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.

Free lectures held in a cosy bars around Melbourne's inner north. This wonderful organisation runs weekly courses on a range of topics, purely for the pursuit of knowledge. The perfect antidote for a post-grad like myself who often misses lectures and class discussions. Uni with a glass of red wine - yes please.

I really enjoy the dumplings here and hanging out with my friends. We have given the nickname 'Vagina palace' due to their choice of painting the walls pink.

Wunderkammer is a retail store, so packed full of treasures that it feels like a natural history museum. Wonderful for browsing, Wunderkammer stocks medical and scientific instruments, crystals, rocks and other specimens.

It’s only about ten meters above sea level, but for some reason it feels like you can see everything from the top of this hill. The 360 degree view spans from the city all the way across the bay and over the tree tops of the streets behind. I come up here to clear my mind and just to relax. Sunsets from here are amazing.