The 7 Best Things To Do In Melbourne This January

Rebecca Russo is a freelance writer, editor, community radio dabbler,…

Are you ready for peak summer? Because we sure are. Let’s use those many months spent in crappy weather solitude as the impetus to do all the things this summer.

Here’s seven to get you started.

[listicle]

An inaugural dog show

Mark January 20 in your calendar for it’s officially the day your summer will have peaked. Sugar Mountain and Visions Festival in the UK have teamed up for a new spin-off event for this year’s Sugar Mountain festival – the inaugural Sugar Mountain x Visions Festival Dog Show! This free event will be held on the day before Sugar Mountain, across the road from the VCA at MPavillion, and feature an evening of DJs and expertly dressed pups. Dog show categories include Waggiest Tail, Best Trick, Best in Show and RuPaw’s Drag Race (aka dogs in drag). If you think your pup has got the stuff, it’s a $10 entry fee per dog with all proceeds going to Guide Dogs Victoria. Head here for more info.

Slip, slop, slide

A giant inflatable waterslide is headed to Melbourne’s CBD in the form of Slide The Square, a 75 metre long slip’n’slide down Fed Square’s ergonomic slope. Here for just 12 days, Slide the Square will be kicking off on Jan 4 and running through to the 15th with tickets costing $20 for a 50 minute session. Don your bathers, bring your friends and get ready to hurl yourself down one of Melbourne’s most famous landmarks.

Drink, well

Fitzroy’s got a brand new drinking hole – and it’s perfect for summer. Welcome to Drinkwell, a new courtyard bar sitting behind Bar Liberty. Expect all the glitz and cool of its indoor twin, but with added sunshine. Drinkwell will be serving up tasty, laid-back bar snacks in its small fake grass-adorned beer garden – think house-made French onion dip with crisps, fresh oysters and flatbreads with a variety of toppings. For drinks there’s bottled cocktails made in-house, an eclectic wine list and beers on tap. Perfect.

Drinkwell is located at 234 Johnston Street, Fitzroy – enter via Chapel Street.

Photo: Bar Liberty/Instagram

Relaxation by the ocean

The historic Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa is headed to Lorne for an extra special pop-up over summer. Taking over the Lorne Sea Baths, Hepburn Wellness will be offering a range of marine-based therapies including sea and mud wellness rituals, seaweed treatments and volcanic hot stone massages. Running from December through to April 2017, the pop-up is the start of Hepburn Bathhouse & Spa’s plans to turn the Lorne Sea Baths into Australia’s first saltwater bathhouse and spa. And with its proximity to the beach, this sounds like the perfect place to kick back this summer. Find out more here.

Photo: Hepburn Wellness

We all scream for Ice Cream

You Can Spend The Day With A Rescue Puppy On This Tropical Island Full Of Dogs

Preston’s Food Truck Park is at it again – this time they’ve set their sites on everyone’s favourite sweet treat, ice cream. The Ice Cream Festival will run for three days from Friday January 20, scooping up Melbourne’s finest ice cream trucks into one sweet weekend. Ice cream, gelato, waffles, crepes, shakes and doughnuts are on offer, so remember to bring your sweet tooth. Full lineup details will be released in the new year so keep your eyes peeled on the event page.

Time for a swim

If you want to beat the crowds at St Kilda and Williamstown this summer, why not try something a little out of the box? Melbourne’s plethora of swimming holes, hotel pools and hot springs are ready – and we’ve made this extra special guide to help you find the waves that suit you best. From the Langham’s rooftop pool to Jebbs Pool on the Great Ocean Road to Onsen Ma’s Japanese Bathhouse, there’s plenty out there to help cool you down this summer. Head here for inspiration.

Photo: Patrick O’Neill

The Point’s got a pop-up

After a successful inaugural event last summer, the Point Lonsdale Surf Life Saving Club is back at it with its summer pop-up food series. Head down the coast and treat yourself to the goods from local food truck Fodda, including tacos, barbecue calamari brioche rolls and sweet potato cakes. The event will also host Barwon Heads’ Scandinavian Ice Cream Company and their heat-beating sweets, with The Flying Brick Cider Company taking care of drinks at the club’s Lawn Bar. The Summer Series will be raising funds for the club and will be up and running from 5pm to 9pm (or until sold out) every night until January 26.