Melbourne day 5 - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Today is the day for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child!!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the main reason I am in Melbourne in the first place and involves two separate plays one after the other. Robin who is now 10 was asked months ago if he wanted to come along as well, and if he said yes a set of tickets play would be his main birthday present.

Robin thought about it and did say yes so he is also coming along, and 10 is the minimum age for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Whereas young Luke is going to spend the day with big Luke and his daughter Sophia.

Over the last few months I have been rereading the books and I have really enjoyed going back into the world of Harry Potter – it is a lot of fun and there were a number of details I had forgotten. And with Robin and Julianne I have also been re-watching the movies so everyone was up to date before going into the plays.

I had pre-booked specialist Harry Potter car parking which was cheap and nearby, so we headed in early and arrived around 10am. The original plan was to pickup the tickets and then go explore Melbourne starting with the State Library but while at the theatre and looking at the Cursed Child merchandise the lady in the shop mentioned there was a dedicated official Harry Potter shop just 15 minutes walk up the road. So we decided to head there first and boy what a great store for the Harry Potter fan, the ‘Store of Requirement’. We spent several hours in the store including drinking some butterbrew which I actually enjoyed and spending to much money of course.

Both Julianne and Robin bought some items and then we left to have lunch in a nearby park before going down the Princess Theatre.

Visiting the Store of Requirement has really made this a full on Harry Potter day.

The Princess Theatre has been fully redone just for Harry Potter and looks amazing.

Harry Potter and the Cured Child part One was a great play and all I will say is that the last scene of the books / movies where Harry is saying goodbye to his son as he heads off to Hogwarts for the first time is the very first scene of the play – so it ties in perfectly right from the beginning.

At 5pm we headed out to find some dinner. As we are on a tight budget it was decided to get Subway to eat, Subway is a good price, is filling and I find very yummy and something I have done before in London in 2009 when I went to see The Lion King my first West End show also when money was also tight so it has symbolic memories as well. This was Robin’s first time eating Subway, an experience he really enjoyed as he got to choose what he wants.

Inside the State Library

Robins first Subway,

I also manged to get down the State Library and complete my visit from the other day and see the last of the old books and the Ned Kelly photos which was handy during the break.

Back at the Princess Theatre I headed in for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child part 2.

Both plays were really really good, and I highly recommend them for people, especially if you have any remote interest in Harry Potter.

A late night but well worth it!

In the car at this time at night the traffic was easy and we were back at Luke’s by 11.30pm, which is 1.30am NZ time.