Believe it or not, if you drive far enough from the city, the Yarra River is a beautiful place to spend a Summer's day swimming. Warrandyte is a haven of shady gumtrees, flowing rapids, and rocks to perch yourself on while the water rushes past. Bring beers, but esky optional - the water is cool enough to keep them chilled all day.

Besides being covered in the street art that is synonymous with Melbourne, the laneways also lead to some of the city’s best cafes, shops and restaurants, and are always worth taking time to explore.

Each evening at dusk, thousands of bats fly from the park to feed on fruit trees all over Melbourne, in what seems like an endless stream. It's an incredible display by nature in a city environment.

Fresh is best. The best place in Melbourne for fresh cheese. The Buffalo Mozzarella and the creamy Ricotta are to die for. I used to have to wait years and fly half way across the globe to my home in Italy just to bite into one of these creamy morsels of goodness. Now my life can be defined by the ‘pre La Latteria period’ and the ‘post La Latteria period’.

Melbourne is renowned for its Street Art and Graffiti. It's rare to see a lane way in the city with blank walls. Stencils, paste ups, stickers, grafs, little sculptures, anything goes really. I like walking through the city lane ways discovering new pieces. Especially where I least expect to find something. Occasionally I add something of my own.