Pit stop in Melbourne

Traffic is awful in the cities. Sydney and Melbourne make Denver traffic look like a walk in the park. Of course, some of it could be the challenge of driving on the left side of the road, but I’m pretty sure traffic is just horrendous here. It was a Saturday, and it made no difference. Regardless, we forged on to downtown Melbourne to see the Queen Victoria Market (QVM). The QVM has been in continuous operation for over 140 years. It started as a place to exchange food products but has grown into 600+ stalls’ worth of stuff. Since I was here in the mid-2000’s, they have added tasty food trucks to the mix. I finally had a meat pie, chicken tandoori specifically. The flaky crust embraced a gooey, spicy mix of spinach, potato, and chicken. Meat pies are a thing here, and you can get them stuffed with about anything. I noticed at the pie shop yesterday that the lamb and rosemary is a hot seller, as it was the only one completely sold out.

We drove from the market to Torquay (pronounced tore-key) to have dinner with a couple of friends. Julie lives in Torquay, which also happens to be the surfing capital of Australia. We spent hours eating, ice creaming, and drinking coffee, enjoying three different establishments. By the time we were done, it was dark and raining again. We’ll be back tomorrow to check out the surfing scene. Maybe you’re a big fan of Point Break (Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves)? The final wave scene happens on Bells Beach (although sadly filmed in the US), which also hosts the Rip Curl international pro event every Easter. It is the world’s longest continuously running pro surfing competition. I’m looking forward to seeing the area tomorrow, especially the break called “Boobs.” I’m curious how it got named.Read more