IN some cultures it’s not common to socialise with people outside your own generation. We do it pretty well in Australia. I knock about with Baby Boomers and Gen Y plenty, but a highlight is my annual weekend away with females on my husband’s side of the family; high school age and above. Three generations shop, eat and talk milestones and conundrums. I look forward to it more than Christmas!
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Friday, 11.55am, Postal Lane
Our party-of-five meets at CBD Vietnamese eatery Mamas Buoi, which aptly translates as Do you love your mama? Just five hours earlier in East Albury, I was counselling my nine-year-old on the brink of a bad hair day and trying to hack into my five-year-old's Reading Eggs account.
"So already today you've been a hairdresser and an IT trouble shooter," designer sister-in-law N surmises.
Friday, 2pm, tram to Bridge Road
A ticket inspector tells us his colleagues will soon board to check our Myki cards.
"If you haven't touched on yet, touch on now, please and thank you," he says.
The friendly inspector who alights at the same stop as us overhears us talking about topping up our Myki cards. He offers to view our balances. I have 43 cents left on my card but sister-in-law D betters that in negative territory. On the return tram we listen to a quirky recording about the icons on that line. Only when it references the wedding party I see on Spring Street do I click that our bowtie-clad tram driver is performing live. OMG Melbourne! Transport and a show - I love what you've done with the place.
Friday, 6.30pm, Lucy Liu, Oliver Place
Brilliant. Food. Service. Ambience. We are seated in the only booth on the open plan floor, providing a secluded space to chat and guilt-free potential to Instagram. I love Lucy!
Bedtime, 9pm
I rib sister-in-law N for packing four pairs of shoes – not including those on her feet – as she queries my ludicrously-light packing.
Saturday, 10am, Proud Mary, Collingwood
I borrow a lightweight merino knit from over-packer N!
I show my mother-in-law how to check-in on Facebook and seek advice from my niece, 15, on the merits of musical.ly, a forum for people to create and share videos to which my tween is champing at the bit to join.
"Stupid," is her frank assessment. This is music to my ears.
Saturday, 4.30pm, Cookie
Lunch + dinner = Linner. Having tried unsuccessfully to dine at the trendy, inner-city Thai eatery for four years we settle on a 4.30pm dinner booking. We devour taro dumplings, roll your own pancakes with Chinese sausage and tofu, succulent slow-roasted lamb and a creamy, fragrant beef cooked on the bone.
Sister-in-law N and I top off our early evening with a nightcap at Melbourne's Rooftop Bar while the others attend to their toes with a Thai foot massage.
Sunday, 8.30am, Hardware Societe, Hardware Lane
I am sceptical of coffee with a tulip in the crema, but I needn’t have been. The baked eggs with chorizo finished with flaked almonds are perfection in cast iron cookware.
Sunday, 2pm, Ring Road
We watch incredulously as sister-in-law N stuffs six new pairs of shoes – to be fair some are for offspring – into her already bulging bag. My clever mother-in-law successfully steers us out of the city before I settle into the driver's seat.
My five-year-old meets me in the driveway: “I missed you Mum – did you get me a doll?” I’m home.