Melbourne!

Our drive from Sydney concluded (kind of) at Melbourne, where my Dad arrived from the States to join the travelin' party.

 

We LOVED Melbourne. A walkable city with a great public transportation system, such friendly residents, a fantastic Chinatown...

 

....and more. My fantastic Denver friend J spent February hiking in New Zealand and there met (and subsequently connected me with) a Melbourne native, H, who spent an entire afternoon showing us around the city, helping us navigate the Myki transport card system, and taking us to a thrift store where in less than 10 minutes we outfitted SR from head to toe with the dress clothes he was going to need for a wedding we're attending at our next stop.

SR was duly compensated for the pain of a shopping trip by then having his discontent dulled with lots of beer at a nice local brewery and then a neighborhood pub--also thanks to H, who showed us the best spots in the area.

We also caught an Aussie Rules Football game, which was a great cultural experience.

And remember when I said before that I wasn't going to eat at any restaurants because the food is too expensive? Well, thank goodness that I am still with my very generous parents for this part of the trip, because maybe the most incredible, memorable thing about Melbourne is its food. Cafes and to-die-for restaurants occupy what seems like the majority of the storefronts. Veggie dumplings in Chinatown made my mom and me very happy during our girls' day on the town while the boys drove out of the city to play golf.

And really, then we just walked through the beautiful city and ate more of its delicious food in a never-ending cycle until we had to leave. Which was a sad eventuality. I would definitely return here again sometime.