Domiciled for Christmas festivities, no sooner had the turkey digested The Wandering Palate was in peripatetic mode, Melbourne bound and yearning for a food fix.

Alas, we forgot about the great Australian shutdown with practically every decent restaurant closed for an extended holiday over Christmas and New Year.

It’s like Paris in August, the place is deserted. Well, that’s not exactly the case. Yes, all of the chefs and restaurateurs have gone AWOL whilst the hordes of tourists and locals are left to fend for themselves.

And I was about to say Melbourne is a true metropolis; a megacity that never sleeps. However, that big country town and languorous underbelly is still there, even if the place seems to be bursting its urbanized seams.

Even worse, bordering on tragedy, my wife’s hairdresser is away, sunning himself at Byron Bay. She is almost paralyzed by his absconding and the notion of suffering another bad hairdo.

To be continued…