Circa – 2012 (Pre-Daisy being born 🙂
The weekend had arrived! Meg & I were having one of our last weekends together before our little tacker arrived – a babymoon if you like!
After throwing around a few ideas of where we should go for our weekend away, we decided it would be fun to relive our haunts in Melbourne for the weekend and reminisce about all the fun times from when we first met.
Friday night we checked into the Blackman Hotel, being big fans of the Art Series hotels we were once again impressed with the service, relished in the awesome decor and enjoyed the luxurious comforts of the room.
The realization & excitement that anytime now we would be parents really started sinking in for us both. We talked about how while it’s going to be a huge change for us both, we’d also make sure that we’d still be able to do everything that we wanted to do, only it would be even more fun having our own little one to share the fun with!
It was a fun night, a great chance to spend some quality time together and reflect on our time together and the excitement of what was ahead for us.
The next morning we enjoyed a fantastic breakfast in the French Patisserie downstairs at the Blackman (highly recommend the French Toast- great coffee too!) it was off to explore more of Melbourne & visit some of our favorite places.
First stop was the Royal Botanic Gardens, the place that we first met when we were both working there, Meg in Marketing, me managing the Visitor Centre and tours.
The Eucalyptus Lawn, our favorite little spot on Long Island, Temple of the Winds where we had our first kiss on a cold, winters day, Oak Lawn…so many special places for us as a couple and after working there for 12 years, a place that will always have fond memories. The sun even came out on queue for us!
We walked, we talked, we sat & immersed ourselves in the Gardens, I took some photos along the way and before we knew it, a few hours had passed.
Next, it was a stroll along the Yarra River, another one of our spots with countless picnics together & BBQ’s & drinks with mates – Boxing Day, Australia Day & other weekend gatherings. Again, lots of memories & fun times.
We ended up at World Bar & restaurant for lunch, another favorite spot of ours (I still reckon they do the best Steak Sandwich) where we sat in the sun for a couple hours & had some lunch & a couple drinks (I did anyway)!
At 37 weeks into her pregnancy and having walked quite a bit, we decided to head back to the hotel & chill out for the afternoon. An afternoon snooze, a movie and we were pretty relaxed, just as we wanted!
We opted for room service and a night in on the Saturday night, after a big day exploring, it was a nice way to finish the day!
After another great breakfast in the French Patisserie on the Sunday, it was off to further explore Melbourne, the VCE Top Arts exhibition at NGV Fed Square, the Melbourne Designer Market and a stroll through the city past many of our favourite restaurants & cafes & remembering different stories through our journey together finished off our weekend nicely.
After both living seperately in Southbank early in our relationship, it was amazing to remember how many places we’d been to and explored together over the years.
Our last stop was at our favourite Clarendon Street (South Melbourne) Fish & Chips which we took down to the Middle Park Beach and enjoyed together, another of our ‘things’. Although it was a bit chilly for a dip this time, we remembered the times spent at the Middle Park & South Melbourne beaches over the years.
As we drove home to Ballarat, we talked about much of an amazing weekend it had been, how special our relationship was, how amazing it is what a couple days together can do, and importantly how much of a partnership we were in preparation of our most exciting journey together yet – becoming parents.
Happy days!
Great article. So true about World Bar – my fav place for lunch in Melbourne.