🟠 Scenic routes and solar boosts
Including: A selection of the best trips eastern Melburnians can make in under two hours
Matthew Sims
April 08, 2026
⏱️ The 126th edition of our newsletter is a two-minute read.
Hi there 👋
Matthew Sims here, your reporter at the Eastern Melburnian.
🍫 A belated happy Easter from me — a tired father of a toddler raging through her “terrible twos” like it’s going out of style. In all honesty, we had a great four-day break, complete with me pretending to be the Easter Bunny.
🔌 As petrol prices continue to cause concern for regular commuters, I’m planning to continue my reporting on electric vehicles — or EVs. In my comments recently, I’ve seen people question the efficiency and lifespan of EV batteries, so this week I’ll be taking a bit of a deeper dive into how far batteries have come in terms of value for money.
💨 This is a much shorter newsletter than normal due to the long holiday, so please let me know if you prefer this shorter style or want more in-depth discussions by reaching out at [email protected]
WHAT’S ON COMING UP 🎟️
EVERY WEEKDAY FROM WEDNESDAY 08/04/26 TO THURSDAY 16/04/26, 11AM-5PM | School Holidays @ SkyHigh Mount Dandenong
WEDNESDAY 08/04/26, 11AM-12.10PM & 2-3.10PM | The Box Show
THURSDAY 09/04/26, 11AM-NOON & 2-3PM | Splash Test Dummies Circus
FRIDAY 10/04/26, 7-11PM | An Easter Bunny Burlesque Special
SATURDAY 11/04/26, 9PM | Scarnon
THURSDAY 16/04/26, 7.30PM | 360 and Pez
FRIDAY 17/04/26, 8-9.50PM | Melbourne International Comedy Festival Showcase
FRIDAY 17/04/26, 7-11PM | Elsa Mouratidou and Taxim Trio
SATURDAY 18/04/26, 8.30AM-3PM | Ferntree Gardens Antiques and Collectables Fair
EVERY DAY TO SUNDAY 19/04/26, 10AM-5PM | Tesselaar KaBloom Festival
📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES
Always thought about visiting some of the attractions around the edges of Melbourne but never wanted to endure the hustle and bustle?
From Phillip Island and the Mornington Peninsula to the Yarra Valley or Warrandyte, here are some easy day trips you can pull off in, well… a day!
The push for solar on all public schools
A national campaign to install solar on every state school roof would save each campus $20,000 to $30,000.
Representatives of advocacy group Parents for Climate descended on Canberra last week to push for a national program that would see solar panels installed on the roof of every public school and childcare centre.
More than 25 parents and 16 children from across Australia met with over 25 MPs and senators last Wednesday to support the push, which would be a nationally-based solution that would allow more funding to flow from federal coffers towards the state government – similar to the Cheaper Home Batteries Program. The initial funding goal is at least $1 billion to deliver solar infrastructure to Australian schools.
The movement is supported by the Parliamentary Friends of Climate Action, a non-partisan forum for MPs – including New South Wales’ Independents Zali Steggall and Nicolette Boele, as well as Labor’s Jerome Laxale – to discuss how to drive Australia’s efforts towards climate emission reduction and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Watch the full video below.
Thanks for checking in on this extra short edition of the newsletter. I hope we’ll have more substantial news and stories to share come Friday morning.
Cheers,
Matthew