Melbourne Patron

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) Runnin...

On Day 2 in Tassie, we had booked in for a wine tour with Boutique Wine Tours to " Historic Richmond ", half an hour's drive out of Hobart. Unfortunately, we did not get off to a good start, awaking late and disgruntled to a rainy day, and then NOT BEING ALLOWED TO TAKE MY COFFEE ON THE TOUR BUS. (Sort of understandable-ish, and yet, I am an adult... and the cup had a lid.) Anyone who knows me knows what a tragedy this would have been for me - not to mention the other people on the tour. The tour guide began his rather interesting spiel about the region and our stops for the day, but I was so tired and grumpy and uncaffeinated, I was (very maturely) loathe to listening. But, luckily, a wine tour involves wine, so the effects of my lack of caffeination were soon lessened by the effects of alcohol. Our first stop was Puddleduck , a charming boutique winery with a cute duck-in-water logo and a shopful of merchandise, run by winemaker Darren Brown (ex- Moorilla, of MONA ) ...

This bar reminds me a lot of Sydney. I realise to native Melburnians, that is no praise at all. BUT, it is really cool - actually a favourite of mine - and the only reason it reminds me of Sydney is because it is completely surrounded by water. There are so many bars in Sydney with water views - bugger it, so many of EVERYTHING with water views - that it becomes ingrained. I was so used to the space, the air, the freshness, and the movement of water, that no matter how many awesome laneway or rooftop or hidden Melbourne bars I visit, there is something in me that always breathes a sigh of relief when I sit waterfront, nestling a beverage. But Ponyfish Island (under the Yarra Pedestrian Footbridge, between Flinders Street Station and Southbank - enter via the stairs) is cool in many other ways, too. And when I say 'cool', I mean full-on, hipster-y, so-hot-right-now-even-though-it's-been-around-for-a-while, we-don't-serve-wine-in-wine-glasses cool. Here are some of t...