Sunshine state
Reading that an epidemic of vitamin D de ciency in our overpopulated damp patch is driving up levels of depression, and even rickets, I began to fantasise over the driest continent on Earth.
Wilderness can still be found in Australia and, in late November, plentiful sunshine is available in Melbourne, too. I also found a level of cultural sophistication that confounded the Dame Edna stereotype.
Melbourne has won the Economist Intelligence Unit’s coveted City Liveability award for the third year (2011, 2012 and 2013), an award that prizes goods and services, low personal risk and an e ective infrastructure. Of more interest to me, it also has bush, coast and national parks within easy reach. I liked the idea of the vast terrain fringing the city, where I could nd a wilderness experience without spending 40 days and 40 nights in the desert.
Like New York, Melbourne rears up out of a at landscape. The river Yarra runs through it, and from the luxurious viewpoint of the in nity pool of the Crown Metropol Hotel I could spy a coxless four skimming over its surface.
The skyscrapers are humanised by the city’s Victorian architectural legacy, elaborate cast-ironwork and bluestone basalt, the best example of which is St Patrick’s Cathedral. Melbourne’s principal landmark, Flinders Street Station, gleams like gold, which is only appropriate as this trading city rose out of the 1850s gold rush. It is booming once again.
As Melbourne is known as Australia’s garden city, I headed for the Royal Botanic Gardens. Here I was hypnotised by the drowsy insect hum, emanating from a blooming melaleuca tree while bellbirds chimed overhead and black swans glided over the shimmering lake. I was a Pom in paradise.
Later, I overcame a lifelong antipathy to being guided by joining a small walking tour focusing on the city centre’s laneways, where bullock carts once hauled goods. They wind unpredictably through the central business district, which offers myriad small boutiques and bars.
Without the Hidden Secrets tour, I would never have discovered L’uccello, by way of Melbourne’s last manoperated lift. This must be the only shop to specialise in vintage haberdashery items that have been in storage since the early 20th century. Nor would I have tasted the city’s rooftop honey at Clementine’s, the epicentre for ‘locavores’ (locally sourced food lovers).
Just 45 minutes south is the beautiful Mornington Peninsula, where I was shown the nest of a pair of wedge-tailed eagles in the native bushland of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne – the two turkey-sized eaglets within had almost outgrown their treetop nursery. Also within Cranbourne is the Australian Garden, an RHS Gold-medalwinning landscape conservation project using native plants.
Above: The Crown Metropol Hotel's infinity pool. Below: The Royal Botanic Gardens, in the heart of Melbourne
The peninsula also features classic walks. Driving to the summit of Arthurs Seat I struck out through dry forest, including she-oak and Manna Gum on a tanglewood path to Kings Falls. Along the way, I encountered an echidna, an improbable spiny, egg-laying mammal in the same class as the platypus.
I stayed overnight at the Hummingbird Eco Retreat, which is surrounded by swamp wallabies and tree ferns, and where laughter yoga is on the menu. The high point of my trip was a life-enhancing visit to the nearby Red Hill community market, a huge celebration of local produce, where I bought a picnic for walk number two.
This was an hour-long coastal boardwalk from Cape Schanck lighthouse to the fascinating basalt formation of Pulpit Rock. Here, on the wild Bass Strait, you will finally blow the cobwebs away, gazing at the ‘white horses’ in the knowledge there is nothing between you and Antarctica.
Ninety minutes north of Melbourne is Hanging Rock, the atmospheric backdrop to Peter Weir’s 1975 film. This revered volcanic outcrop has lost none of its forbidding atmosphere and by late afternoon I was lost among its pinnacles. A ranger rescued me and pointed to a resident Powerful Owl whose speciality is decapitating ring-tailed possums.
Later in the trip, the Melbourne Birder, Steve Davidson, picked me up at 6am to drive me to the Anglesea Heathlands, west of the city. We spotted dozens of species, including the elusive southern emu-wren, the white-bellied cuckooshrike and a peregrine soaring with its prey, a raven chick. The tour was capped with sightings of storm-tossed koalas clinging to eucalypt branches in a lay-by on the Great Ocean Road.
Now my mind, body and vitamin D levels were fully restored.
Clementine’s 0061 3 9639 2681, www.clementines.com.au
Crown Metropol Hotel 0061 3 9292 6211, www.crownmetropolmelbourne.com.au
Hanging Rock www.visitmacedonranges.com/natural-attractions/hanging-rock
Hidden Secrets tour 0061 3 9663 3358, www.hiddensecretstour.com
Hummingbird Eco Retreat 0061 3 5989 2504, www.hummingbirdeco.com.au
L’uccello 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne 0061 3 9639 0088, luccello.blogspot.co.uk
Red Hill community market www.craftmarkets.com.au
Royal Botanic Gardens 0061 3 9252 2300, www.rbg.vic.gov.au
Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne 0061 3 5990 2200, www.rbg.vic.gov.au/visit-cranbourne
Melbourne Birder 0061 431 530 631, www.themelbournebirder.com
Wilderness can still be found in Australia and, in late November, plentiful sunshine is available in Melbourne, too. I also found a level of cultural sophistication that confounded the Dame Edna stereotype.
Melbourne has won the Economist Intelligence Unit’s coveted City Liveability award for the third year (2011, 2012 and 2013), an award that prizes goods and services, low personal risk and an e ective infrastructure. Of more interest to me, it also has bush, coast and national parks within easy reach. I liked the idea of the vast terrain fringing the city, where I could nd a wilderness experience without spending 40 days and 40 nights in the desert.
Like New York, Melbourne rears up out of a at landscape. The river Yarra runs through it, and from the luxurious viewpoint of the in nity pool of the Crown Metropol Hotel I could spy a coxless four skimming over its surface.
The skyscrapers are humanised by the city’s Victorian architectural legacy, elaborate cast-ironwork and bluestone basalt, the best example of which is St Patrick’s Cathedral. Melbourne’s principal landmark, Flinders Street Station, gleams like gold, which is only appropriate as this trading city rose out of the 1850s gold rush. It is booming once again.
As Melbourne is known as Australia’s garden city, I headed for the Royal Botanic Gardens. Here I was hypnotised by the drowsy insect hum, emanating from a blooming melaleuca tree while bellbirds chimed overhead and black swans glided over the shimmering lake. I was a Pom in paradise.
Later, I overcame a lifelong antipathy to being guided by joining a small walking tour focusing on the city centre’s laneways, where bullock carts once hauled goods. They wind unpredictably through the central business district, which offers myriad small boutiques and bars.
Without the Hidden Secrets tour, I would never have discovered L’uccello, by way of Melbourne’s last manoperated lift. This must be the only shop to specialise in vintage haberdashery items that have been in storage since the early 20th century. Nor would I have tasted the city’s rooftop honey at Clementine’s, the epicentre for ‘locavores’ (locally sourced food lovers).
Just 45 minutes south is the beautiful Mornington Peninsula, where I was shown the nest of a pair of wedge-tailed eagles in the native bushland of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne – the two turkey-sized eaglets within had almost outgrown their treetop nursery. Also within Cranbourne is the Australian Garden, an RHS Gold-medalwinning landscape conservation project using native plants.
Above: The Crown Metropol Hotel's infinity pool. Below: The Royal Botanic Gardens, in the heart of MelbourneThe peninsula also features classic walks. Driving to the summit of Arthurs Seat I struck out through dry forest, including she-oak and Manna Gum on a tanglewood path to Kings Falls. Along the way, I encountered an echidna, an improbable spiny, egg-laying mammal in the same class as the platypus.
I stayed overnight at the Hummingbird Eco Retreat, which is surrounded by swamp wallabies and tree ferns, and where laughter yoga is on the menu. The high point of my trip was a life-enhancing visit to the nearby Red Hill community market, a huge celebration of local produce, where I bought a picnic for walk number two.
This was an hour-long coastal boardwalk from Cape Schanck lighthouse to the fascinating basalt formation of Pulpit Rock. Here, on the wild Bass Strait, you will finally blow the cobwebs away, gazing at the ‘white horses’ in the knowledge there is nothing between you and Antarctica.
Ninety minutes north of Melbourne is Hanging Rock, the atmospheric backdrop to Peter Weir’s 1975 film. This revered volcanic outcrop has lost none of its forbidding atmosphere and by late afternoon I was lost among its pinnacles. A ranger rescued me and pointed to a resident Powerful Owl whose speciality is decapitating ring-tailed possums.
Later in the trip, the Melbourne Birder, Steve Davidson, picked me up at 6am to drive me to the Anglesea Heathlands, west of the city. We spotted dozens of species, including the elusive southern emu-wren, the white-bellied cuckooshrike and a peregrine soaring with its prey, a raven chick. The tour was capped with sightings of storm-tossed koalas clinging to eucalypt branches in a lay-by on the Great Ocean Road.
Now my mind, body and vitamin D levels were fully restored.
- More information: www.australia.com
- Fly economy class with Quantas in November, return from London Heathrow to Melbourne, from £1,129, including taxes: 0845-774 7767, www.quantas.com.au
Address book
Cape Schanck lighthouse www.capeschancklighthouse.com.auClementine’s 0061 3 9639 2681, www.clementines.com.au
Crown Metropol Hotel 0061 3 9292 6211, www.crownmetropolmelbourne.com.au
Hanging Rock www.visitmacedonranges.com/natural-attractions/hanging-rock
Hidden Secrets tour 0061 3 9663 3358, www.hiddensecretstour.com
Hummingbird Eco Retreat 0061 3 5989 2504, www.hummingbirdeco.com.au
L’uccello 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne 0061 3 9639 0088, luccello.blogspot.co.uk
Red Hill community market www.craftmarkets.com.au
Royal Botanic Gardens 0061 3 9252 2300, www.rbg.vic.gov.au
Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne 0061 3 5990 2200, www.rbg.vic.gov.au/visit-cranbourne
Melbourne Birder 0061 431 530 631, www.themelbournebirder.com