Anybody been? We’re going over to visit the missus’s brother next winter, just wondering about the climate, how much there is for kids (6 & 7) to do, etc.

In our winter the climate is great, in their winter its a bit chilly (but warmer than here). Loads for the kids. The aquarium is good, so is riding the tram. Even more good things once you get out of the city. You need a car, though. Puffin’ Billy steam train, lots of good beaches, Philip Island for penguins, seals and koalas. My brother is out there with his kids, they love it.

The Great Ocean Road is a good trip. Nice beaches and surfing on Phillip Island plus the penguin parade. Fly with Singapore Airlines, their airbuses give a bit more space and quiet.

Lucky you! It’s just about my favourite city in the world. The climate can be very changeable – a couple of years ago they had three solid months of 30c temps and above. This last summer was very wet. Either way, there’s plenty to do for kids, from St Kilda’s Luna Park funfair to the Ceres urban farm. Take them to a footy match if you can. And get out of the city for at least a couple of days: Yarra Valley has wineries and the Healesville wildlife sanctuary to see tasmanian devils etc.

I just keep hearing the ‘four seasons in a day’ comment, meaning that the weather can be extremely changeable, and wondering how true it is…

Very true. South, next stop is Antarctica, north is the red-hot Outback – when the two collide you get some impressive storms. But it could also be pretty settled for weeks on end.

Anyway, I lived in Cornwall for a couple of years, I’m used to ‘changeable’. 🙂

No, it’s not worth worrying about: summer showers are refreshing. Just don’t forget the factor 50 (the sun down under is savage).

Slip slap slop then matey!

it’s a cool city, quite a bit to do but like the rest of Oz it’s very expensive when it comes to beers/food and some entertainment in fact most things are due to exchage rate.

Summer is usually pretty stable and warm. I work there at least 1 week every 2 months. In summer its often 30+. As said before lot’s to do – great city really. Fantastic food, nice spots to head to as well reasonably nearby.

Summer nights are unbearable (without A/C) as there’s little overnight cooling. IIRC, last year it was 29/30 at 4am a couple of times.

If you do go to St Kilda have a beer in the Esplananade hotel, cool vibe and great music. Aparently it was Ben Elton’s favourite (but I never saw him in there).

That’s cos he lives in Perth now – Fremantle to be exact…

They say you either like Melbourne or Sidney, I loved Melbourne, the Prince of Wales in St Kilda for gigs, trams, great city.

Aparently it was Ben Elton’s favourite (but I never saw him in there)

He’s got quite a bit of free time on his hands at the moment so I imagine he could make his way around every hotel called the Esplanade in every state capital…

it’s a cool city, quite a bit to do but like the rest of Oz it’s very expensive when it comes to beers/ food and some entertainment in fact most things are due to exchage rate.

It was a couple of years back, but I found nice wine was good and cheap at least if you drink Australian wine, and they do make some jolly nice ones. Restaurant dinners not that expensive compared to London, and the same thing where if you find reviews and take public transport a bit out, you can find some very high quality inexpensive food. Cafes, lunches, snacks were eye wateringly expensive at times though, odd things like chocolate bars and ice creams were real wallet rapers.

What a nice city though, nice biking nearby too. Oh and kangaroos are brilliant. I saw them in the wild in the You Yangs, really bizarre they are. If there is any way you can engineer seeing kangaroos out in the country somewhere, just by coincidence, I imagine your kids will love you.

For Roos go to Anglesey golf course. I got one right between the eyes off a tee – it wasn’t happy at all. I wasn’t aiming but they are like rabbits. Big fckn angry rabbits right enough.

You can do a day trip with the kids on ‘puffing Billy’ – a working steam train that takes you up through the Dandenongs to a large park (boats and pools for the kids, cream teas for mum and dad).
Lunar park is alright (amusement park) and if you want a night out kid free – book the Melbourne dining tram – 3 course meal with all the booze you can drink as the tram rolls around Melbourne – good night out.
Don’t forget the sun block and a raincoat.

I went there for two weeks as part of the Australia Day celebrations (I was racing) and thought it was a brilliant city – one of my favourite. I just thought it had a great atmosphere, friendly people (mostly!) who seemed to know about and understand sport and the food, etc was great.

The weather was crazy though – in two weeks, we had everything from cool 12 degrees with rain and thunderstorms to 38 degrees of blazing, humid sun.

Just to balance the Melbourne love-in, the beaches are rubbish by Aussie standards and the bike-share is a flop because you have to wear a helmet…

That said, if you borrow a bike and a helmet, I’d really recommend a ride along the Bayside Trail or the Yarra Trail bike paths.