Although I knew it was a huge city, renowned for its ‘four seasons in a day’ weather, when I thought of living in Melbourne, I always imagined something a bit like Summer Bay (I think Pete and I might be the only souls still watching Home and Away), so I was slightly disappointed when we arrived. Not only was there no Bayside Diner, no Alf and Ailsa, but it was also cold, grey and rainy! We immediately thought we had made a terrible decision in coming south so soon.

Melbourne isn’t architecturally the most beautiful city on Earth (it is definitely Glasgow to Sydney’s Edinburgh on that front). It’s one of those places that you need to be in for a while to really appreciate why it’s consistently ranked one of the best cities to live in the world. Thankfully, we had six months to get acquainted with all Melbourne had to offer and by the end of it, we were smitten with it!

We spent our first couple of weeks Airbnb-ing – first in South Melbourne staying in a penthouse apartment with a lovely Samantha Jones type older lady called Rhonda, and then in a typical Melbourne house in Northcote, a wonderful neighbourhood in the north with fantastic bars and restaurants, a beautiful art deco cinema and a generally brilliant vibe. We spent our time exploring the city and searching for a place to live.

We rented bikes and cycled the 30km Capital City Trail around the city. It was a great way to get our bearings and to see the various neighbourhoods and green spaces around town.

Cycling the Capital City Trail past Abbotsford Convent

On the banks of the Yarra

We visited St Kilda – a suburb in the south of the city by the beach which backpackers flock to, and understandably so for the stunning sunsets and views of the city – and Brighton and its beach huts, further down the coast, where we whiled away an afternoon with wine and cheese on the beach.

Melbourne CBD from St Kilda harbour

Brighton beach huts

Pete ran the Melbourne 10k another fantastic (and slightly more taxing) way to see the city – taking in the beautiful Botanic Gardens, the Yarra River and the CBD.

Looking fresh the starting line!

During our second week, we celebrated Pete’s birthday with brunch in Northcote, a trip to Queen Victoria market for coconuts and freshly baked donuts (heaven!), drinks at The Rooftop Bar in town and a beautiful meal at MoVida – an amazing tapas restaurant on Hozier Lane that Pete’s work had very generously given us vouchers for. A fabulous way to celebrate a fabulous boy!

Pete trying to blend in with the street art outside MoVida

Coconuts at Queen Vic Market