Australia travel: Melbourne’s best winter events and activities

By Neil Porten

NZ Herald·

2 May, 2023 11:00 PM7 mins to read

Melbourne doesn't hibernate over winter - there's a packed schedule of events, festivals, exhibitions, shows and dining to check out. Photo / Supplied

If you are new to a city as I was in Melbourne, hitting the pavement is the tried-and-true path to orientating yourself to the sights, sounds and smells familiar to locals. It also turns out that an inner-city ramble is a pretty good way to highlight some of the best Melbourne has to offer over autumn and winter . Almost every Melburnian I talked to referenced the locally inspired and written Crowded House song Four Seasons in One Day to describe the Victorian weather at any time of the year. But don’t let that put you off; if you want action as the temperature cools, don’t dream: it’s over here.

For the sake of narrative convenience, I’m describing a single walking circuit; unless you’re a power-stroller extraordinaire, it’s going to take a few days to enjoy this world-class city, preferably with multiple stops for eating and drinking.

At the northeastern edge of the CBD, Carlton Gardens is a Victorian-era rectangle of formal pathways and tree-lined avenues. On one side of the central plaza is Melbourne Museum, which focuses on natural history: the Gandel Gondwana Garden is an outdoor gallery exploring ecosystems of the past; its permanent First Peoples exhibit tells the stories of the local Koorie community. For a magical experience, Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature, running from May to October, explores the connections between real amazing animals and imaginary creatures from the Wizarding World.

Across the square from the museum, get a unique 360-degree view of the city from the dome promenade atop the Royal Exhibition Building, Australia’s first World Heritage-listed building.

Heading south, the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House are popular for wedding photos, and tours take in the gardens, architecture and the history of this neoclassical legislature, the construction of which began in the 1850s.

Just along Albert St is a multi-storey tiled mural featured on the face of Fire Rescue Victoria’s Fire Station 1. Its artistic merits are debated, but there’s no doubting the intensity of the fiery images - vengeful Greek gods and sun chariots, Pandora unleashing a conflagration of misery, including nuclear detonations, from her eponymous box. You can contemplate the meaning of all this, as I did, while sipping your preferred beverage from the social enterprise coffee cart, Heaven at the Hill, outside St Peter’s Eastern Hill Anglican Church. Or visit the Fire Services Museum in the old Eastern Hill Fire Station just around the corner, where you’ll learn all about the Great Melbourne Fire of 1897 which destroyed a large block of the commercial district.

St Peter’s is across the road from St Patrick’s Cathedral, a triple-spired Gothic beauty with carved angels in the wooden ceiling and golden light falling through the high windows. In the blue-green Lady Chapel is a shrine to Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint.

Laid out in 1859, Fitzroy Gardens features elm-lined paths and Cooks’ Cottage, an unusual landmark. It was built by James Cook’s parents in Yorkshire in 1755 and dismantled and transported to Melbourne in 1934. The famous captain never lived in the tiny brick house but for a few dollars, you can pop in for a look around.

Cooks' Cottage at Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne. Photo / Supplied

Autumn colours and falling eucalyptus leaves are signs of changeable seasonal weather in Treasury Gardens, the site of March’s World’s Longest Lunch, a fixture of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Summer’s over, like this year’s event, but the city’s hospitality industry is abuzz after a disruptive couple of years, which is sure to delight visitors in the coming months.

I ate dinner at two hotel restaurants, Dolly at Le Meridien Melbourne and Atria at the Ritz-Carlton Melbourne, and also Robata Japanese Grill, where the surroundings and food were excellent. A bowtied man was spot-on at Hardware Lane’s Piccolina Gelateria when he recommended the passionfruit flavour to accompany my choices of Nutella and pistachio. In Guests Lane off Little Bourke St, my craving for a bacon roll was sated at Schmucks Bagels.

Melbourne’s cobbled meeting place, Federation Square, is vibey at any time: until August the Ian Potter Centre, part of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) hosts more than 200 pieces of contemporary art and design across its three floors in the Melbourne Now exhibition; the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) show Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebellion celebrates “women and gender-transcending superstars” of the screen until 1 October. Come July, the World arrives in Fed Square via the Fifa Fan Festival with activities and live screenings of matches in the women’s football World Cup.

Federation Square. Melbourne, is a hive of activity and exciting events at any time of year. Photo / Supplied

Another open space in the city is the riverside Birrarung Marr, a venue for events such as Rising, June’s moonlight festival of arts and culture. On any given match day, a steady stream of footy fans flows through here and across the William Barak Bridge to the famous sports mecca, the MCG. Transtasman rugby supporters get their slot here in July for the Bledisloe Cup, while the AFL’s Grand Final packs out the giant oval in September.

The Melbourne Arena Footbridge over the railway tracks maintains the links between the city’s key sports venues. Melbourne is a host city for this year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup, a tournament shared between New Zealand and Australia. Home fans get to barrack for the Matildas against Canada, while Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz, playing in their second consecutive World Cup, face up to Brazil, whose legendary No 10, Marta, is hoping to play in her sixth edition at the age of 37. The matches will be played at AAMI Park, or rather Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, renamed during Fifa’s sponsor-pleasing tournament.

After the game, use the Morell Pedestrian Bridge to cross the motorway and the river to the south bank for the return to the CBD. The Main Yarra Trail passes rowing clubs and you’ll see crews training on the water all year round. To the left is the right-royal expanse of Kings Domain and Queen Victoria Gardens, worth a wander towards the Walker Fountain.

Cross St Kilda Rd to the monolithic National Gallery of Victoria, surrounded by pools and fountains. Go behind the wall of water at the entrance to see two giant suspended works: a three-dimensional model of the Shinto shrine of Itsukushima by Takahiro Iwasaki; and Cerith Wyn Evans’ C=O=D=A 2019-2020, a 10m-long “drawing” in neon light. Rembrandt: True to Life, from June 2, puts an emphasis on the Dutch master’s etchings and prints.

Exploring the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Photo / Supplied

There’s a bustle about the arts precinct, perched above the Southbank promenade, where bars and buskers compete for attention.

Traverse the Yarra River again via Queens Bridge, back to the north side and stroll up Market St to Collins St for the shopping and show venues. The Regent Theatre has two great musicals in the coming months. Until June 4, & Juliet is a funny and modern what-if take on Shakespeare’s beloved star-crossed love story: what if the suggestion from the Bard’s wife, Anne Hathaway, not to (spoiler alert) kill off the female lead allows Juliet to choose her own fate?

From August, The Regent welcomes the return to Melbourne of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, a multiple Tony Award-winning staging of the story told in Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film. I saw this show in Sydney last year and everything about it - hit songs by the likes of Sia, Rihanna, Adele and Katy Perry, the sets, dazzling costumes, and the lighting - is stunning.

After a couple of hours seated in the warm embrace of the theatre, what better way to end a citywide wander than to climb a few stairs for a nightcap at a rooftop bar. Get cosy under the awnings and relive the Moulin Rouge experience with a Lady Marmalade cocktail at Rooftop at QT. Or sip a rum-based cocktail under the domes of the Princess Theatre at Siglo on Spring St.

There’s no hibernation happening in the State of Victoria’s cool capital city. Whether you walk or not, whether you’re a sports lover or an art aficionado, Melbourne is in season whatever the weather.