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hectares with hundreds of stallholders, the 134-year-old market offers delicious insights into the local obsession with fine produce. Don’t even think of departing without ordering the classic Queen Vic breakfast of bratwurst roll and a latte from the Melbourne Bratwurst Shop at the entrance on Therry Street.

09.00Saddle up on one of the 600 blue bicycles located at Melbourne Bike Share (www.melbournebikeshare.com.au) stations around the CBD and set off on a two-wheeled tour of the city. Cycle routes on dedicated bike lanes include the Capital City Trail that hugs the Yarra River and takes in the sights of Southbank, Birrarung Marr park and sporting landmarks such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Rod Laver Arena and the striking new Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. An ideal choice in warmer weather is the Bayside Trail, which loops around Port Phillip to fashionable St Kilda and beyond. Wearing a helmet is compulsory in Victoria, so pick one up for $5 at the nearest 7-Eleven and once you’ve finished, return it to get a $3 refund.

Clockwise from opposite page: cafe culture at Melbourne GPO; joggers on The Tan; Movida Next Door; street art in a Fitzroy laneway

07:00Start the day with a dilemma – to exercise or to eat? Join the ranks of sporty types in a lap or two of The Tan, a 3.8km running track around the Royal Botanic Gardens and King’s Domain, or indulge in a visit to the happy hunting grounds of the Queen Victoria Market. Spread over seven

MelbourneWords KeNDAll Hill

photography SHAryN CAirNS

Melbourne, Australia’s most flourishing capital city, is a leafy bayside metropolis

of 4.2 million people with a bold personality that values sport and culture, design

and cuisine – in more or less equal measure. Its rich multicultural heritage (it is

the world’s third-largest Greek-speaking city, with major Chinese-, Vietnamese-

and Italian-speaking populations) and continental climate lend Melbourne

a distinctly European aura. Mix in a maze of vibrant laneways, top-flight fashion

and art, and a revitalised riverfront, and the city rewards curiosity at every turn.

plunge into a laneway labyrinth, take a two-wheeled tour along the yarra,

snap up funky finds in Fitzroy and go gourmet grazing from dawn to dusk

in the world’s most liveable city.

OCTOBER 201 2 Q A N TA S 97

WAlK THiS WAy Five must-do Melbourne tours by foot. travelinsider.qantas.com.au/ five_must-do_walking_tours_in_melbourne.htm

All THAT GliTTerS Designer Sally Marsland’s five essential must-visits on the contemporary jewellery scene. travelinsider.qantas.com.au/jewellery_designer_sally_marslands_must-see_melbourne_guide.htm

MiCrOBreWerieS Wet your whistle with a tour of craft beer cellar doors. travelinsider.qantas.com.au/melbournes_micro_breweries.htm

eAT, PlAy, STAy The very best of Melbourne shopping, dining and accommodation. travelinsider.qantas.com.au/melbourne_eat_play_stay.htm

Q A N T A S . C O M / T r A v e l i N S i D e r

Mor e at tr avelinsider

One perfect Day

Melbourne is often described as Australia’s most european city: a Piaggio scooter adds a bit of italian cred to this Fitzroy laneway (left)

Clockwise from top left: royal exhibition Building; Christine for fashion in Flinders lane; Anna Schwartz Gallery; Movida Next Door

11.00After dropping your bike back in town, take the 112 tram from Collins Street to funky Fitzroy to browse the unique boutiques of Brunswick, Gertrude and Smith Streets. This is the creative hub of the capital with offerings as diverse as bespoke perfumes and Scandinavian furniture. Gertrude Street is highly creative and cuisine-driven, raffish Smith has strong suits in industrial design and designer restaurants, and Brunswick is the increasingly commercial heart of bohemian Melbourne.

12.30The once working-class suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood are now the epicentre of the northside’s eclectic eating scene. The neighbourhood offers every wining and dining option imaginable. Try the $4 lunch pizzas at Bimbo Deluxe (bimbodeluxe.com.au) on the corner of Brunswick and Rose, Fitzroy; or the new-school Italian fare at Gorski and Jones (gorskiandjones.com), 304 Smith Street, Collingwood; or perhaps you’d prefer pit-roasted pleasures at Casa Ciuccio (casaciuccio.com.au), 15 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy.

14.00 After lunch, walk over to the Carlton Gardens and the 1880 Royal Exhibition Building, which together form Australia’s first World Heritage-listed, non-Indigenous cultural site. This rare reminder of grand 19th-century exhibition architecture – the dome was inspired by Brunelleschi’s 15th-century Duomo in Florence – was where Australia’s first federal parliament was sworn in and served as a basketball and weightlifting venue during the 1956 Olympic Games. Pick up a map at the Melbourne Museum

next door (the starkly modern building with a ski-jump roofline) and set off on a self-guided walk of the grounds. Alternatively, hosted tours of the Exhibition Building depart most days at 2pm next door.

16.00Explore city laneways such as Little Collins Street and Flinders Lane for fine art and beautifully tailored fashion (Christine at 181 Flinders Lane is renowned for its accessories and lavish European labels). Flinders Lane is gallery row, with everything from

contemporary Indigenous works to the blue-chip Anna Schwartz art space at No.185. Keep your eyes peeled for the slick street art all around – Hosier Lane’s aerosol-tattooed bluestone has become a Melbourne trademark, while Union Lane has its own street-art curator.

17.30Head over to the revamped Hamer Hall, Melbourne’s more modest rival to the Sydney Opera House, at 100 St Kilda Road. In less than an hour you can discover the highlights of

its $138.5m renovation, including the new riverside wing, lavish ceilings coated in Dutch gold leaf and leather walls handcrafted from the hides of Swedish cows. The lively, 45-minute narrated walk (book in advance at artscentremelbourne.com.au) explores new angles and old haunts to a commentary that features cameos from Diana, Princess of Wales, Pavarotti and Tina Arena (apparently her last concert here sent two women into labour). The tour concludes with bubbles and canapés at the bar.

19.00Plunge back into Melbourne’s laneway labyrinth to sample some of the city’s more refined restaurants. Here the smartest plan of attack is some progressive dinner grazing on one

96 Q A N TA S OCTOBER 201 2

98 Q A N TA S OCTOBER 201 2

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Clockwise from top: Siglo rooftop; buffalo mozzarella, zucchini fritters, mint and pea salad at Coda; a Siglo-style Manhattan; Coda bar

or two plates at each venue. Start with the best tapas this side of Barcelona at MoVida Next Door (164 Flinders Street, movida.com.au/movida-next-door); move on to Coda (141 Flinders Lane, codarestaurant.com.au) for Adam D’Sylva’s artful, Asian-inspired plates; then to San Telmo (14 Meyers Place, santelmo.com.au) for hearty Argentine snacks; and Pei Modern (45 Collins Street, peimodern.com.au) for its smart bar menu.

23.00To look at Melbourne’s bar scene you’d think the city has a drinking problem. But the only problem here is deciding where to drink. For a sophisticated nightcap, ascend the stairs on Spring Street to the stylish rooftop hangout Siglo (Level 2/161). Its Parisian-inspired terrace with views to the neoclassical Parliament House, St Andrews Spire and ornate facade of the Princess Theatre is a winning spot to toast the end of one perfect day in marvellous Melbourne. c

word up

A SHOrT HiSTOry OF MelBOUrNe ArCHiTeCTUre

Philip Goad (pesaro)

Traces the city’s built heritage from gold-rush grandeur to monumental

deco, mid-century modern and cutting-edge 21st-century landmarks.

THe BirTH OF MelBOUrNeEdited by Tim Flannery (text)

Professor Flannery marshals a diverse range of voices, from tribal elders to governors and criminals, uncovering

fascinating stories from the city’s colonial beginnings.

MelBOUrNeSophie Cunningham (new south)

Part memoir, part history, part elegy – a personal and detailed account of the author’s hometown – “a city of

inside places and conversation”.

MONKey GriPHelen Garner (penguin)

Gritty, inner-city Melbourne in the ’70s. Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll – plus lounging around at the Fitzroy Baths.

for airfares call Qantas on 13 13 13 or visit qantas.com. for holiday packages to Melbourne call Qantas Holidays on 13 14 15.