Six Outdoor Dates to Enjoy with a Drink Before the Summer Sun Disappears
Make the most of the hot days and balmy nights with your favourite person (or a new boo).
Six Outdoor Dates to Enjoy with a Drink Before the Summer Sun Disappears
Make the most of the hot days and balmy nights with your favourite person (or a new boo).
Though the sun is still (mostly) shining high, we're sorry to say that cooler nights are just around the corner. But now is not the time to wallow. Instead, you've got to give these last licks of summer all you've got. This is especially true on the date front. We've put together a list of outdoor adventures for you and your date to enjoy before the hot days and balmy nights disappear.
Go for a picnic by the water, a sunset cliff walk or a film under the stars. These aren't your usual go-to date destinations, and each and every single one is primed for BYO. Just don't wait on it — the autumn chill will be here before you know it.
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There’s certainly an emphasis on ‘paint for fun’, not ‘paint to show off your talent’, at this outdoor BYO-friendly paint class. Head to Gasworks Arts Park to unleash your creativity while sipping on a frosty beer and pondering the beauty of the outdoor world. Classes run weekly with rotating themes, so you can opt to paint a pier at sunset or another scene from nature. You can even paint your dog, which is obviously the best option if you have a furry pal that you want to commemorate in painting form forever. Who knows? Maybe you’re very good at art and you’ll end up starting the second renaissance. Or you might just end up gifting your sub-par effort to your mum who thought this was all over in primary school. Either way, it’ll be messy fun.
Pick up a four-pack of Two Birds Passion Victim Summer Ale.
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Barbecues in the park are an age-old way to pass the time when the weather is fine. There’s just something that makes you feel footloose and fancy-free when you’re surrounded by nature, your lover and piles and piles of food. Princes Park in Carlton North is a great option for the next time you want to fire up the grill and spend a few hours sipping beers in the sun with a date. Assign one of you to salad duty and the other to cooking — just make sure that the person on the tools actually knows how to barbecue. And don’t forget to pack a frisbee for some post-feed fun. Your doggo is also welcome here, and there are off-leash areas within the park to take them to so they don’t miss out on the running around fun.
Pick up a couple of bottles of Fixation IPA.
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Australia’s ubiquitous outdoor cinema (which has now expanded to six different locations around Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane) could be the quintessential date spot. Running all summer long and then some — until the end of March — the grassy expanse in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens has surely cradled your butt before as you sat watching a romcom and blissing out with a bottle of vino. The lineup for the season includes new titles that are garnering plenty of buzz (and scooped up a few Oscars), including Little Women, Jojo Rabbit, 1917 and Best Picture winner Parasite. You can also cosy up to your date on a bean bag while watching old-school hits like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Your pup is welcome to all screenings, as is any food and drinks you want to bring along.
Pick up a bottle of Noble Fellows Grüner Veltliner.
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Sure, sometimes you’re worried about paying rent, whether your car needs a service, whether you’ll get that promotion or if your cat secretly hates you. But when you’re on a date, you want to forget about all of that for a while. And one way to do that is by heading somewhere that’s peaceful as hell. So peaceful that you’ll be unironically exclaiming “how’s the serenity?”. Camping is the outdoor adventure for you and your partner if all you want to do is to sit on foldout chairs, nurse tinnies and stare at real trees wondering why you don’t do this together more often. Plus, you can get handy and impress your other half with your survival skills like making sticks sharp enough to put a marshmallow on the end — you know, important life hacks. Head two hours southwest of Melbourne and you’ll be delivered into Cumberland River Holiday Park. Positioned right on the mouth of Cumberland River, this popular holiday destination is primed for an overnight escape from the city. There are two- and three-bedroom cabins available if you don’t want to rough it, but if you’re wanting to get cosy in a tent, you have the choice of river and garden camping grounds. From here, you’re within proximity of coastal and bushland walking tracks, private beaches and more.
Pick up a four-pack of Hop Nation Mango Gose.
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It’s something straight out of Bridget Jones’ Diary, except there’s nary a wet, cigarette-totting Hugh Grant in sight. Sorry. We might not be as flashy and have as much bravado as our counterpart city, Sydney, but that’s not to say Melbourne still doesn’t pay its dues when it comes to outdoor activities in, on or around bodies of water. You can settle back in a wooden punt boat on the lake in the Royal Botanic Gardens with your special someone and be propelled into your most relaxed selves by a charming punter (again, sadly not Hugh). This fella will be in the full punting regalia of boating hat and red vest. BYO parasol, snacks and drinks, ’cause nothing says romance like being punted. Oh, and dogs are welcome, too.
Pick up a bottle of Indian Summer Rosé.
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Shakespeare knew a thing or two about romance, so a live performance of Hamlet or Twelfth Night might be one to keep up your sleeve for your next date: let the Bard do the wooing and you can just do the sitting, the sipping on a cold drink and the enjoying of some real Melbourne artsy culture. Dressing up is highly encouraged so best get your finest fancy puffy pants and neck ruffs out of the closet. And remember to BYO picnic blanket, snacks and drinks. To check out the list of upcoming shows, head to the website.
Pick up a bottle of Koa Rosé.
Top image: Moonlight Cinema
