Two years, so quick! I organised a surprise for the evening, timing, funding and lack of planning quickly reduced it to one of the simplest I could come up with — out to dinner somewhere reasonably nice, but a little quirky. The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant fulfills both criteria, rattling around Melbourne in a dignified manner, the inside reminding me of the ornate 19th century railway carriages of royalty!

Silver service, or as close as you can get while inside a w-class tram, paté, a choice of two entrées, main courses a cheese plate and desserts, and a never-ending stream of wine with the food and a liqueur with coffee and dessert. Watching the chef operate inside a cupboard-sized kitchen was quite an eye-opener! Strangely enough, the four people celebrating at the table beside us were from the north-east of the UK, very near to where I was born — I think it was Barnard Castle, in County Durham.

In a humorous salute to our previous home, we stayed the night at the Rydges Riverside hotel, converted from the old tramways depot at the end of Bridge road in Richmond, it’s been a hotel for the last 14 years, and we walked past it any number of times while living nearby. The view outside was good, but the rooms look a little seedy and rundown, and definitely in need of some revitalisation!