Visit Melbourne
for an alternative

TRAVEL TIPS

THE TOURIST route here
is to visit Sydney for a cou-
ple of days then head up to
‘the Great Barrier
Reef resorts, stroke
_the crocodiles south -
“of Darwin and visit
Ayer’s Rock in the
middle. Not bad, but
there is an alterna-
tive.
This place — ’
Melbourne. If Sydney
has the feel of Toronto
then Melbourne is like
Montreal. It is old, fash-
ionable and comfortable but is still
capable of finding the energy to
- lure the Australian Grand Prix
away from Adelaide and $600 mil-
lion for a delightful new city centre
attraction, the Southgate Centre.

This is a handsome develop-

- ment on the far side of Yarra River
_which has given locals a place to
sit and look across the water at the,

. city skyline, a mixture of Gothic

’ revival and gleaming skyscrapers.

It offers an enpealing selection

. of places to sit, to drink and to
dine, and one hopes that our Expo |

_ kand redevelopment may yield
something as appealing.

I liked Walter’s Wine Bar,
which features 20 wines by the
glass every day, and | could nat

% resist a Scotchman’s Hill pinot noir
: from Geelong,

Once a gold-rush town (more
gold came through here than out of
California and Alaska coinbined),

- the locals now fike to look at life
through the bottom of a wine glass.

Hence the Original Aussie Wine
Bar in Fitzroy, a Bohemian section
just 10 minutes from the city centre
by streetcar.

This is a place for serious tip-
plers and features the world’s first
sparkling burgundy bar. Bush tuck-
eris the ticket here with kangaroo
proscuitto, emu cottechino and
crocodile quenelles.

little seaside town where well-off
Melbourne folk have cottages.
When the cook’s not on duty they
dine at the elegant Delgany
Country House Hotel, but for ordi-
nary mortals there's good fish and
chips, and inexpensive rooms, at
the Portsea Hotel on the beach.

Linger here for water sports of
all kinds, great walks and browsing
among the shops of nearby
Sorrento, which has another three
pub-type hotels where a couple can
get a room and breakfast for about
$50.

The bars here are good crack,
full of holiday-makers and Aussie

un.

Acar ferry offers a 40-minute
ride across the Rip to the other side
of the bay, and te Queenscliff,
which has enormously wide streets
such as I have not seen since
Bulawayo, where Cecil Rhodes
had them laid out so a wagon and
team of eight oxen could turn

66 More gold came through
here than out of California and
. Alaska combined. 99

around.

Sure enough, on the wall of the
Vue Grand Hotel was a faded print
of a wagon and six bullocks on
Queenscliff'’s main street.

The Vue Grand, heartily recom-
mended for food, service and ambi-
ence, is one of several ornate hotels

POT)

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pril 3, 1994 - North Shore News - 33

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TRADITIONAL MELBOURNE hangs on to its streetcurs. This tormer gold-rush town is old, fash-

which have been restored to their
century-old elegance.

This was where Melbourne mer-
chants used to come for the week-
end, presumably before
they started to build
their own places at
Portsea, and play golf.

Barwon Heads Golf
Club charges just $35
for & great course and a
warm welcome. At
Anglesey nearby, kan-
garoos roam on the
links, although it is not
considered sporting to
look at them through
proscuitto-tinted glass-
es.

Then it’s an easy drive through
tich wool and wine country to
Melbourne, which has easter con-
nections for domestic and interna-
tional flights now that Qantas has
taken over Australian Airlines and
merged it all into one carrier.

ate je Vane wae NR

Join us for an evening of traditional
Greek hospitality at our

Greece
Highlights

EV ENING

FEATURING a special presentation by
Marina Kouris of Omega Tours, an
authentic Greek meal, and more!

eT TE stra

‘lonable and comfortable, yet also has active cultural, sporting and nightilis aspects.

Wednesday, April 6 © 6:30 p.m.
Anatoli's Souviaki Restaurant
5 Lonsdale, North Vancouver

Tickets: Only $9.95 per person

(includes dinner)

Nightlife is epic, as you'd
expect in the home town of Dame
Nellie Melba, Olivia Newton John,
Kylie Minogue and Barry
Humphries, with an average of 30
stage plays and 20 classical con-
certs every week.

Sport is big too, starring the

~ Melbourne Cup horse-racing clas-
sic.

Which is our cue to get out of
town, for below Melbourne lies
Port Phillip Bay fringed by
Victoria’s famous sand-belt golf

. courses, superb links where you'll
hardly notice the green fees but be
knocked over by the warm wel-

- come in the clubhouse.

Don’t miss Portsea, a delightful

RSVP: BCAA Park Royal, 268-5650 before April Sth

BCAA Travel Agency

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