Recharging the Creative Batteries in Melbourne, Australia (and Becoming Less Anxious)

We're just back from a long week in Melbourne where we were catching up with friends and revisiting old haunts. It's a great city for art and other culture and a good place to recharge my creative batteries.

I always stop in at the free exhibitions in the NGV galleries in Federation Square and on St Kilda Road.

The international collection had an amazing exhibit on Venetian glass, something I wouldn't normally be drawn to.

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But by far the most impressive work there for me on that visit was Zhu Jinshi’s “Ship of Time” about letting anxiety go. It did the job and walking through it was quite an amazing feeling from me.

The boyf wasn’t as impressed.

Melbourne is also well-known for its street art, which can be seen all over the city, but is most noteworthy in the central city laneways.

Our friends took us to see the newly painted Jacinda Ardern (New Zealand prime minister) mural on a silo in Brunswick. It made me proud to be Kiwi.

Here are a few more snapshots of the city:

New Zealand Diary - A Culture Trip to Dunedin For the Weekend

Dunedin is a small city (population 127,000), but it punches above its weight culturally, making it a fun place to visit for the weekend. There are plenty of galleries, including the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. The Settlers Museum has impressive displays that take you through the development of both Māori and Pākehā culture through the history of Otago.

Everywhere you walk in the city you are likely to come across some fantastic and often enormous street art.

And if you get tired of walking around the city and the cultural sights, you can always stop for a drink.