MelbourneStaycation.com

The sound of taiko (Japanese drums) will echo through Docklands as part of the Japanese Summer Festival.  To hear taiko being performed is to experience an energy that has been channelled through ancestry for over 500 years.  Last year, I was enthralled by the rhythm of taiko.  I will be going back again this year!  The [...]

Late in the Summer, Melburnians flock to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl to experience the joy of orchestral music while relaxing on the grass lawns.  Picnic rugs are laid out, champagne corks popped, and dips passed around.  Somehow there is always a new romance or two in the air before the night is out!  This year [...]

On Sunday 29 January 2012, to the sound of beating drums and firecrackers, dragons will prance through Melbourne’s Chinatown to celebrate Chinese New Year.  It is the Year of the Dragon!  And our Millennium Dragon is the longest processional dragon in the world!  It will dance its way around Chinatown, accompanied by other dragons.  The [...]

Here are the 2012 dates for some of my favourite Melbourne festivals.  I will be sharing more with you about these festivals as the year unfolds.  I hope these dates help with planning your year!  If you click on the festival name, it will give you a link to the festival.  If I’ve blogged about [...]

On sultry Summer nights we would cycle in, and prop our bikes at the end of the lane.  On dark Winter evenings, we would pile into our housemate’s little white van, and park it in the grounds of the nearby church.  It was our reward at the end of a day of study: jazz and [...]

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. [...]

Frivolous, flirty and fun describe Madame Brussels, a bar in Melbourne’s CBD.  Emerge from the lift, and into an English garden party, with a twist of Oscar Wilde.  You are in a lounge of pink, green and white.  It leads to an outdoor terrace.  Staff step by in their little white tennis shorts and skirts.  [...]

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 [...]

Dark forces of violence are juxtaposed against the joy of life. The love story between Romeo and Juliet is one we know well. This frees our minds to consider the larger social themes. The Australian Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet superbly captures these themes. The figure of Death haunts the scenes of pointless violence [...]

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 [...]