Be Cool

Our part of the world can be a tricky place to navigate if you are not really into the sun.

With roughly 300 days of sunshine a year, an average summer temp hovering around 30°C and ‘summer’ essentially running from October to March – it can be a lot for those that aren’t great fans of heat and humidity. TBH, it can even get too much for those who love it.

We hear you; this is why we’ve compiled a go-to list of cool, shady and chill things for the shade-seekers to do in our neighbourhood. To take the temp down a notch when the heat is on for those who’d really just rather not.

Go cryo
It may sound extreme, but we’re not suggesting that you do an Austin Powers and freeze yourself for future Dr. Evil battels. No, the RATIONALE CryoGenic Cooling Facial is a far more pleasant chilling, designed to reduce the appearance of redness and sensitivity. We can confirm that this facial instantly soothes with skin-cooling technologies and LED light therapy. Cool.

The opposite of outdoors
Yes, we realise that technically the opposite of outdoors is just ‘indoors’ BUT hear us out, Gerard’s have taken indoors to a whole new level. The refurbished icon now welcomes diners into its cool cave-like rammed earth space, making this not only the coolest place physically, but also just deeply cool in the figurative sense too. Inspired by ancient Lebanese ruins and complimenting the Middle Eastern-inspired menu – this an immersive and, you guessed it, very cool dining experience. 

Shady stay
Ok, we all know The Calile has a pool.  That is option one to stay cool.  Option two, and our preferred option, is to retreat to the cool heart of the hotel, the Library.  Tucked away on the same level as the pool but miles away in terms of pace and heat, the Library is a place to take the temperature down. To add to its coolness, Melbourne print icon, Perimeter Books is currently undertaking a Summer Residency in the library with an achingly cool edit of readings available for guests to consume. A reminder, both pool and library are for hotel guests only, so check in to swim and read.

Get quenched
Sometimes, when its blisteringly hot, you just don’t want to eat.  We get that, you know who else gets that? Quench juice bar gets it.  As the name implies, a range of thirst-quenching items are available alongside award-winning gelato, but our go to when it’s too hot to eat is the açai smoothie – a cooling meal in a cup.

Kaftan cool
When humidity is a 90% and you feel like you are swimming in the air, it is still unfortunately socially unacceptable to walk around in a bathing suit.  Until that day, the closest way we’ve found to replicate that feeling, is with a Camilla kaftan.  Floaty? Tick. Iconic? Tick. Cool? Double tick. We’re calling it, the kaftan is the ultimate hot weather outfit and Camilla have us all, quite literally covered.

Put everything on ice
So, we know that many of you are iced coffee devotees year-round. We hear you… we, in fact, are you! Luckily there is no shortage of locations to get iced delights. Get your morning iced caffeinated (or non if that’s your style matcha lovers) fix at ēmmē, Harveys, Hellenika, James & Antler, Jocelyn’s Provisions, King Arthur Café, Laneway Bagels and Lobby Bar.

At the opposite end of the day, we like ice in a different style of drink… and fortunately the bars are equally abundant as the cafés.  If you haven’t yet stopped by for a cocktail at Sushi Room’s cool newish bar under the paperbark trees on Doggett St, we recommend doing so.  Otherwise get an icy bevvy at local bar stops: Sixes and Sevens, CRU Bar, Gerries, LOS, Penelope and The Nixon Room.

Head space
With 80% humidity comes the unfortunate hot-mess-hair reality.  We recommend doubling-down to fight the frizz and escape the heat with a hair treatment.  Our go-to picks: the Olaplex Complete Treatment at Lyla Clare starting out with their signature crystal Relaxation Ritual; the CØR Restore treatment at EdwardsAndCo finishing with their iconic bouncy blowout; and the for the bearded among us, a little tidy up to allow for airflow with a Beard Shape or Trim at Twin Palms Barbershop.

Free the toe
It’s that time of year, when toes are set free.  We recommend putting your best toe forward and lock in a cooling pedicure and foot massage at Thai Foot Spa. All treatments combine natural ingredients with Thai-inspired therapies delivered by skilled therapists. Forget the fluorescent glare and chemical aroma of a nail-salon, this is a cool, aromatic and softly lit space for relaxation tucked away from the heat of the street.

Easy, breezy, beautiful
James St is no stranger to a breezeblock – we love a sculptural brick around here.  There are a couple reasons for this, firstly and most obviously, they are ideal for our tropical climate given they create a cooler environment through passive ventilation.  Secondly, Australian institution Brickworks has a design studio on the street, and they are directly responsible for 99% of the breezy blocks in our hood. If you need a cool brick, get thee to the Brickworks Design Studio.