A new year and old friends

We were looking forward to our time in Melbourne ever since we started our trip. To spend Christmas with the Boothby family was actually one of the very little fixed-points we had planned. Steve and Markus met about 15 years back in Switzerland, when Steve did an exchange year at school and their friendship lasted over all these years. Steve and his family live in the suburbs of Melbourne, and he organized a house to stay at as well as a car to use for the duration of our visit. What a luxury! We felt very welcome and were happy to meet friends whom we would call our “family in the southern hemisphere”. Although the weather outside wasn’t frightful, the fire was still delightful. For the summer had just begun, nights were still a bit chilly and we were glad for the cozy fireplace in the garden. The temperature rose fast, peaking at 45°C only a few days into the new year. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed our time there, providing us with a bit of a break of the backpacking life.

Exploring Melbourne

To avoid the expensive car parking costs in the city of Melbourne, we drove to the pretty Williamstown in Hobsons Bay, across from downtown Melbourne. A ferry took us along the Yarra River directly to the core of the city called Southbank. The size of Melbourne is perfect for walking tours: pretty cafés, large pedestrian zones with shopping malls, beautiful botanical gardens, street art and modern architecture entertained us. To round up our city trip, we had drinks in the Sofitel Restaurant on the 35th floor with friends, enjoying a nice view of the city.

Australian wine tasting

Some beautiful vineyards are located in the north-east of Melbourne, and organized tours make it very easy to access the area from the city. One morning, four ladies and one gentleman went on an day trip and drove all the way through the green and hilly landscape, ready to taste some Australian wine and cheese. My companions shared my passion for both these things, so the day turned out to be quite wonderful. I learned a lot about Australian wine, for example the fact that cork taint does not exist for they only use aluminium screw tops: it is more ecological than sealing the wine with a cork (cork does not “grow” in Australia). And the cheese was fantastic – if that counts as a fact.

Horseback riding at the beach

The Kris Kringle sent us on a horseback riding adventure followed by relaxation in the hot springs on the Mornington peninsula, about an hours drive from Melbourne. Our horses Rose and Theo did a good job carrying us along the Tasman Sea, and we were stunned and fascinated by this great example of gods creation.

The rest of our days around Melbourne were filled with fun, kids, beaches, food and blessing. We had a fantastic beginning of the year 2015 – and they lived happily ever after.