“Right,” I said, after disconnecting from my long-suffering travel agent. “We are stopping over in Melbourne for four nights on our way to Karachi.”

Five pairs of eyes lit up around my kitchen bench. “Melbourne Cup, we can see the race grounds and stables,” breathed my horse-mad child.

“No, the aquarium,” said my future marine biologist. “Formula One Grand Prix track and best coffees in the world,” stated my race car obsessed friend.

“Melbourne Cricket ground,” reverently whispered another.

“The Great Ocean Road, just outside the city, one of the most scenic drives in the world,” exclaimed my neighbour.

Suddenly four nights seemed very few.

I decided to do some research before embarking on the said adventure.

Melbourne has been named The Economist’s most liveable city in the world for the fifth consecutive year. This award is given on the five categories of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure — the city scored 97.5 out of 100.

The self-proclaimed cultural, fashion and sport capital of Australia, it is fast becoming one of the most recommended cities to visit, with Australia ranked No. 6 in the world for tourism in Lonely Planet.

While bending over backwards to please its visitor, on any given day Melbourne can be whatever you want

Armed with various ‘must-see’ lists, Australian currency, and a bucket load of sunscreen, we arrived in Melbourne on a very fine Sunday evening.

As our plane cleared the clouds on descent, my twin girls gasped at the absolute brown, arid ground that was fast rising to meet us. My first thought was, “Good, Karachi is actually going to look less brown after this.”

We had arranged for transportation to our hotel which was quite centrally located. On my 30-minute drive from the airport to the city centre, I could not help but feel as if I had come to an American city in any Midwestern state.

One experienced the same highways and vast expanse of land on either side. Streets were lined with strip malls and as soon as I spied a Costco and a Citibank, Melbourne’s image was sealed in my mind as a wannabe American city.

I said the above to our driver who had moved to Melbourne from Cambodia. He said, “Ah, Melbourne is whatever you want it to be.” And then proceeded to give me good advice:

“This city is less about seeing, more about tasting, trying and listening.”

We were greeted at the hotel by extremely courteous and friendly staff and after settling in, we decided to hunt out a grocery store for our breakfast in the morning.

After grabbing a free map from the hotel desk and with reassurances of how safe Melbourne is at all times ringing in our ears, we walked out of the hotel and made our way to Bourke St which instantly reminded me of Bond or Oxford streets in London. The same sort of old colonial buildings all decorated for Christmas.

We turned a corner to Elizabeth St and suddenly the lights and the crowd made me feel as if we were in Times Square, New York. I had to agree it wasn’t so much the buildings even though they were modern; it was the feel of the place.

The little shops on the ground floor of the buildings, the offices, the small restaurants dotted along the road, people milling about late at night obviously heading to the bars and clubs that Melbourne is renowned for; it was like being in Manhattan.

The next day, we decided to start our discovery of the city by going to the Melbourne Star near the Harbour Outlet Mall. We were delighted to find that there was a free city centre tram service that we could hop on and off at will.

Unless one was planning to leave the city, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to hire a car or cab. Melbourne has an absolutely fantastic public transport service.

In fact, one can even organise a dinner in a well-maintained antique colonial style tram car that has been rigged up to resemble a restaurant and you can eat excellent food with free drinks while it gives you a tour of the city.

We walked from our hotel down to Flinders Street train station which is an amazing old colonial building and waited for the required tram.

Half-an-hour later we were at the foot of the Melbourne Star which is modelled on the London Eye. Each of the 21 cabins of the Star gives a 360 degree view of the city. The ticket is valid for one revolution of the giant observation wheel which takes approximately half-an-hour.

It is highly recommended that one take a ride during the day to be able to see the city spread out in all four directions underneath and at night to enjoy the LED light on and around the Star and to admire the city lights.

We knew we had made the correct decision of starting our exploration from here because we took full advantage of the view to circle landmarks on our map that seemed interesting. After we got off, we roamed around the Outlet mall before having lunch and heading towards the art museum.

The National Gallery of Victoria, which is the main art museum in Melbourne, is free to visitors but one has to pay for any special exhibition on display.

We were very lucky to have Andy Warhol’s pop art on as a special exhibit. The permanent display at the museum houses European, Asian and Pacifika peoples’ art, along with Aboriginal and Torress Islander works of art. These include paintings, textiles and sculptures.

I have to admit that my personal favourite was Tom Roberts’ special exhibit called Sideshow Alley which retold “tales of criminal and institutional savagery in Australia’s colonial settlements …” I must say that the Victorians were definitely not squeamish.

To return to a more civilised mindset, we ended up having high tea at the museum’s Wedgwood Tearoom — an experience, which alone, is worth visiting the museum for.

Fortified by tea, we decided to end our day by walking to Federation Square, which is an open space with modern sculptures and street artistes displaying their many talents.

The next day, we were greeted with 42°C and Lahore’s loo.

We decided to spend the time indoors at the Melbourne Aquarium which is home to some of the most fascinating species of marine life.

Our favourite was the 5.8-metre saltwater crocodile that was captured after it had swum up a river mouth and inadvertently gobbled up a farmer’s prize-winning, half a million dollar cow.

We braved the heat and went to the botanical gardens to see the relocated Captain James Cook’s cottage. The gardens have cacti plants that, I am sure, are only native to Australian desert.

From the gardens, we took a tram back to the city centre and walked to China Town. Melbourne’s China Town is reputed to be one of the oldest in the world and if one reads about the Chinese immigrants’ history in Australia, I can believe that assertion. It claims to have made the world’s first dim sim.

Walking through the city we discovered Melbourne’s intrinsic alley café and restaurant culture. Buildings in Melbourne are not joined together but have thin alleys in between.

One of the biggest reasons why Melbourne is so safe is that every alley that we walked through to get from one street to another was full of cafes or bars. Even the ones that looked like they had a dead end, you could enter a bar through the alley and walk out the front to the next street.

My favourite were the ones in Degraves Street which is lined with cafes made with facades in the style of Italian villages. The feel in these alleys was just like one was walking in Rome or any continental European city.

A must see in Melbourne is Victoria Market which the girls walked in and said, “Karachi Sunday Bazaar”. It is a place consisting of 10 sheds that houses everything one can possibly think of.

Food, clothes, shoes, knick-knacks you name it, it’ll be there and cheap. We did enjoy walking through Melbourne’s three city blocks of mall and high-end shops but to do some serious buying one haggles in Victoria market.

Our last stop was at the Melbourne Museum. From the hide of Pharlap, the famous race horse, to the strangest of beetles to incredible geological finds we spent the entire day there before taking our transport back to the airport.

Finding ourselves with the same driver, I told him he was right. Melbourne bends over backwards to please its visitors and yes, on any given day the city can be whatever you want.

—Photos by author

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, February 21st, 2016