Daily Detours for the Week of June 26

If you’re lucky enough to have Mondays off work, you probably already know that Cinema Nova has $7 movie tickets before 4pm and $9 tickets thereafter. Our favourite independent arthouse cinema on Lygon Street has 16 screens and an exciting roster of films, talks and curated events, so head down to Carlton tonight and see what’s on offer. Just across the road is popular Pidapido, serving up artisanal gelato. Pair your popcorn with a scoop of cold and creamy stuff, made daily using quality ingredients from local Italian producers. Flavours on offer include pistachio, rose, ricotta and fig, coconut and Nutella swirl.

Temperatures are dropping in Melbourne, so why not warm up with a cup of hot chocolate? Take a break from your morning coffee routine and head to Mork, a concept cafe that specialises in ethically-sourced, quality hot chocolate with a high cacao count. The Campfire Chocolate is particularly impressive: a stemless wine glass filled with smoke, served alongside a beaker of chocolate, ‘smoked salt’ and a toasted marshmallow (which doubles up as a spoon). Mork uses pure, single-origin unsweetened dark chocolate, meaning less sugar and more taste — a delicious start to a Tuesday morning.

Tap dancing is a great excuse to make heaps of noise in a musical, art-approved way — it’s also stacks of fun and a very skilful activity when it comes down to it (ticks the harder-than-it-looks box). This Wednesday night, head down to East Richmond’s Dance Factory and join a tap-for-beginners class, working on technique, musicality and making satisfying amounts of foot noise. Complete this class and you’ll have a beaut party trick, you old Fred Astaire.

Bongo’s Bingo is a games night like you’ve never seen before. Part club, part rave and, of course, part bingo night, this unlikely fusion event has been wildly popular in the UK since 2015. Now, they’re taking the show on the road and launching in Australia this June. At Collingwood Town Hall on June 29, patrons can expect all of the debauchery of the original British version of Bongo’s Bingo, including rave intervals, dancing on tables and a loose kind of bingo that you’ve definitely never played with your nan. The victorious players can win everything from big cash prizes to a Hills Hoist — there are some absolutely ridiculous prizes on offer. The Melbourne launch event will be presided over by founder and comic ringleader Jonny Bongo who, as one would expect, is a character in the truest sense of the word and even holds the world record for the biggest ever pub quiz. Tickets are $40 and include six games of bingo.

Break out the cheese, Wallace & Gromit fans, then put on the right trousers and prepare for what’s bound to be a very grand exhibition indeed. Wallace & Gromit and friends: The magic of Aardman is taking over ACMI from June to October, showcasing more than 350 items from the stop-motion television show — original artworks, sketches, storyboards, handmade sets, character studies, puppets and more. The exhibition is part of the Victorian Government’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series, and it will surely bring back many childhood memories while celebrating everyone’s favourite dairy-loving inventor and his kindly claymation canine pal, as well as the broader Aardman world they hail from.

Over 40 street food vendors set up shop every Saturday at Hank Marvin Market, a popular food-filled market situated in Alma Park, St Kilda East. The name Hank Marvin draws on British Cockney slang for ‘starving’ — and quite rightly so, as Melburnians always seem to be hankering for their next good bite. Founder Paul Wesolek spent years working the market food scene in London, and now he’s back to highlight the best of Melbourne’s street food vendors. The lineup changes each week, but favourites like Hammer & Tong, Happy Camper Pizza and the Little Mushroom Co. often appear, along with artisan doughnuts from Cobb Lane Bakery and traditional wood-fired bagels from Shtetl Bagels.

Finish off your weekend with a casual cycle through Melbourne’s northern suburbs, and do it without even crossing a road by following the Merri Creek Trail. 21 kilometres long, the trail extends from Dights Falls and the Capital City Trail in the south, to Western Ring Road in the north. Follow the creek and pass the Coburg Lake Reserve, the Brunswick Velodrome and CERES Community Park, as well as garden spots, horse paddocks and sports ovals. An afternoon of cycling is a surefire way to build up an appetite, and luckily there a number of charming picnic spots along the trail — why not throw down a rug at the northern end, near the lush greens of Coburg Lake?

Image: Brook James.

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By Rebecca O’Malley and Marissa Ciampi.