Melbourne Journal
Dominique Rowe goes on a weekend sybaritic spree in Melbourne
FRIDAY
06:30am - Arrive in Melbourne
It’s a miracle! Skip off plane sparkling and ready to rock, thanks to Qantas’s business class and its (nearly) horizontal bed-seat. Feel a world away from the sorry herds in cattle class next door.
9am - Check in to the Langham Hotel
This award-winning hotel is situated on Melbourne’s Yarra River, on its South Bank, facing picturesque Flinders Street Station and its anomalous neighbor, Federation Square. It’s also a stone’s throw from the Central Business District (which, to the untrained eye, appears to contain more shops than businesses). Over the last decade, the South Bank area has undergone a remarkable transformation from bleak industrial wharf-scape to bustling, exciting cultural hub, complete with shopping centers, a hugely popular casino, hotels, offices and apartment blocks. As one plain-speaking local comments, “Ten years ago, this area was a sh**hole. But now, thanks to the South Bank regeneration, Melbourne is no longer Sydney’s poor cousin, but has a strong identity of its own.”
10am - Massage at Chuan Spa
You never need an excuse to be pampered, and the Langham Hotel is proud of Chuan Spa, its in-house relaxation station. With a philosophy rooted in traditional medicine, guests fill out a diagnostic questionnaire to gauge individual needs and personalities. After a 90-minute harmony massage, retiring for blissed-out Z’s in the spa’s womb-like relaxation room is heavenly.
1pm - Lunch at Federation Square
Glide dreamily across the Yarra Bridge, past the listed Flinders Street Station and into Federation Square’s enormous belly. Melbourne’s restaurateur of the moment, Paul Mathis, has recently added Upper+Lower House Bistro (G/F, Federation Square, Flinders Street, 613-9663-3134) to his portfolio. After much anticipation, sit boggle-eyed in the face of cold, sloppy service and a forgettable meal.
Melbourne loves chocolate. And the city's answer to Willy Wonka is Suzie Wharton (03-9815-1228; [email protected]), an immaculately coiffed pixie in bright 1950s attire, carrying an emerald parasol. Despite her diminutive size, her enthusiasm is contagious as she walks us through the chocolate highways that are The Magnificent Seven. Nothing to do with Mexican gunslingers, the moniker refers to a series of European-style shopping arcades built at the zenith of the Victorian gold rush in the late 1800s. It's filled with bijou boutiques selling everything from chocolate and soap to Russian dolls and camper shoes. The most memorable is the perfectly preserved Milanese Block Arcade. Built in 1869, it features mosaic floors and octagonal glass-domed ceilings. Inside is Haigh’s Chocolates, where customers can stock up on all manner of cocoa-based creations.
The only thing to do after tasting all that chocolate is to have some more, so we flop into stylish Koko Black (Shop 4, Royal Arcade, 331 Bourke Street, 03-9639-8911, www.kokoblack.com.au) for a cocoa and caffeine injection. Decadent desserts are consumed by impossibly thin women dressed in traditional “Melbourne black,” accompanied, as always, by the requisite skinny cappuccino.