When I found out that my boyfriend of nearly two years, Hoani, had never been to Melbourne, I was so excited to explore the city with him. I knew he’d love the beautiful food, magnificent wine and buzzy nightlife – and that we’d travel well together.
Since meeting in July 2021, we’ve had a few adventure-filled weekends away in New Zealand, and we’ve been to Fiji, Sydney and Bali – that last trip was with my ex-husband Dom Harvey and his girlfriend. If you’re with me, you will see the world!
They say travel is a good test of a relationship and if that’s the case, we well and truly pass. I absolutely love travelling with him. He’s just awesome. He’s so positive and I need that as I can be a bit cynical. We all know being away from home can be stressful, but he makes me feel so relaxed and even if I get upset or wound up about something, he has a way of bringing me back down to earth.
I did the booking for this trip because, frankly, Hoani will just go along with anything. Before leaving, I asked him what was the one thing he really wanted to do in Melbourne. He replied, ‘I really want to ride the trams!’
Not quite what I was expecting to hear, but we did save a lot of money on taxis after discovering how easy the public transport is.
We don’t actually go out too much when we’re in Auckland because we were in lockdown the first half of our relationship and, since then, I’ve always got home from my More FM drive show at 7pm, so I’m pretty tired. But we make up for it when we go away!
In Melbourne, the quality of restaurants and bars is a step up from other Aussie cities – and perhaps even Auckland! Our first dinner out was at a teppanyaki restaurant in Chinatown. It was sensational and, at the end, I got to make my own candyfloss flower, which we ate on the way back to our hotel.
“Cheers to us!” It’s more than a holiday fling, reveals Jay-Jay.
Another great place we found was a licensed fromagerie called Milk the Cow – we walked past and the scent of cheese pulled us inside. I had my first cheese fondue since the ’80s and Hoani had his first one ever – after all, he was only born in 1994.
I sometimes joke that we’d be the perfect match if our age gap was a bit narrower. I’d honestly prefer to date someone my own age or older – I’m 49 – but the reality is that he’s 28 and that’s fine. I’m definitely not trading him in!
Funnily enough, when we were in Australia, I got asked for ID at the bottle store and he didn’t. I thought the guy behind the counter was taking the piss, but he was serious! I was flattered, but like, ‘Really? Come on!’ But it is true that Hoani makes me feel young.
Speaking of booze, Victoria’s famous wine region Yarra Valley is just 50 minutes from Melbourne, so we hired a driver to take us there for the day. There are so many wineries, it was hard to choose which ones to go to, but we settled on Rochford Wines, where we started our day at 11.30am drinking shots of gin, which wasn’t the best idea in hindsight!
Later, we had lunch at Yerring Station, a huge vineyard with exquisite food and wine, amazing views and wall-to-ceiling glass – the perfect spot for a romantic lunch.
It was so nice to have the time to just hang out with Hoani. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so content. In the whole time I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him angry –I’ve barely even seen him upset! I’ve really never met anyone so chill about life while also being super-fun.
Aside from getting my undivided attention, I think he enjoyed getting the opportunity to eat a steak too! While Hoani has lived with me, I’ve not cooked him any red meat, mushrooms or pumpkin as
I’m very fussy about what I eat.
Jay-Jay admits she wishes Hoani was closer to her in age, but she’s adamant, “I’m definitely not trading him in!”
For those of you who do follow me on Instagram, you’ll be aware that I’ve also been doing Jenny Craig, which does cramp your style a bit for dining out. But I only put on 300 grams while we were away – and I’ve lost another kilo since getting back to Auckland, so that’s 5.1kg I’ve lost in six weeks. Woohoo!
Anyway, we also visited some awesome bars in Melbourne, including a floating one moored on the Yarra River. It even has a swimming pool – we didn’t get in – and all of the cocktails had some kind of performance or presentation using unique vessels or nitrogen. It was a truly magical experience.
For evening entertainment, we spent one night at the casino. We love to play the slots, although Hoani is far more successful than I am – maybe it’s all that positivity?
Also, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival was on, so we bought tickets to a show that featured young Aussie magician Josh Staley, who got Hoani on stage to perform a crazy trick. He asked Hoani to sign a $20 note, which Josh then made instantly disappear in his hands.
After eight minutes of jokes and banter, Josh then asked a guest in the front row to give him the paper bag under his chair. Josh opened the bag, pulled out a lemon, cut it in half… and guess where the signed $20 notes was?!
We had the most amazing time in Melbourne. The toughest decision we had to make was presented to us by our hotel, which was low on staff, asking if we’d prefer to have a bottle of wine instead of having our room serviced. Hardly a tough choice – we took the wine!
It’s fair to say neither of us were ready to go home – there was still so much we wanted to do – but it does mean we’ve got a great excuse to head back soon. I can’t wait for our next romantic getaway.”
