by Tim Blight | Jul 19, 2016 | Traveller
14 best day trips from Melbourne
Melbourne is blessed with an abundance of interesting, varied and unique destinations within a short drive of the city centre (“CBD”). When I’m in Melbourne, I often get a couple of friends together and head out to one of the these spots for a day or two. With winter upon us, there’s never been a better time to escape the big smoke, so here, in no particular order, are my nominations for the 14 best day trips from Melbourne! (Times given are all one way, and assume the shortest route is taken and in average traffic).
1. Mornington Peninsula – 1 hour from CBD
Sorrento Beach, Mornington Peninsula (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
My favourite one-day trip from Melbourne – hot springs, a hedge maze, Foxey’s Hangout winery, strawberry picking and fish and chips on Sorrento beach, followed by an award-winning vanilla slice!
2. Dandenong Ranges – 1 hour from CBD
Mt Dandenong
Visible from much of Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, visit the giant’s chair at Mt Dandenong, watch the sun set over the city, drop by art galleries, ride Puffing Billy and have tea and scones at Miss Marple’s Tearoom.
3. Yarra Valley – 1 hour from CBD
The Yarra Valley near Healesville
Lunch at the Innocent Bystander, native animals at Healesville Sanctuary and cheese and fresh produce at the Yarra Valley Dairy, plus lots of wineries if that’s your thing.
4. Mount Macedon and Hanging Rock – 1 hour from CBD
The view from the top of Hanging Rock
Autumn leaves, private gardens, views of the city and the setting for the 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock.
5. Phillip Island – 2 hours from CBD
Fairy Penguin on Phillip Island
Lunch in Cowes, stop in at the chocolate factory, see the seals on the rocks, pat a kangaroo at the wildlife park and watch the fairy penguins come ashore at nightfall.
6. Bellarine Peninsula – 1.5 hours from CBD
Sunset at Jan Juc, near Torquay (ImageL Alex Proimos, Wikimedia Commons)
Go surfing at Point Lonsdale, ride the slides at Adventure Park in Geelong and have fish and chips at Torquay before hitting the surf coast.
7. Ballarat and Daylesford – 1.5 hours from CBD
Sovereign Hill (Image: Maksym Kozlenko, Wikimedia Commons)
The historic gold-mining town of Ballarat boasts Sovereign Hill, a replica gold rush town, while Daylesford and Hepburn Springs invite you to splash out at cushy day spas and artisan shops and markets.
Further afield…
These spots really deserve at least a night or two spent to soak in the surroundings and enjoy the attractions, but at a stretch, can be done in a day.
8. Wilson’s Promontory – 2.5 hours from CBD
A beach at Wilson’s Promontory
Stunning beaches, extensive national park and hiking at the southernmost point of mainland Australia
9. Great Ocean Road and the Otways – 8 hour round trip from CBD, not including sightseeing time
The Twelve Apostles (left) and Otway Fly Treetop Walk (right)
Ideally done over two days, the iconic Great Ocean Road can be fitted into one long day. Leave early and head via Geelong towards Apollo Bay, then on to the Otway Fly at Great Otway National Park. Continue past the 12 Apostles, then finish at London Bridge near Port Campbell, before heading back via the Princes Highway.
10. Mount Buller – 3.5 hours from CBD
Mt Buller in winter
Melbourne’s nearest ski resort – learn to ski, have a snowball fight, hire a toboggan or cosy up inside with a hot coffee.
11. Noojee – 2 hours from CBD
Noojee’s trestle bridge (Image: Mattinbgn, Wikimedia Commons)
Stand on the edge of wilderness at this old mining town; dense forest, a river, waterfall and hiking.
12. The Grampians – 3 hours from CBD
The Grampians from The Pinnacle (left) and MacKenzie Falls (right)
This rugged national park, like the Great Ocean Road, is best visited over two or three days, but if you leave early enough you can still have enough time to hike up to the Pinnacle or see MacKenzie Falls, the highest waterfall in Victoria.
13. The Australian Pyrenees – 2 hours from CBD
Cellar door in the Australian Pyrenees
Taking its name from the French mountain range, this hilly district is all about the wine and quality food. Eat at the Avoca Hotel, Home Made Cafe in Beaufort, or St Ignatius Winery to sample the local produce.
14. Glenrowan – 2.5 hours from CBD
Glenrowan (Image: Mattinbgn, Wikimedia Commons)
The scene of Australian outlaw Ned Kelly’s last stand is home to a giant Ned Kelly statue, a Ned Kelly museum (part of “Kate’s Cottage”), the nostalgically authentic Linda’s Billy Tea Rooms, and you can walk around the site of the siege which saw Kelly captured.
Have you visited any of these? Would you like to? Comment below!
by Tim Blight | Jun 25, 2016 | Lounge (The City Life)
15 best coffee spots in Melbourne!
One of the best ways to enjoy a cold Melbourne winter is to cosy up inside one of our atmospheric and unique cafes. It’s been a cold and windy end of the week in Melbourne, so there’s no time like the present; here are my 15 favourite places to get caffeinated around Australia’s southern city!
1. Grey and Bliss; 197 Bay Street, Port Melbourne
I love Grey and Bliss so much, I used it in one of my UrbanDuniya promotions!
This place is one of my favourite spots in Port Melbourne – they do a full brunch and lunch menu, the coffee is great, but the friands or almond croissants stole my heart years ago 🙂
2. Dukes Coffee Roasters; 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne City
Come for the coffee, stay for the carrot cake! Seriously, there’s not much room to move here, but it’s worth it, and the atmosphere is full of like-minded souls, retreating from the cold.
3. Cam’s, Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Road, Abbotsford
Wrapping your hands around the bowl-style mugs in this cafe, set in the converted Abbotsford Convent, is an essential Melbourne winter experience – and if you’re really hungry, you can get your fill at Lentil as Anything in the same building!
4. Manchester Press; 8 Rankins Lane, Melbourne City
Winner of several awards, Manchester Press is one of Melbourne’s best known and loved laneway cafes. The rotating menu of bagels, salads and sweets compliments the hipster-style coffee offerings.
5. Entrecote; 131 – 133 Domain Road, South Yarra
Wake up in Paris with this awesome French bistro. The coffee is delicate and and breakfasts are suitably chic – but you’ll need a booking at weekends.
6. Stand Up Coffee; 524 Flinders Street (rear of building), Melbourne City
No muss, no fuss – this place truly is a “hole in the wall”, and as the name suggests, you will need to stand up at that hole in the wall while you sip your latte. Very Melbourne. (Closed Sundays)
7. Famish’d; 385 Bourke Street, Melbourne City (and other locations)
Famish’d might be closed at the weekend, but during the week it serves up some of the best coffee in this part of the city – and everyone leaves with a mini chocolate meringue. Try to visit when the Red Velvet Lamingtons are being dished up – you won’t regret it.
8. Patricia Coffee Brewers; Corner of Little Bourke and Little William Streets, Melbourne City
Like Stand Up Coffee, there’s not much room to hang around here – but at least here you get to stand inside! The coffee is perfect, the staff are fabulous and if you make it back here in the warmer months, try the rich cold-drip iced coffee, served without milk and in a flask. (Closed weekends)
9. Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar; 66 Bourke Street, Melbourne City
Go back to where it all started – Melbourne’s espresso obsession. Whether it had Melbourne’s first espresso machine or not is a subject of urban legend – but its iconic status can’t be denied. Don’t come here for the cushy service or surroundings – this isn’t glamorous, this is Italian coffee served the traditional way, and they do it very well.
10. RMB Cafe Bar; 37 Degraves Street, Melbourne City
RMB Cafe on Degraves Street
RMB is the pick of the lot on Degraves Street (although Andiamo’s runs a close second) – the location on the corner is perfect for people watching, and there’s a small inside section if you can’t stand the cold. Oh, and they have Nutella donuts.
11. Cup of Truth, 12 Campbell Arcade, Melbourne City
In the arcade below Flinders Street (which was built for the 1956 Olympics, apparently) sits a hole in the wall spot for commuters. Not just an awesome name, Cup of Truth serves great coffee too, as the hordes of weekday commuters will attest. (Closed weekends)
12. Captains of Industry; 1, 2 Somerset Place, Melbourne City
This place is oh-so-Melbourne it makes me want to vomit graffitied trams – and I love it. It’s filled with disused machinery, and also features a barber shop where you can get your hipster beard trimmed. A simple menu, hidden away, but with widows looking over Elizabeth Street, this is the place to take a moment away from the city and let it all sink in.
13. Mart 130; 107A Canterbury Road, Middle Park
If the last place made me want to vomit trams, this place actually comes with them. On a terraced tram platform, you can watch the world (and the commuters) go by while tucking into good coffee and french toast smothered with berries and cream. We were offered blankets if we wanted to stick around for the novelty factor, but otherwise go inside the old stationmaster’s building where you can keep warm.
14. Shisha Nights; 255 Swanston Street, Melbourne City
If French or Italian coffee is not your style, you might like Shisha Nights, the closest thing the CBD has to an Arabic style coffee-and-hookah bar. It’s smoky, but in a sweetly flavourful way (Anyone who has been to an Arab country would be familiar with the wafting scent of apple tobacco). There’s an espresso machine and a fridge with cold drinks, and unlike other sleek club-like shisha bars in the city, they don’t serve alcohol – the atmosphere is unpretentious and relaxed. (Opens 6pm – 1am)
15. Ponyfish Island; Southbank Pedestrian Bridge, Southbank
This might not be Melbourne’s best coffee, and it’s certainly not the cosiest place to sip your drink (especially when the wind is blowing – so, like, always), but the location can’t be beaten. Before it becomes a bar in the afternoon, they serve coffee in the morning, so in winter its a great place to rug up, take a pen and your diary, and watch the light shift across the moody Melbourne skyline.
What are your favourite coffee spots in Melbourne? Have you been to any of these? Comment below!
by Tim Blight | May 5, 2016 | Traveller
Laiza Garcia of Make Fast Mooring
Laiza Garcia is the customer relationships and marketing manager of Make Fast Mooring. Laiza has been living in Melbourne for many years and has been part of this innovative new company since its inception. Read on to find out what Make Fast Mooring is all about, and why Laiza calls Melbourne home…
Lanza Garcia of Make Fast Mooring
- What is Make Fast Mooring?
Make Fast Mooring is a community marketplace to find, rent and share available moorings and berths in sailing locations globally. It is quickly growing into a leading platform connecting mooring owners (marinas, clubs and private owners) with yachting lovers who need a mooring space through an easy-to-use digital platform.
- How and why did you start Make Fast Mooring?
The idea was born in 2015 when some of our directors (co-founders) were sailing around the Mediterranean and realised that life would be so much easier if they could access mooring and berth rentals from one digital platform. That prompted a ‘lightbulb’ moment – why can’t people easily rent or share moorings in the same way they rent their spare rooms or homes via a platform like Airbnb?
- What makes Make Fast Mooring special?
That all the co-founders love sailing and share the love of being by the sea. We like to call ourselves sea lovers. Moreover we understand the real need for this service in the sailing community as we understand how difficult is to find a berth or mooring after sailing for a long journey, when you reach shore you just want to find a place to berth before night arrives. Also, the sailing community is big, but there is no channel to join us all around the world to help each other to make our sailing experiences easier. Even from an ecological perspective, we don’t want to affect the marine life by building new moorings or berths, we want to effectively re-use the actual moorings and berths infrastructure.
- Do you enjoying sailing yourself?
I do! Compared to the rest of my co-founders I’m not an active sailor like them, but I love to sail from the relaxing perspective… my friends know how to sail and I enjoy the ride! Of course I help here and there… and next summer I will start lessons.
A beach in the Mayan Riviera (Image: Noe Gonzalez, Wikimedia Commons)
- What is your favourite travel destination?
The Mayan Riviera; it offers so many places to visit, from scuba diving at one of the biggest reefs around the world (Cozumel) to snorkelling in crystal clear water “cenotes” (natural pits) or just sailing on the turquoise sea water and stopping to swim with the turtles. It’s just heaven on Earth for me, it’s just amazing! And the best Mexican food is also from this area, so its the best combo!
- Where do you see Make Fast Mooring going in the future?
I see Make Fast Mooring as a trusted community that will help to join sailors around the world by helping them making their sailing experiences more pleasant and by having a big positive impact on the marine life by reducing the need to create more moorings or berths around the world.
Docklands marina, Melbourne
- Why did you choose to live in Melbourne?
I think few cities can provide the blessing of providing both landscapes, beaches and gorgeous gardens within walking distance. Either way, if you feel like having a walk on the beach or laying on the grass, being able to relax is a blessing in life – and to add the beautiful food culture that the city offers, it’s amazing!
- What’s your favourite way to spend a Saturday in Melbourne?
I love to wake up bit late and go to my yoga and meditation class, then walk home for lunch time to catch up with friends. After that, just chill out or do some calls to family and friends. At night just get ready for dinner or movie with my friends.
Make Fast Mooring is online and active now! To find out more, go to MakeFastMooring.com! You can also connect on Facebook here.
by Tim Blight | Feb 21, 2016 | Gallery
White Night Melbourne 2016
White Night Melbourne 2016 asked us to expect the unexpected, and it delivered! While plenty grumbled that the event had become too big, and the exhibits too mainstream, viewing it through a lens opened up a whole new world of possibilities.
Here are my favourite captures from White Night Melbourne 2016!
by Tim Blight | Jan 23, 2016 | Gallery
Nocturn: Melbourne
Some of the most amazing and intriguing sights in our cities are only seen at night, when a lot of us are tucked away in bed, fast asleep. Nocturn is a new night photography series on UrbanDuniya, shining the light on the cities we call home, long after most people have fallen asleep.
In November we started with Chennai, and today we continue Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city and self-described centre of culture downunder.
See Melbourne: things that go click in the night.
