← All articles · Australia ·

Melbourne

Melbourne in August 2025: koalas and snakes at the zoo, a city wine flight, Flinders Street Station at night and hungry emus on a Pearcedale day trip.

After Sydney we flew south to Melbourne in August 2025, and the city split neatly in two for us: animals on the edges, wine and grand old buildings in the middle.

Zoo day

We started with the wildlife, because in Australia you always start with the wildlife.

Inga and Dileep taking a selfie under a koala sitting in the fork of a eucalyptus tree above them
The koala had opinions about our selfie and shared none of them.
A thick patterned snake with dark banding lying on red desert sand behind glass in a reptile house
The reptile house, doing nothing to soften Australia's reputation. Glass appreciated.

In the city

Central Melbourne rewards walking: arcades, bars tucked into old buildings, and a railway station that looks like a palace.

Gloved hands holding bags of Chocolate Tassie Devil Poo and Chocolate Wombat Poo in a souvenir shop, priced 15 dollars
Tassie Devil Poo or Wombat Poo, fifteen dollars either way. Australian souvenir shops commit to the joke.
Inga and Dileep in hats at a marble bar table with a flight of red, white and sparkling wines, bottle shelves lit behind
A wine flight in town, hats on, one of us in a Melbourne hoodie so nobody mistakes us for locals.
Inga in front of the illuminated Flinders Street Station at night with its clock tower and dome, a tram passing behind
Flinders Street Station lit up at night, tram included at no extra charge.

Feeding the locals at Pearcedale

On our last day we drove about an hour south-east of the city to a wildlife park at Pearcedale, where the animals wander over and the food cups do not last long.

Inga in a hat holding a food cup while two large emus eat from it in a grassy paddock by a pond
Two emus, one cup, zero concept of personal space.
Dileep in a trilby hat crouching to hand-feed a wallaby that has a joey looking out of its pouch
A wallaby taking lunch far more politely, with a joey auditing the whole transaction from the pouch.

Melbourne in winter: cold enough for hats, warm enough for emus. We would go back for the arcades alone.