features many photos which hardly do The Lui Bar (Level 55, Rialto Towers, 525 Collins Street, Melbourne) justice, because no matter how many pictures I show you or words I write about it, there is just nothing like viewing Melbourne from 55 floors up, handcrafted cocktail in hand, listening to jazz. Albert Park Lake and beyond, from The Lui Bar The Lui Bar stems off Shannon Bennett 's revered restaurant Vue De Monde , the degustation meal of which is absolutely on my bucket list. The restaurant was moved to the Rialto site in 2011, and its adjoining bar has also been making waves ever since. Iconic in location, the venue not only occupies the top level of what was, in 1986, the tallest building in Melbourne and the Southern Hemisphere at 251 metres, but offers spectacular city views of up to 60 kilometres on a clear day. Even the Eureka Tower , currently Melbourne's tallest buil...

Supernormal

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In a hospitality scene as ever-changing as Melbourne's, it's impressive when any venue manages to continue trading for longer than a few years. To be given the label 'institution' or 'iconic' is high praise indeed, since it is so hard to come by. Some might say Pellegrini's is a Melbourne institution ( I don't love it myself ), or perhaps The European , or a classic music venue like the Palais Theatre or the Espy . Rarer yet is an Asian restaurant afforded the title of a Melbourne 'institution'. And yet this is a badge that Flower Drum (17 Market Lane, Melbourne) has retained since its debut 40 years ago. Flower Drum (also a traditional Chinese dance) was opened in 1975 by Gilbert Lau at a site on Little Bourke Street, aiming to bring quality Cantonese food to the Australian masses. Ten years later it moved to its current home, and head chef Anthony Lui was appointed. Lui remains head chef today, and in 2003 also became part-owner along ...

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