Well, today we left the quiet of country Victoria to head to the big city. I got my first experience of driving on Tram Rails. Interesting.

Once we arrived in Melbourne, we checked into The Nunnery, a hostel just north of the city. It’s quite a nice setup, and really well positioned for walks into town.

So we went for a walk, stopped in at the Greek Cafe for coffee and cake. I had a large Pistachio Baklava. I do miss them, always delicious (apart from when I try to make them myself). I bought a couple of bits of camera gear at Michael’s, including a remote unit that will allow me to do interval shots off camera. So will hopefully work for the aurora borealis.

We then had a few beers at The Pumphouse – Monkey Bar. I had a tasty bitter beer from one of the Charity Taps. This is for selected drinks where part of the proceeds go to a specific registered charity, which changes every two months. This one was for Flying Fox, a charity to help the younger disabled get out and have a bit of fun. The side effect of this will also be providing the carer with a respite break, so good all around.

For dinner we headed over to Lygon Street for some genuine Italian fare. We stopped off at Carmine’s; and started off with a bottle of Pinot Grigio and an antipasto plate. Yum. I then had spaghetti bolognaise (which made me realise that I put too much mince in my sauce, so will try to do better when I make my next batch)  – Chris had Fettucini Carbonara – and then dessert. I had a Creme Brulee paired with a small glass of Botrytis Semillion, and we followed up with an Afoggato with Frangelico. Delightful meal all around, with great service from the team – see photo below.

Then we headed home via a Whisky Bar. Very packed in with customers, as the bar was rather small, but with an extensive range of whiskys. I had two Irish whisky’s with ginger ale. And they really hit the spot. It was a great end to the day.