A Visit to Melbourne
Contents…… All on one page, but you can hop to -
Introduction
Seal Rocks
In the city
What kind of idiot?
Which way home?
Back in the city
A perfect picture
The Dandenongs
Last day
Well, I’ve finally been to Melbourne! I never expected to travel so far from home, but my son Ben moved there from Canberra late last year, and he bought me a plane ticket so I could visit him and Agnieszka. I stayed with them for 10 days.
It was my second plane trip. (Last year I had a few days in Sydney.) I didn’t get a window seat on the plane like last time, but didn’t mind because if you’re in the window seat you have to disrupt two people if you need to go to the toilet. No, I didn’t need to, but I probably would have if I’d been by the window. The frustrating part was, the man by the window held his newspaper up against the window and read it as we flew out of Brisbane.
The first thing that impressed me when Ben and Agnieszka met me at the airport was the fact that Ben was wearing a jacket. I could never get him to put one on at home. The air was certainly crisp when we got outside the airport and got even crisper during the week.
Ben and Agnieszka live in an old cozy looking home in one of the older Melbourne suburbs. I recognised it straight away from the photo Ben had sent last year. Walking onto the porch and through the front door was like stepping into the photo.
Saturday . . Phillip Island
We slept in the first morning, (Saturday) then set off in the car to Phillip Island. It was quite a long trip. I was impressed with the different type of countryside, particularly the trees. I would love to know what the tall flat-topped trees were that we saw all along the way and also on Phillip Island. Probably a kind of Cypress.
We had Tomato Soup at a woolshed on the Island, looked at the animals, then went on to Seal Rocks.
There were plenty of interesting things to see at the visitor’s centre. On one of the walls, there was a simulated shark attack were you could put your head in a window and experience a shark on a screen coming at you head on. I put my head in 5 or 6 times, trying to figure out whether the shark struck at regular intervals or if it was triggered by my putting my head in.
Rounding the next corner, I discovered a group of tourists were laughing at the screen on the wall. The window I had looked in was like a two-way mirror, and showed the people on the other side putting their head in and jumping back as the shark lunged at them!
Outside, we looked through binoculars at the seal colony on the rocks and went for a walk along the boardwalks that wind around the cliffs. The whole area was full of penguin’s nests. There were narrow tracks leading down to the sea. I asked Ben if people or penguins would have made them. He said “Well, I’d say its bird shit on them”.
Penguin Parade
It was getting late, so we hurried on to the next point on the Island to see the Penguin Parade. There we took our places with hundreds of others in the tiers of concrete seats along the beach and waited for the Little Penguins to come out of the sea at dusk and march up to their homes in the hills.
I suppose the penguins are quite oblivious to the interest in them. They are just going about their daily routine. I wondered as I waited if there are extra terrestrial beings somewhere out there who pay to sit and watch humans returning from work each night.
As soon as a few groups of penguins had emerged from the sea, we all went back along the boardwalks where we had a closer view as they passed. Some of them stopped to squabble along the way. One penguin couple had a domestic row in their home under the boardwalk. Japanese tourists were lying on their bellies and leaning over to see what was going on. Baby penguins in their nests were calling out to their parents and the hills were alive with penguins.
On the way home we had dinner at a place in San Remo where the food was good and the band was LOUD.
Sunday . . Flowers
The next day, Sunday, after touring most of the city streets looking for a parking space, we visited the Flower Festival. There were some beautiful displays and lots of lovely flowers that don’t grow in Queensland – Tulips, Hyacinths and Daffodils. Agnieszka bought some Tulip bulbs to plant in their front garden. I hope they grow. I got a few Iris bulbs. They should grow here. Actually they are starting to shoot but they’re still sitting in a bag on my kitchen table. I’ll have to get them into soil pretty soon.
Before we went home, Ben took us up to the 24th floor of the building he works in. He has a great view.
Monday . . Went for walk
I had a quiet day on the Monday. Had a rest and went for a walk around the immediate neighbourhood where they live. It is a pretty area. There is a big park just across the road, stretching to the top of the hill. I walked to the top and took photos of the view looking down toward the house and across toward the city. I also took photos from the front gate looking up through the park with the lovely golden trees (I think they were Oak) and the tree lined streets with Autumn coloured trees forming a canopy over them.
Looking back over my trip, the clearest picture in my mind is the one I formed that day. I have concluded that walking around making obversations, enlarges your mind map of a place. When you think back, it’s like entering a large well lit room.
Ben suggested that I go into the city with him when he went to work and have a look around. I wasn’t sure if I could find my way home, but I set off with him on the train and arrived in the city about 9 a.m. That’s when I discovered that the shops in Melbourne don’t open until 10 a.m. and it’s a very cold city. I was surprised to see fruit trucks and delivery vans in the Mall, making deliveries to the shops at 9.30 a.m. There were a couple of buskers in the street. One elderly man played the same few bars over and over on a saxophone and another one sat on the footpath in the cold wind and beat time with a stick to music on a cassette recorder. I wondered why. They wouldn’t collect enough money to make it worthwhile and they both would have been eligible for the pension. Perhaps they like the company of the city streets.
After waiting for Myers and David Jones to open, I decided they looked the same as Brisbane shops, so I caught a City Circle tram and did the round trip. When I got off, I wandered down to Queen Street. Nothing much there. Then I remembered Ben had said to go over the bridge and see South Bank.
A bus ride
I hopped on a bus that was heading over the bridge. Evidently, it wasn’t the same bridge that Ben had meant.
It didn’t look like South Bank on the other side, so I stayed on the bus. The further it went, the less it looked liked South Bank. I think the bus was going to Brighton Beach, and I would have liked to have gone all the way there, but after a while I wondered if I was still in Zone1, and what would happen if I was discovered in Zone2 with a Zone1 ticket. Then all the other passengers got off, and I was the only one on the bus, apart from the Vietnamese bus driver who probably wondered why the mad woman who had asked him if he was going to South Bank was still on his bus!
Finally the bus stopped at Elsternwick railway station and there was a big sign up in front that said “15 Minutes to City” so I got off the bus and caught a train that was just coming in to the station. Just as well I had turned down Ben’s offer of meeting him for lunch. I would have been in Elsternwick!
At Southbank
Back in the city, I was determined to get to Southbank so I caught a tram over the bridge. (the right one this time.) As I got off, it started to rain. And the wind sprang up. I was glad I had my umbrella but very sorry I’d had my hair cut short the week before. When I saw South Bank in the sunshine later that week it was a lovely place, but it’s not much fun in the wind and rain. The park was bleak and deserted. The other side of Southbank, where the restaurants and shops are would have been much better, but I didn’t know that then.
Walking along the river bank, I saw the ferries on the river. That seemed a good idea. A trip up the river! It would be warm and dry in the closed-in ferry boat and I could rest my weary legs.
Waiting for the ferry
Ticket sales were over the other side of the bridge, so I walked back. The woman told me there would be a ferry in 15 minutes. I strolled down to the dock and waited. And waited. It was much colder there than in the park. The seats were wet, so there was nowhere to sit down.
After about 20 minutes the woman who had sold me the ticket ran down and said, “I’m sorry. The trip was cancelled because there weren’t enough passengers, but there is definitely one in half an hour.”
Well, I’d paid for the ticket and waited for 20 minutes. What was another half- hour? Besides if I didn’t take the trip that day, I probably never would.
An attractive young Aboriginal woman came along, pushing a stroller with a small child in it. We chatted for a while, then I said, “Seeing I’m going to be here another half-hour, I’ll pop in to the loo while I’m waiting.”
The expression on her face changed. “Wait a minute.” She said.
She ran ahead into the toilet and yelled “Someone’s coming in.!”
Out hurried 4 or 5 aboriginal men! They all greeted me pleasantly. One of them said something about “unisex toilets” and that “they’d had to go.” This was rather odd, since there was a men’s toilet a few yards away.
Well, I went in. I know, I know, you must think I’m a complete idiot! In hindsight, I think that too. Anything could have happened! But really, I felt quite safe with them. There were a couple of aboriginal women inside the toilet. They remarked on the weather. When I went out, the men went back in again!!
I hope I don’t sound racist, mentioning that they were aboriginal. As far as I am concerned, all people are equal. I thought of referring to them as just “men” but that changes the story, because, because somehow, I think it was because they were aboriginal that I didn’t feel threatened. Maybe that sounds racist! Would you have gone in? Come to think of it, it’s probably risky going into any public toilet. You don’t know who is inside, do you?
Question: What kind of idiot walks into a public toilet in a secluded area, knowing that it is it sheltering members of the opposite sex?
Answer: The same kind of idiot who stands in the wind and rain for 45 minutes, waiting for a half-hour ride on a ferry.
After a while the men came out. One produced a guitar, and they all stood on the steps and sang. A group of New Zealand tourists arrived and shivered with me. The aborigines suddenly disappeared when the ferry finally arrived!
Down the river
We travelled down the Yarra River to the wharves. The ferry seemed to only just fit under some of the low bridges. Coming back, we had a great view of the city skyline. There were a few dark looking figures waiting on the river bank as we returned, but as the ferry drew closer to the bank, they all ran into the toilet!
Back on dry land, I crossed Flinders Street and came to St Paul’s Cathedral. I went in. An organ was playing softly. A few people were wandering around. Some were inspecting items on the craft stall at the back. A few were praying quietly in the pews. The atmosphere was hushed and reverent. Not at all like our modern churches.
Re-emerging onto the city street was a shock to the senses. It was raining harder, and the fireplace back at Ben and Agnieszka’s place seemed enticing. The question was, how to get there? The train seemed safest, but it was a long walk from the station to the house. The tram went a bit closer, but Ben had said there was “more potential for getting lost.”
I opted for the tram.
The tram Ben had told me I’d need to catch was travelling in the opposite direction from the one I thought “home” lay in. So it was with great trepidation that I boarded and carefully counted the stops all the way.
Nothing looked familiar. I hoped I wouldn’t have to retrace my journey back into the city and start again, because it was nearly 5 p.m. and would soon be dark.
I got off at the stop Ben had told me to; not knowing in which direction the house lay. Then relief! I saw a signpost with the name of a street I recognised. I walked up over the hill and could see the house nestled at the bottom at the other side of the park.
Agnieszka was relieved to see I hadn’t got lost – at least not permanently. She had spent the day at home with a cold and had made the house cozy with the fire blazing. It felt wonderful!
Wednesday . . A quiet morning and a movie
It was still raining the next day. Agnieszka still had a cold so we had a cozy morning together in front of the fire, with the cats Olive and Oscar. Agnieszka did some work on her laptop computer and I wrote on some postcards while Oscar continually attacked my legs. He’s only a kitten, but he has needle sharp teeth. I’m glad he’s not tiger size.
That afternoon, we went to see the movie “Message in a Bottle”. Before we left, we discovered the car lights had been left on and the battery was flat. Luckily the R.A.C.V. man came to our rescue almost straight away and we arrived at the “Jam Factory” complex just as the movie was about to begin. We both enjoyed the movie.
Afterward, we met Ben in the bookshop and finally managed to extract him from the “computer” section. I would have liked to stay longer looking at books, too, but I was getting hungry. We walked along to a Japanese Restaurant. I’d never been in one before. We walked over a little red curved bridge and entered.
An Oriental experience.
There were big hotplates in the centre of the tables and the food was cooked in front of us. It was delicious. We had spring rolls, Teriyaki Chicken and Teriyaki Beef and vegetables which the chef prepared with great skill and flair, tossing and juggling the cooking utensils.
At another table, a group of people was having something that looked like little rolls. As they cooked the chef was flipping them into the air (the rolls, not the people) and they were catching them in their mouths. It was most entertaining.
Back outside, I was delighted to find that Agnieszka couldn’t remember in which direction we had left the car and – I could! I must have learned something from the previous day’s adventures.
Before we went to bed, Ben said “How about coming into the city again when we go to work tomorrow?”
This time, we went into the city by car. Melbourne traffic slows any inner city trip. Ben let Agnieszka out at the entrance of the parking station, then we drove up, around and up, and around from one floor to the next – I don’t know how many floors but we seemed to be in a never ending spiral – to the very top of the parking station. I suppose coming back down at night is one way of unwinding after a day’s work.
A tram ride.
Of course, it was too early for the city shops to be open, so I took a tram ride to South Melbourne Beach. I was getting used to trams by now. I thought it was great to be able to use just one “Met” ticket all day, regardless of whether it was used for a train, tram or bus. Travelling by tram is slow, with frequent stops – and allows plenty of time to observe the scenery. It was the beginning of Autumn and the trees were dressed in gold with some occasional brown and russet accents – a good time to be visiting Melbourne. Most of the houses seemed to be either lowset snug looking homes sheltering behind a wide front porch, or tall and stately townhouses with delicate “iron lace” balconies.
There wasn’t another soul in sight at South Melbourne Beach, though the traffic was heavy on the street that ran along the beachfront. I walked a little way out on the pier. The air was pretty nippy so I was glad to get on a tram back into the city, which was just beginning to wake up.
Cook’s Cottage
Browsing through the shops I came across a postcard with a picture of Cook’s Cottage and decided to go there. After getting off at the wrong tramstop and backtracking, I came to Fitzroy Gardens. A group of about 40 Japanese tourists were alighting from a bus. “Aha,” I thought, “they’ll be going to Cook’s Cottage” so I tagged along behind them. I was right – they were going to Cook’s Cottage, but it wasn’t a good idea to be behind 40 Japanese tourists. When they arrived at the cottage, their guide stood in the doorway and spoke to them at great length – in Japanese. I had to wait until she finished and they had all been inside. This took a while, since only 15 people at a time were allowed in, but eventually my turn came. The cottage had belonged to the parent’s of Captain Cook and had been brought out from England. It was very small. The rooms looked cold and bare. It would have been very uncomfortable in a cold English climate.
I visited the miniature Tudor Village in Fitzroy Gardens, then decided I’d had enough of the cold city and caught a tram home.
No fire
Olive and Oscar bounded inside as soon as I opened the door. They took their places in front of the fireplace and looked at me expectantly. Ben had told me how to open the door of the gas heater. “You just follow the directions inside.” He said. I followed the directions to the letter, but there was no fire. The cats glared at me with large reproachful eyes. I put on an extra jumper and curled up on the sofa with Oscar snuggled tight against my chest, until Agnieszka came in. She promptly lit a match and had a cheerful fire burning in no time. No one had told me about lighting a match!
Friday was a mild sunny day. I spent the morning doing a bit of washing, and playing with Oscar and Olive and Bert the black rabbit. I took photos of them. Olive looked a perfect chocolate box picture. She is a beautiful calico Persian, with vivid splashes of black and orange. Oscar climbed the tree in the backyard and looked so adorable with the sun shining on his tabby stripes, and the little white tufts of fur sticking out of his ears.
I walked round and round under the tree, trying to find the best angle for a picture with the light on his face. As I stepped back, I suddenly recalled that only the day before I had remarked on what a clean little cat Oscar was, carefully burying his business in the fallen leaves under that tree! I cleaned my shoes thoroughly and aired them in the sun.
The city at night
The Comedy Festival was on in Melbourne. Ben had suggested that I meet them in the city that evening and we all go to a show. So later in the day I walked over the hill to the tramstop. (I discovered the hill was much steeper to climb from this side!) We all met in Myers book department – It doesn’t matter how long you have to wait when there are books to look at – then we caught a tram to South Bank. We browsed through some of the specialty shops and had dinner at a French Restaurant. I had fish in beer batter – delicious!
It was a perfect night to stroll around the city. We had coffee at an open-air restaurant then went on to the comedy show. The Irish comedian was rather crude but some of his jokes were very funny and even thought provoking. It must have been about 11.30 p.m. when we came out and there were people queued right down to the next corner, waiting for the next show.
Ben had parked the car in one of the side streets. I don’t know just where, but it was a long walk. I enjoyed it, though. There’s something exhilarating about walking in a city, late at night – an experience I very seldom have. It was a clear mild night and the streets were alive with people all going somewhere – or returning.
The car was wedged in between two other cars that had parked way too close. How were we going to get out? I wondered. We would probably have to wait until the owners of the other cars came back. I hoped it wouldn’t be too long. But Ben started up the engine and with a couple of swift maneuvers we were out on the road and headed for home.
Cold water
We were all looking forward to a hot shower so we were dismayed to find that the water was cold. Ben said the heater was very old and didn’t always reheat properly. I felt guilty. Maybe I had used too much hot water that morning when I washed my hair? It was going to be a cold weekend if we had no hot water.
During the night I got up a couple of times and felt the water from the bathroom tap. Still cold.
Next morning, I woke early and tried the tap again. The water was still cold. Ah, well, I could always improvise. I tiptoed into the kitchen and heated some water in the electric jug. I poured it into a bucket from the laundry and took it into the bathroom and splashed it over my shivering body. I was still pretty cold so I crawled back under the blankets until Ben and Agnieszka woke up.
After a while I heard one of them go into the bathroom. They would be so disappointed, I thought, to find the water still cold. I was surprised to see Agnieszka in the lounge room, looking pink and warm from her shower, with a towel wrapped around her wet hair. There were sounds of happy splashing on the other side of the bathroom door.
“Wasn’t the water cold?” I asked.
It was Agnieszka’s turn to look surprised. She assured me there was nothing wrong with it.
Bewildered, I turned on the kitchen tap. It was cold!
“But it always takes a minute to warm up.” Agnieszka reminded me.
Of course!
After lunch, we set off in the car for the Dandenong Ranges. We were going to have a ride on the Puffing Billy train, but arrived just after it left. Anyway, we drove through the ranges and probably saw just as much from the comfort of the car. The scenery was magnificent. I’ve never seen so many tree ferns. We stopped and explored some of the tracks through a lovely place – I think it was Jack Nicholson park – and I took photos of the beautiful golden trees. Then we went on to a little town – whose name I can’t remember – and visited some delightful little craft shops. A wedding group was being photographed outside an Auto Electrical garage. It seemed a strange background to choose but I suppose it was the bridegroom’s workplace. As we left, the bride and groom were holding hands and dancing under a golden oak tree, as the sun set behind them. A far more romantic picture!
Ben wanted to go on to the Lookout. Agnieszka and I said it was a waste of time because it was getting too dark to see anything. When Ben has made up his mind, no one can talk him out of anything, so we went to the Lookout. We were so glad we did. We were rewarded with a beautiful panorama of the sunset.
Sunday . . To market
It was a beautiful day. We visited the Sunday markets under the bridge at Southbank. I wish it had been sunny like this the first time I visited Southbank! It was completely different. Families were enjoying the sunshine in the park. People sprawled dozing on the banks of the Yarra River. I couldn’t resist photographing one couple and their two big dogs sleeping on the grass in a tangled pile of arms, legs and tails.
There were a variety of market stalls. It was fun sniffing the scented soaps and peering through the glass kaleidoscopes. The kaleidoscopes were fascinating but if I had $600 to spend I would buy something more practical, anyway. About all I bought was a set of funny gift cards that appealed to my warped sense of humour.
Rippon Lea
We had Lamb Slovaki for lunch then drove out to see Rippon Lea mansion. We paid the entrance fee and followed the path through the Bottlebrush and Eucalypt Gum trees. I drew an appreciative breath. “Mmmmmm, smell the Eucalyptus!” Then I realised it was the cough lozenge that Agnieszka was sucking.
We explored the servant’s quarters and the stables and got back to the front entrance about one minute after they started the tour of the house. No one had told us the doors are locked once the tour starts! We could see the tour group just inside the glass doors. We made sad faces through the glass but we were ignored.
Ah,well, if we had done the tour inside, we wouldn’t have had to time to see all the gardens and they were well worth seeing. I loved the fernery. It was like another little world. We followed the path around the lake and came to a lovely arched bridge. I’m sure it’s the scene I’ve seen portrayed on a postage stamp. They once had a series of stamps depicting beautiful gardens. I took photos of it so I could compare it with the stamp when I find it. Ben made sure he was out of reach every time I reached for the camera. It’s almost impossible to get a picture of him.
There is so much to see at Rippon Lea it really deserves a whole day devoted to it.
“The Titanic”
On the way home we stopped at a Video store. Agnieszka and I chose “The Titanic”. Ben said he didn’t want to see it and he had work to catch up on but he watched it anyway. I still can’t help wondering, if I was on the “Titanic” and knew there were not enough lifeboats for everyone, would I have got in one, or left the space for someone else? And if there was room in my boat would I have turned back for people in the water, knowing that too many would have probably got in and capsized the boat?
You really can’t tell until you are in a situation like that
It had been a wonderful 10 days. Lots to do and see, no housework or cooking, (Ben and Agnieszka cooked delicious meals) still, I woke on Monday morning feeling quite pleased to think that I would be back in my old familiar surroundings that night.
I suppose most people would have rushed around seeing all they could on their last day, but I’m not like most people.
After Ben and Agnieszka left for work I leisurely packed my suitcase and played with the cats. I walked across the street and took some photos of the house and the street, so I could show the rest of the family where Ben and Agnieszka live. I intended to explore more of the immediate neighbourhood on foot so I would have a larger mind map of the place, but Melbourne weather is unpredictable and it started to rain heavily.
So I spent my last afternoon in front of the fire with Olive and Oscar purring beside me. I must have been pretty tired because I actually sat through all the mind-numbing afternoon television shows, although I did read Ben’s book on Web Design at the same time.
Ben and Agnieszka came home about 6pm, and we set off for the airport. The traffic was heavy and I was afraid we would be late. I was beginning to think “We missed Puffing Billy, we missed the guided tour at Ripponlea, are we going to miss the plane?”
The trip home
But we made it. The passengers were just queueing up to board when we arrived. My seat was the second one from the window and I could see the lights of Melbourne as we flew out.
Brisbane looked wonderful as we flew in. I could see the tall city skyscrapers and the Storey Bridge all lit up. The Brisbane River looked like a silver ribbon. The man in the window seat turned to me and said, “Would you like to change seats? I’ve done this trip so often, I’m used to it.”
“No thanks,” I said, “I can see quite well from here.” I wondered what kind of gymnastics we would have to perform to change places without undoing our seatbelts and asking other people to get out of their seats, since the plane was landing and both actions were forbidden!
Frances was waiting for me at the airport. I was eager to see my cats again. Buddy rushed out to meet me when we arrived home, but Ingrid was very aloof for a few hours. When she thought I’d been punished enough for leaving them, she condescended to come in and sleep on my bed.
The awful truth
I was really keen to have all my photos developed so I could show everyone where I had been. The next morning, I opened my camera to take the film out and guess what……….there was no film in it!!!!! I just stared at the empty space in shocked disbelief before my mind would accept the awful truth.
All those pictures of the tree-lined street, the panorama of the city from the hill top, the park, the house, the Yarra River, the sleeping couple with their dogs, the gardens at Rippon Lea, Olive in the long grass and Oscar in the fork of the tree…….I thought they were all recorded on film, but the images are only in my mind.
But you know what, I can still see all those pictures clearly in my mind, just as they were when I framed them with the camera. The fact that I specially chose those images to record has made the memory of them more vivid and focused.
And I think memories are like that. We all select which memories we want to keep. They are what our lives are made of.
Melbourne is a beautiful city. But if you go there in winter, don’t get your hair cut the week before, and don’t forget to put a film in your camera!!
