Outdoor Activities
- Sun and sand
- Lazy picnics in parks
- Cool beer in cooler beer gardens
For outdoor activities, Melbourne comes alive in the sunshine. Sweltering days and balmy nights open up the beaches for swimming, rollerblading, tandem bike riding and kitesurfing, while beer gardens and grassy greens overflow to the sounds of live music, mingled with the scent of beer and barbecues.
Outdoor drinking
Warm weather and cold beer are a perfect match, and one of the city's best spots to be for both is the Belgian Beer Cafe , on St Kilda Road, where there's jazz on Sundays, over 20 types of beer by the bottle and hard-to-find brews on tap.
Most pubs in Melbourne have outdoor seating, but other beer-garden favourites for those in the know include Yelza in Fitzroy, St Jeromes in the city, the Corner Hotel in Richmond and the Standard in Fitzroy.
If you want to hear some live Melbourne music, head to the grass outside the Arts Centre in St Kilda Road for a free event every Sunday in January and February. Simply set yourself and your picnic basket down on the grass and enjoy your beer from plastic cups, to the sounds of some great local tunes.
Sea and sand
Sweltering nights call for moonlit rollerblading along St Kilda Beach. Or why not hire a tandem bike and stop for ice-cream along the foreshore? You could take a lead from the seemingly hundreds of kite sails and have a go at kitesurfing (also known as kiteboarding).
Port Phillip is considered one of the world's better kitesurfing locations, thanks to its unique wind patterns and protected bay. A couple of kitesurfing schools operate along the St Kilda/Middle Park stretch of beach and they all offer walk-up lessons. Be warned – it's not as easy as they make it look, but definitely as much fun. Windsurfing is another great activity option.
There are plenty of places around the city to cool off with a quick dip. Visit the Swimming page to find out more.
www.stkildakiteboarding.com.au
www.redballoondays.com.au
www.yarratri.com.au
Grassy activities
A great way to stay cool in summer is to play barefoot lawn bowls, a social sport that's now more popular with the younger beer-drinking crowd than with retirees! The Fitzroy, Northcote, Elwood and St Kilda Bowls Clubs are all popular (and close to the city if you feel like going out afterwards). Each has a bar that generally closes at 8pm, but you can often BYO as well.
Moonlight Cinema takes over the Royal Botanic Gardens on summer evenings. Pack a picnic rug and enjoy older classics such as Taxi Driver and Breakfast at Tiffany's, along with the latest releases, all enjoyed under the stars. BYO wine, cheese and mosquito repellant.
New Year's Day is generally hot in Melbourne and calls for some serious dancing. Summerdayze, an annual mega dance party, is held at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on the edge of the city, and the Big Day Out generally follows a few weeks later. Smaller music festivals include the Brunswick music festival in March and the Northcote festival in September.
A great way to see a number of the nearby Yarra Valley's best wineries is to the sounds of live jazz. Get a group along to the annual Grape Grazing Festival held in March.
www.bowls-aust.com.au
