Melbourne has long been a favourite of mine. It's where I studied, living in a run-down terraced house in Parkville just a few minutes' walk from Melbourne Uni. Naughton's Hotel (still standing) lies at the halfway mark and on more than the odd afternoon I'd wash up there, bashing the buttons of space invaders and knocking back Guinness, poured from the tap - an unheard-of innovation back in New Zealand. So for nostalgia's sake, if nothing else, I'm always grateful to seize any excuse to grab a few days in Marvellous Melbourne.
At first glance all the Victorian Tourist Board cliches appear true: gold-rush era architecture, stylish cafes and restaurants; shopping, galleries, shows. But for me it's the quirky corners of culture here that beguile, such as the remaining bohemian grunginess at the southern end of Chapel St, Prahran, with tattoo parlours, loudly clanging trams and tiny cafes, where straight off the plane I caught up with friend and manager James, before strolling just round the corner to his own slice of paradise - a leafy, quiet street and the groovy apartment he calls home.
Normally, my Melbourne visits take in a pilgrimage to old haunts such as Pellegrini's on Bourke St - a cafe always packed with a diverse bunch of regulars and still satisfyingly frozen in 1960s Italian immigrant chic, menu, and (almost) prices. And next door is another local institution, The Paperback Bookstore, always worth a browse. But this time I embarked on a bold foray into Melbourne's inner east and northern suburbs - Kew and Northcote - where, as I found, Melbournians are almost as spoiled for charm and choice as they are in the city centre.
My first stop was at my friend David's place in Kew, followed by another night at his partner Alikki's in Northcote, only 13 minutes' drive apart by Google but up to an hour in the reality of rush hour. Both David and Alikki's homes were but a stroll from a main drag, both coincidentally called High St, with a local village and transport hub. If you can tolerate the scorching heat (and this is only early summer) it's lovely to stroll, as I did, up Derby St to High St in Kew, past the local community centre. Leo's deli and supermarket provide breath-taking evidence - in the form of fine wines, cheeses and cold cuts - of the civilising Greek and Italian immigrant influence on Australian food and manners.
