Victoria (Melbourne Region)
St Kilda
The former seaside resort of St Kilda has an air of shabby gentility, which enhances its current schizophrenic reputation as a sophisticated yet seedy suburb, largely residential but blessed with a raging nightlife. Running from St Kilda Road down to the Esplanade, Fitzroy Street is Melbourne’s red-light district – usually pretty tame, though late at night not a comfortable place for women alone – and epitomizes this split personality: it’s lined with dozens of thoroughly pretentious cafés and bars from which to gawp at the strip’s goings-on. 

On weekend nights these and others throughout St Kilda are filled to overflowing with a style-conscious but fun crowd. During the day there’s a very different feel, especially on Acland Street with its wonderful continental cake shops and bakeries. Ogling the mouthwatering window displays is a favourite way of passing the time on Sunday.

  

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Also on Sunday, the St Kilda Craft Market (10am–5pm, in winter until about 4pm) lines the waterfront on Upper Esplanade. It’s mainly arts and crafts, and not really good enough to justify the hordes of strollers, but going there is part of the ritual that includes taking a look at the beach, feeding your face, ambling into a few shops, listening to a busker, and perhaps calling at the covered market on Albert Street. Luna Park on the Esplanade is a well-loved landmark, a tacky, old-fashioned fairground entered through a huge laughing clown’s face. Wandering around is free, but you pay $3 for individual rides. You can sit under the palm trees of O’Donnell Gardens next door, or nearby St Kilda Botanical Gardens, and eat your Acland Street goodies. The beachfront is a popular weekend promenade all year round, with separate cycling and walking paths stretching down to Elwood and Brighton, and a long pier thrusting out into the bay.

On Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, boat trips from the pier across Hobsons Bay to Williamstown (Williamstown Bay and River Cruises; departures hourly between 11.30am and 3.30pm – last departure one-way only; 20min; $7, $11 return; tel 03/9397 2255) are rewarded with lovely views of St Kilda and the city. An alternative is a cruise with Penguin Waters Cruises (day-cruise 1hr 30mins, $20; sunrise and sunset cruise 1hr 30mins, $30; both include a barbecue lunch or dinner. Bookings tel 03/9645 0533 or mobile phone 0412/311 922). On the evening cruises – with a little luck – you’ll catch a glimpse of Little penguins coming ashore at a certain spot 4km from the mouth of the Yarra. As the exact location is not publicized, you can see them without the crowds that congregate on Phillip Island.

If you want to get a bit more serious, call in at one of the two bookshops on Acland Street, or check out the local arty community at the Linden Gallery (Tues–Sun 1–6pm, in winter noon–5pm), based in a fine Victorian-era mansion at 26 Acland St, where painting, installations and video art are displayed.

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