Melbourne Mini Break

Here's a photo tour of the mini-break part of our trip to Melbourne. It features: 

1. three of the best meals I have ever had (Mexican, Italian, Japanese)
2. Shane Warne's house
3. the usual montage of food, Gill and me in restaurants/cafes, and babies
4. A llama

Enjoy....

St Kilda

Coffee and berry & ricotta pancakes in a random Melbourne alleyway

Mandatory 'Gill sipping coffee' photo

Melbourne alley

Guinness (in various sizes!) at 'Australia's most iconic hotel'  Young & Jackson on Federation Square, Melbourne

With Dylan, Jeremy and Michael (the latter is the deputy head of another Sydney boys' school, who gave an excellent workshop on 'Turbo Ethics' at the conference)

Not hungover really

Payback: Shoe Shopping Hell on Collins St

On Thursday we moved from the Novotel in central Melbourne to a hotel in St Kilda, which is a suburb south of the city on the edge of Port Phillip Bay. The next few photos are from the historic 'Esplanade Hotel' (pub) which is one of Melbourne's famous music venues. It's a dark, grungy and cavernous place; paint peels off the walls in huge chunks, yet it still oozes effortless cool and charm with it's chandeliers, high ceilings, wood panelling, gig posters and frescoes.

Cake shop on Acland St (which is for St Kilda what Darling St is to Balmain!)

Dips at Blue Corn in St Kilda - the best Mexican meal I've ever had!

Mojito! 

Swap the run for vodka and...

Caipirinha! 

Port Philip Bay on a sunny morning

Boatyard

Eeugh

Lunar Park, St Kilda

Tram tracks on Acland St, St Kilda

Uncle Albert and his pet llama

Tuscany, much?

To break the endless cycle of food, coffee and wine, we met up with one of Gill's best friends from school, Tania, who lives in Melbourne with her husband and son, Xavier. 

Holding yet another cute baby

Tania and Gill

(ok so we weren't really breaking the cycle at all)

I wonder who lives in a house like this....?

I'll give you a clue. He might have played a bit of cricket.

trendy Fitzroy

Yet another park and grand old building

Before our Sunday evening flight, we had lunch in Chinatown at a restaurant called Shoya, where the following photos were taken. Whilst to say this is the best Japanese restaurant I have ever been to is a bit misleading as other than sushi bars and tepanyaki I've never been to one, it was amazing. Ever had fillet of eel? 

How to eat incredible food and feel incredibly healthy at the same time

There are no photos here of the Saturday night where we met up with Patrick and Laura at what can only be described as an 'ultra high end club' (make of that what you will) for his 30th birthday party. They are our two English friends that we met randomly in Jervis Bay last year. 

Nor are there photos of our walking tours of uber-cool Fitzroy and its vintage shops, cafes and the Little Creatures Brewery; nor of quiet suburban Carlton, nor 'Little Italy' Lygon Street. 

Nor are there photos of the most awesome Italian food I have had at Ciccolina in St Kilda; the most perfectly cooked pasta ever. 

And the ones of us having several beers with Warney and Liz at their place didn't quite come out.