Day 1 – Saturday 03 February- 2024

This year we decided to take Jessie to Melbourne for her (early) birthday. It’s a favourite city of both myself and Craig, and we knew there were plenty of family-friendly things to do.

This morning we caught the red eye (literally, as there wasn’t much sleep in our household last night), departing Christchurch at 6.10am. We joined that queue which stretches back from the security doors right to the food area (not sure who designed it 😅… it’s not great when you have flights departing to Melbourne x2, Sydney, and Brisbane all at the same time) and did our best to distract Jessie while we waited. We got to the x-rays, and Jessie was chosen to do the full body, which was quite hilarious to watch, with her wee arms up in the air… they were reasonably kind to her, which was good.

I don’t remember much about the flight, as I spent it intermittently sleeping (consistent sleeping with a 6 year old isn’t really a thing, but I did ok), but I do remember that the food was verging on plastic. I’m one of those people who love plane food, but breakfast is rarely good, is it? But the staff were lovely, giving Jessie a cool wee Qantas etcher sketch. Jessie made friends with a tiny hand reaching through from the seat behind her too.

Arriving in Melbourne we spent a good hour getting through immigration and customs, and finally emerged to a beautiful (already) hot morning. I’d struggled to find a transfer option that wasn’t either horrendously expensive, or didn’t meet the Victoria child restraint rules, but came across a 13 Cabs, who contracted out to a man called Adam who picked us up in a lovely SUV – he provided a booster seat, and treats for Jessie, and a bottle of water for us. It still wasn’t cheap, but I’d prefer it over taking the Skybus, where you only go as far as Southern Cross Station and still have to make it to your accommodation with your suitcase. The city trams are a lot more packed these days too, with them now being free within the CBD.

We are staying at the Novotel on Collins as it’s super central, and my colleague kindly gave us a voucher she had for a free night, which we were able to take on to our paid nights. Fortunately our room was ready for us on arrival at 10am, so we were able to go straight in and refresh ourselves before jumping on a tram to St Kilda.

St Kilda is one of my favourite areas of Melbourne, but it’s probably one of those sans-children areas to spend time in. We went and had lunch at a restaurant with a good vibe – Abbey Road – I love a restaurant with street tables, we were having a great time people watching until a troubled woman came up to the table behind us a yelled at the patrons that they are the reasons she is the way she is.

After lunch we wandered down Acland Street, looking at all the windows with delicious looking cakes and pastries, and stopped for a gelato on our way to Luna Park.

For the multiple people who told me I was thinking of Sydney when I said we were going to Luna Park, here’s your proof I wasn’t 🤭. An obligatory photo outside that famous giant mouth, and we were in! Jessie could not believe her eyes.

I was nervous about how she would be with the rides, but we eased in with a carousel ride, and her confidence grew and grew. We didn’t quite make it to the Scenic Railway (the wooden rollercoaster) due to a 40 minute wait time, but I can’t say I was that upset about that. Jessie and Craig did a big swing one though, and that was pretty big for her. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she could go on most of the rides if we were with her, so it worked out great and we spent most of the afternoon there before heading back to the hotel to cool down (it was a super hot day) and then down to Melbourne Central to a dinner place I’d been eyeing up, called Son in Law… I just knew Jessie would fizz over it, and she did (and so did I, to be fair).

I’d love to have tried more on their menu, so it’s definitely a spot to visit again one day.

After dinner we wandered back to the hotel, all shattered by our very big day, and went to sleep quite quickly (Jessie in a double bed all to herself 😂).

Tomorrow we are off to DFO in 37°C… see ya there!

Love, Laus ❤