I think the punting scene in melb is very different to the Sydney one. Sydney sliders are very lucky with shops like 741, oasis, 376 and 501 etc. a thriving scene. Although I lived in melb for many years and never started punting till after I left. The odd time I go back footscray has a couple of good RnT's like Lotus but it seems the private ones who have run their own show do a lot of the business in the cbd. Current melburnians go ahead and expand or even prove me wrong haha