MelbourneStaycation.com

Something exciting is happening in Little Lon.  For the first 100 years of Melbourne’s life, it was infamous as a “den of inequity” – reputedly bustling with prostitutes and opium.  From 1948, a clean up of this “street of evil” followed and the area became, well, fairly boring.  Melbourne institution Rue Bebelons started a change [...]

There is a magical quality to the Nicholas Building.  It isn’t the architecture or even the location.  It is a feeling that you are about to discover something new.  I thank all the artists who have lived and worked in the building for that.  Because I think their personal voyages of self discovery must have [...]

Sixteen years ago, the mighty red brick Substation building was like a slain dragon. Its once shiny scales were gone – every one of its windows had been smashed. The guts of the building were in a state of decay. However, local resident Darren Williams had a vision. A group of artists shared that vision. [...]

Hidden up some stairs and ’round a corner in the Athenaeum building, there is a 170 year old library.  A sense of history pervades the Melbourne Athenaeum Library.  The Athenaeum is said to be Melbourne’s oldest cultural institution and was founded in 1839 as a Mechanics Institute. One of its objectives was to further literary [...]

We expected Harry Potter and his classmates to file into the dining room and take a seat at the long tables with their sturdy wooden chairs. However, if these wood panelled walls could talk, it would not be of wizardry, but of deals done and laws negotiated. We were at Parliament House, where all Victorian [...]

The morning fog rolled across the river plain to reveal giraffes and zebras. As I looked down from the escarpment, I marvelled that I was experiencing this view, not in Africa, but in Melbourne, at the Werribee Open Range Zoo. I stayed overnight @WerribeeZoo when I signed up for their Slumber Safari. A safari bus [...]

I used to think native Australian gardens were UGLY!!  I would imagine a few mounds of dry grass, some grey bushes and a sad looking tea tree.  However, I’ve got a very different picture in my head since visiting the Australian Garden in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne. Australian gardens can be colourful, dramatic [...]

I felt the heady rush of new love when I attended my first event at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week (@MSFW) and discovered heavenly little dresses designed by Jack Loder.  They contain three elements I love in dresses – intrigue (in their feathered textures), a waist and shoulder strap / sleeve (for the hourglass appearance) and [...]

Fairfield Boathouse is a place where time appears suspended. Lazing on the picnic tables with the conversation of friends eddying about, I savour the sunny afternoon. Even the dalmatian at the feet of the neighboring table is sprawled out with his sleepy eyes resting above his front paws. My lazy mind drifts towards the waters’ [...]

  With a week of school holidays left, and a week of rain forecast, here are my top 10 school holiday activities for Winter.  If you click on the name of the attraction, it will link to my review of it, a map, website and pricing details. 1.  Melbourne Museum – free entry for kids, [...]