Tonight I passed another Aussie milestone – I saw my first Huntsman!

The Bloke was calmly destroying a chicken so he could make his sangers for work and I was going on about my latest writing project when…

“So, I looked on the website and the only specification they gave was – Holy ****! That’s a huge spider!”

Just past The Bloke under the kitchen window (well within his arm’s reach) a big ol’ spider was happily hanging out. He said, “Oh, it’s a Huntsman.”

Right now I’m sitting at my desk working in front of the window. Looking outside, I can see the warm sunshine on my various little plants as well as the driveway. If I look up over the neighbour’s wall, I can see steely gray clouds. The blue skies must be on the other side of the house.

While this in itself may not seem strange or stunning, it is pretty much a poster for Melbourne weather. Often touted the only place you can experience all seasons in one day, I’ve learned not to count on anything when it comes to this feisty city’s weather patterns.

Melbourne is different than a lot of cities around the world – obviously it’s Australian - but also, it is unique even for Australia.

Melbourne is a city of variation, one where a visitor can find pockets of almost pure nationalities from around the world. In Carlton, just to the North-east of the city block, Italy rules and as one travels beyond the CBD (Central Business District) there are Asian areas, Greek, Turkish and many more. Something like 130 nationalities are represented here.

A beautiful spring weekend. An open schedule. Is there anything better than going for a drive and discovering new places? If you’re in Australia, then going for a drive is practically a national pastime and you shouldn’t miss out on all the wonderful things Melbourne has to offer outside its immediate suburbs.

One of my favourite things about travelling is discovering new places – especially awesome pubs. I recently made a trip to Canberra, Australia’s capital, for a writer’s conference and found a pub with some of the best food I have ever tasted.

When server Adrian greeted my husband and me just as we walked into The Durham, we knew we had found a good place to settle down for a meal and a drink. The soft lighting and modern but comfy surroundings helped me settle in and relax after a long, hard day.