Melbourne Weekend Getaway

Friday, Tammy and I took off to Melbourne for the weekend, leaving the children largely to their own with a bit of night supervision from Nan Rowlings.  This was in the planning since August 2013, after buying tickets to Micheal Bublé, when they first went on sale.

Tam and I always enjoy a spa bath for the novelty, so after a search on Wotif for a suitable Melbourne CBD hotel I booked in with Mantra on Little Bourke St.  We were pleasantly surprised at how big the apartment was.  This would be the largest I have ever stayed at.  Apart from bedding it would accommodate a large group quite comfortably.

As we did not arrive till late afternoon on the Friday, we had little planned but took a walk to nearby China Town for a Chinese banquet for two then to make use of that Spa!

Saturday morning was spent wandering around the Queen Victoria Markets for a few Aussie trinkets to send off to Jakob.  A few Australian (Chinese Made) T-Shirts, Boomerangs and an Aussie Tie were the go.  Of course we had to get a trinket or two for the kids at home.  A quick pit stop at the unit then another lengthy walk down to Harbour Town.  The weather started to break up and I think we had exhausted our shopping gene so we jumped on the City Circle tram back up to La Trobe St and then a quick walk to the apartment.  This Tram was a new experience.  I said to the guy squished up against me that we should be on first name basis.  The reviews point out you are packed in like Sardines and it did not disappoint.

We took a well earned rest for the next hour and got ourseleves ready for the main activity of our weekend.  The Michael Bublé concert.

We left the apartment at 5:00pm in search of another feed on our walk to the Rod Lava Arena. We found a quaint alley lane that had a number of eating establishments that spilled out into the lane way for some Al fresco dining.  Expresso Mondo gained our business for the evening. I think it was fairly average so far as food went, but the company was good.  Quite the cultural experience along with a minor irritation a couple of tables along where someone off the street was not so politely told where he could take his unwanted conversation, as he attempted to spread his form of love to the masses. 

We felt quite full rather quickly due to our late lunch but managed to stagger our way in the general direction of Federation Square and onto Melbourne Park.  We got chatting away to another fan as we ambled along in search of the Rod Lava Arena, discovering she had come in from Mildura to attend.  This brought a flood of missionary memories having served part of my mission in that area.  I am not sure about Tammy but I was quite excited for the event, looking forward to it with great anticipation.

We were in company of 10,000+ souls.  The Rod Lava Arena was quite the venue.  The dazzling stages with their neon lighting and video projection was quite spectacular.  The support act from Naturally Seven was simply stunning.  The style of music was vocal play so that any sound was generated from their vocals.  Amazing artists, they were a great warm up to the main event.

Micheal Bublé did not disappoint.  What an amazing performer.  I enjoy his style, maybe a little cheesy on the humour but he put on a great show.  When I thought the performance was wrapping up with Micheal leaving the arena, the encore set of music, with him returning to the stage was just the icing to the evening.  We left the venue on a high, and made our way through the throng of bodies out of the venue and a swift return walk back up to the Apartment.

In reflection of the cost associated with the weekend: Ticket pricing, airfares and accommodation (not to mention food and shopping) make it a relatively big ticket item on our budget.  This is our 3rd such event over our 21 years, so I guess averaging it out is not too bad.  I certainly think it worth the investment as a couple for a get away.  I would love to make it an annual thing if we can have this sort of quality entertainment and of course convince Tammy to come along!