Milk crates
Melbournians have made an artform out of everyday milk crates. You’ll see them propping up buskers’ guitar amps and punters in hipster cafés and bars, or used as shelves and plant pots.
Royal Botanic Gardens
Melbourne has plenty of green space, but it’s hard to trump the pretty lawns and gardens on the south bank of the Yarra River – home to fragrant Australian plants and the impressive Shrine of Remembrance.
West eats East
Melbourne is more and more a city where Asia meets Oz – and that’s reflected in pioneering restaurants like Supernormal, and in dishes like its smoked eggplant, sesame and furikake (left).
Outdoor bars
Scramble up to a rooftop bar (Spanish pintxo bar Naked for Satan), under a bridge on the Yarra River (Ponyfish Island) or down to a graffitied laneway beer garden (Section 8) for a sundowner and a spectacular view.
Healesville Sanctuary
Twenty-eight hectares of bushland dedicated to conservation, great to get up close to kangaroos, echidnas (left) and koalas. Day tours offer lunch at a Yarra Valley winery.
Myki rage
The free tram zone in the central business district is fantastic. But beware: confusing usage guidelines for the temperamental Myki transport cards mean bouts of Myki rage are never far off. Even locals hate it…
