Post #541285 by Club Nouméa on Thu, Jul 8, 2010 6:28 AM

Accompanied by Ms Nouméa, I headed out into the wilds of suburban Melbourne to discover this watering hole last Saturday. The street address is 327 Swan Street, in the suburb of Richmond. From Flinders Street station downtown, take one of the various trains heading out to the eastern suburbs and get off at East Richmond station. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes and will cost you A$3.70 if you take the most expensive ticket, which is a one-way ticket. Return tickets work out slightly cheaper, and day tickets are substantially cheaper. If you find your train actually heads off in the opposite direction from what you expected, do not freak out - various trains ultimately heading eastwards turn off in the opposite direction and pass through what is called the City Loop, before heading back onto the eastern suburbs line. Listen to the platform announcement when you are boarding to see if they are going to send you through the Loop, and also listen out to hear what stations your train is not stopping at. For those who can't understand the Australian accent, the video monitors over the platform also show which stations each train stops at.

You can also take a tram from outside the Flinders Street station (Number 70 as I recall), which will take a bit longer, but costs the same. The tram runs along Swan Street, so there is less walking at the other end.

If you take the train, after getting off at East Richmond station, walk northwards about 30 yards up Church Street, then turn right and walk eastwards along Swan Street. It's a 15 minute walk to the bar. The bar itself is not on a stretch of Swan Street that offers much nightlife, so if you are looking for a feed prior to drinking, stop at one of the takeaways, cafés etc. near the East Richmond station, as there is not much in the way of eateries near the tiki bar itself, apart from a Greek café and an Indian takeaway further up the road and around the corner (turn left at the first intersection after the bar). I can vouch for the Indian takeaway there though (they have a couple of tables on the premises) - ask for the Railway Lamb!

It was a quiet night at the Tiki Bar & Lounge when we were there, although we did arrive quite early (about 8.30pm). It did give me a chance to take a few photos though.

Here is a night-time shot of the bar to supplement the existing daytime ones above:

The barman is a German guy, but he told Ms Nouméa that he was heading back to Germany in the next few days.

Here is another shot; of the hut alongside the bar:

It was a larger place than I expected and the room was split up into various sections. Here is some of the reading room section:

And here's a wider-angle shot that gives a better idea of what the room looks like generally:

More images to come (mainly of our drinks), once Ms Nouméa forwards them to me.

CN