Head to Red Hill for fabulous food, wines, cycling, landscape and galleries
Richard Cornish Red Hill is home to brilliant wineries, gorgeous galleries, beautiful scenery and delicious food.
Retail Therapy: Guild of Objects showcases Melbourne potters, jewellers and designers
Justine Costigan GUILD OF OBJECTS
Walters collection finds rare beauty in war objects
ANDREW STEPHENS There is a gorgeous blue-enamelled water bottle in Patrick Walters' extraordinary collection of military artefacts that can make your heart sink. The bottle, very slightly battered and rusted but remarkably robust, is pierced at one side. Was it a bullet, or shrapnel that did the damage? What happened to its owner?
Retail therapy: The Australian Natural Soap Company does beard shampoo, oils and soaps
Justine Costigan Melbourne has embraced the tiny shop phenomenon with gusto.
Malvern's attractions include magnificent architecture, its rich history, Harold Holt pool and beautiful parks
Richard Cornish Exquisite Embroidery
Secret Sydney
My secret Sydney: Hania Radvan
NICOLE ELPHICK Hania Radvan, CEO of Penrith Performing and Visual Arts, reveals the best places to eat, shop and go for a stroll in the western Sydney suburb.
Locally made and run, Melbourne Apparel Company has your wardrobe sorted
Justine Costigan Priced to please.
Our guide to what's on around town
Sean Wilson and Emily Marr The best of arts and culture in Melbourne.
Come to Broady for the multicultural festival, the bike trail, doggies and fishing
Richard Cornish The cultural melting pot that is "Broady" will be celebrated next weekend at the annual Broadmeadows Street Festival.
Memo to the Flower and Garden Show: give us some real gardens please
Megan Backhouse Sorry to be a kill-joy but when the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show landed in Carlton earlier this month, it exhibited a lineup of stage sets so fantastical that even the most imaginative of visitors must have felt a long way from down-and-dirty-hands-on gardening.
Forget symmetry, Karen Sutherland's productive garden is way more appealing
Megan Backhouse It's hard to believe but once upon a time Karen Sutherland – she of quince trees on naturestrips and beehives on roofs – was making purely ornamental gardens. So tired of iceberg roses and box hedges did she become after a decade of designing that she thought about giving it up.
Clothing, bags, shoes and jewellery: grab a bargain at Elk's garage sale in Preston
Justine Costigan Some serious bargains will be on offer at Elk Accessories' garage sale.
The latest on the Flower and Garden Show, Begonia Festival news and more
Megan Backhouse Flower and Garden Show
Max Sparrow, owned by Coco Republic, offers high-end, stylish furniture
Justine Costigan The online store offers showrooms so customers can see the furniture before they buy.
Warrandyte: beautiful landscape, a festival, great food and roos
Richard Cornish Three days of bands, parades and shows coming up in the leafy eastern town.
Horticulture not seen as a viable career, even though it's crucial for our cities
Megan Backhouse Horticultural lecturers are digging in for a challenge.
Retail therapy: Seddon's Once More, With Feeling is all about retro style
Justine Costigan From flirty dresses to stand-out shades, Once More, With Feeling offers a vintage spin on fashion.
Come to Terang for a music festival, horse racing, architecture and welcome
Richard Cornish Roll out your swag in Terang, there's a country music festival to hit in this pleasant northern Victorian town.
Beci Orpin's aesthetic comes to life at Arro Home, alongside guest star designers
Michael Harry Design darling Beci Orpin quirky wares are quintessentially Fitzroy.
Plotlines: tour Mornington Peninsula gardens, Shep exhibition and greening lanes
Megan Backhouse The latest gardening news in brief from Melbourne and beyond.
Mordialloc's attractions include a beach, fishing and a roller-skating rink
Richard Cornish Beachside suburbs boasts a beautiful stretch of sand, seaside dining and a retro skating rink.
Lara's Roraima Nursery feels like a prehistoric forest on the edge of Geelong
Megan Backhouse Fashioning a landscape was the first priority at nursery and sculpture park Roraima. The plants were the cream on top – and the older and gnarlier the better.
North Fitzroy's Merriville Home brings a Danish design sensibility to Melbourne
Justine Costigan Fitzroy North has a smart new homewares store with a cosy vibe.
Top 5 best places for coffee and breakfast at Perth Airport
LIZ SHEEHAN When you think of coffee and food at the airport, what comes to mind? Burnt, overheated coffee? Stale food? Exorbitant prices? Not these places...
Secret Sydney
My secret Sydney: Claudia Chan Shaw
NICOLE ELPHICK Chinese New Year Festival curator Claudia Chan Shaw talks art deco gems, being a Humphrey Bogart obsessive and the best place in Sydney for yum cha.
Tresco Abbey Gardens in the Scilly Isles provide a different kind of inspiration
Megan Backhouse After extreme weather battered a sculptural abbey garden, plant-lovers rebuilt this amazing treasure.
Retail therapy: No Order Market, one of the funkiest retail spaces in town
Michael Harry Mini department store meets riot-girl collective for experimental clothes and accessories.
Our pick of what's happening around town
Sean Wilson Hit up a barbecue festival, the Oz Open's food festival and catch techno pioneers.
Come to Flemington for great food, including an American barbecue festa, its architecture and the 'other' river
Richard Cornish The place famous for its racecourse and showgrounds also boasts a great river and a new festival.
Fringe World 2016: Freo Royale comedy marathon struggles to go the distance
BRENDAN FOSTER I embarked on a mini-marathon of comedy as part of Fringe, because, well, I thought it would be funny, writes Brendan Foster.
In praise of the garden that serves a multitude of purposes
Megan Backhouse Sharon Harris wants her garden to be ''multi-useable'' so walkways can be a seating area and the outdoor dining table serves as a repository for plants when it's not being used for its original purpose.
Eric Idle and John Cleese together again in a Galaxy (song) near you
KYLIE NORTHOVER Eric Idle and John Cleese are heading to Australia with a new stage show and it isn't Monty Python reheated.
Southbound comes to Perth's HBF Stadium as WA fires cancel Busselton festival
DAVID BAKER Southbound came to Perth on Sunday night in what proved to be an emotionally charged fundraiser - incredibly cobbled together at the eleventh hour.
Six reasons to visit Paynesville
Richard Cornish This village on the Gippsland Lakes offers festivals, museums, good food and more.
Our pick of things to do over the weekend
Robert Henningham Looking for something to do this second week of 2016? Check out these events across Melbourne.
Famous Fremantle pub Rosie O'Grady's closing its doors for good
Heather McNeill One of Fremantle's most iconic pubs is set to close its doors for good after serving pints to customers for 20 years.
What would you like to see at Melbourne's Domain? Flower meadows?
Megan Backhouse Clearly, the Domain Parklands – like the English gardens profiled on television – will keep changing, no matter what.
There's more to Albury-Wodonga than you might realise
Richard Cornish The country races are just one of the treats that await in this town.
Altona has a wonderful beach, historic home, great food, birdlife and the Aces
Richard Cornish Altona has a wonderful beach, historic home, great food, birdlife and the Aces.
French cosmetics giant Sephora comes to Melbourne
Michael Harry Cult French cosmetics chain Sephora has finally landed in Melbourne.
Liz Sheehan: Six of the best Perth breakfasts by the beach
LIZ SHEEHAN With summer already well and truly upon us, it's time to start enjoying breakfast at the beach before The Doctor comes in, writes Liz Sheehan.
Retail therapy at Melbourne's Big Design market
Justine Costigan The annual Big Design Market always generates shopper excitement.
Journos behind (small) bars: Ahoy-hoy from Rodney's Bait 'n Tackle
PIP DOYLE It felt welcoming and fun. It felt like Lancelin. It felt like Alby Mangles was going to walk in at any moment.
Open gardens, biodynamic workshops, garden tours and more
Megan Backhouse Open gardens, biodynamic workshops, garden tours and more.
Point Cook adds horror camping to its array of charms
Richard Cornish Horror camping, golf courses and bird-filled wetlands are just some of the attractions.
Retail therapy at Elk: 'We're not fad driven – it's all about design and quality'
Justine Costigan Colourful, chunky wooden jewellery may have put local design studio Elk on the map, but it's the twice-yearly collections of simple, classic clothing, shoes and leatherwares for men and women that have really helped make the brand a success.
Eight days: The best entertainment in Sydney from November 15 to November 22
NICOLE ELPHICK Your entertainment guide to what's hot in Sydney from September 27 to October 4.
Colac's charms include historic architecture, beautiful gardens, great food
Six reasons to visit Colac.
Tim Dormer brings bulldog Meatloaf to Dog Day Afternoon Festival in Newtown
Amy Cooper Tim Dormer will have no trouble finding his French bulldog Meatloaf when the little fella dons his Where's Wally outfit for a special event next weekend in aid of the RSPCA.
Six reasons to visit Sunbury
Richard Cornish A festival strip, dining and some chilling history make Sunbury a worthwhile stop.
Local designers showcase their wares at Melbourne Design Market
Justine Costigan The Melbourne Design Market is a great place to head for Christmas presents with a difference.
