Walking: it's ace

 

Walking is something many able-bodied people take for granted. Indeed, it only occurred to me recently after a comment from a friend how much walking enriches my quality of life: so much of what I write about and photograph I see while I'm on foot. 

Gillian (hello!) commented in response to one of my posts on this blog (or was it Girl in Melbourne?) that there was very little that escaped my gaze. I replied that writing Gleeful and having a photo blog have trained me to take notice, particularly of small things. Then she said she missed so much because she was always whizzing by in her car.

Of course! I hadn't given that a lot of thought, but it's so obvious. I've never owned a car and I've always been a walker, especially in the last six years living on the fringe of the CBD. I walk to and from work most days, I'm often out and about doing stuff on weekends and wandering the Botanic Gardens, the city or the inner suburbs with camera in hand.

If I lived in the suburbs and commuted to work, my blogs would be vastly different.  I suppose it's a combination of walking a lot and being fortunate to live in such a picturesque part of the Melbourne.

If I didn't walk so much in my little part of the world,  I wouldn't see all those birdie couples nearly every day (the plovers, the swans, the ducks) or the flying foxes at dusk. I wouldn't be able to closely observe the elms beside the river transitioning from season to season, to smell the musty aroma of wet autumn leaves on the ground.  I wouldn't be able to admire the reflection of the city lights on the Yarra every day or take in the view of the CBD from my various favourite vantage points. I wouldn't have seen dolphins or jellyfish or fish in the river. 

I wouldn't have so many photos of old painted signs around the inner suburbs of Melbourne. I probably wouldn't even have developed an interest in them at all. I wouldn't know Melbourne -  its laneways, hidden charms and beautiful buildings - as well as I do if I experienced it mainly by car or public transport, and only came to the city for work. Feet were made for exploring; cars were made for getting places quickly.

Walking has deepened my connection with my town, and helped me feel closer to nature despite living less than two kilometres from the centre of the city. It allows me to slow down, to stop and take things in.  Walking...it's awesome.

More fog, more sun, more signs

It was very foggy until nearly midday today.  I love fog, partly because it usually gives way to a clear sunny day, which is what happened today. It was yet another gorgeous winter's day. I took these photos from my flat.

The Nylex clock

AAMI Park

The city begins to appear

I took this one just after leaving home. The fog cleared

before I got to the city

I skived off the gym today (I'm still sore from walking up Hanging Rock....that's my excuse anyway) and wandered into town, shedding my gloves and earmuffs as the exercise and sunshine warmed me. I saw a little girl in grungy Centre Place holding a large red balloon. Sadly there were too many people passing by for me to get a good shot. Dagnammit.

I picked up some old family photos I had scanned to CD. There's some great photos of my paternal grandfather, who died before my brother and I were born, and a nice one of my parents taken before I was born. There's also lots of cool photos of old cars. I plan to do something with them, I'm just not sure what yet. Some sort of collage, I think.

My grandfather Mick and old car

Then I poked around vintage clothing, homewares and book shops in the city and Brunswick, but only bought a photography book.

I had planned to be in the Carlton Gardens at sunset to take photos, but I didn't get there until it was dark and was pleasantly surprised to see the Hochgurtel fountain in full...spray? It looked spectacular lit up by spotlights. I suppose it must be on all the time now the drought is over. Yay.

I spotted some old signs in Brunswick.

Moran & Cato (a department store)

Moran & Cato Tea Warehouse - I saw this sign a few

months ago but forgot to take a photo

Off Fitzroy Street. I can't make out what it says

And look in the background of one of the old photos I had scanned! An ad for Robur Tea. (I don't know who the couple is or where it was taken.)

Small blog world, pop, busy

I posted this photo of a cool old van  parked off Smith Street, Collingwood on my photo blog on the weekend and today the owner of the van commented on it! How 'bout that!

I went to the gym tonight, When I do some exercises, a couple of vertebra in my upper back pop. I know this is a bit odd, but I like it. I like it when the osteopath cracks my bones, even my neck. He always says, "Is it OK if I try to adjust your neck?" and I always want to say, "Dude, I'm not leaving here UNTIL you crack my neck!". I like it because of the release of tension that often accompanies it.

My Easter break is shaping up to be fairly busy. Seeing another comedy show with Luke on Thursday night, down to the Mornington Peninsula on Friday, another comedy show with friends Saturday night and possibly lunch with my step-mother on Tuesday. I wanted to visit my nephews and go to IKEA too. Fun!

A day at the beach

I took advantage of yesterday's gloomy weather to go to South Melbourne beach. No, not for a swim; to take photos and explore another part of Melbourne that I'm not overly familiar with. I love the beach on grey days.

I walked along the beach front from Kerford Road Pier to Station Pier and then wandered through the streets back to the city. Development along the waterfront is predictably samey and charmless, but the old terrace houses and the Clarendon Street shopping strip are quite lovely.

There were lots of shells on the beach, some of them even whole. I saw a live jelly fish in the water and lots of jellyfish washed up on the sand too. I love poking about on the beach to see what I can see (and in rock pools).

Unusual multi-lingual toilet signage, no doubt due to nearby Station Pier being the  former port of entry for migrants arriving by ship

A plaque in the concrete at the base of a park bench near Station Pier

The one about Castlemaine

I think I fell a little bit in love with Castlemaine during my day trip there last Wednesday. It really is a charming town. So much history, lovely old buildings, quaint cottages and quite a lot to see and do for such a small place.  I feel like I only scratched the surface.

I arrived an hour later than planned because I realised on the way to the station to catch the 9.15 train that I should have been on the 8.15 train! Oopsie. The ticket man let me catch the later train at no extra cost (not that I would have minded paying another $12, especially as it was my own stupid fault I missed it).

I took a book to read but I spent the whole 1.5 hour trip looking out the window and wishing I could stop the train to take photos. I saw a young foal gallivanting joyfully around his paddock, old bath tub stock troughs, sloping green fields dotted with rolls of hay, and a little girl in a pink hoodie waving as the train went by. There was a lake (I forget where) with steam rising eerily from it and a tree full of those black and white ibis.

I especially wanted to take photos of some of the old country train stations we passed through (but didn't want to risk being left behind). Most have been renovated to retain their old world charm, but others - Malmsbury and Kyneton spring to mind - are getting rather ramshackle, and those are the ones I like the most. 

It was overcast when I left Melbourne but as I neared Castlemaine, the clouds broke up and the sun shone. It was a perfect day when I arrived - warm but with a light breeze.

I wandered down the main street to the Tourist Information Centre and picked up the Eureka Reef Heritage Walk podtour (after being assured that if I was used to walking a lot, the walk to Eureka Reef from town wouldn't be too demanding...).

I grabbed a quick bite to eat from a bakery and ate it in the gardens where the town's Australia Day celebrations were in full swing. After a burst of pipes and drums from the Castlemaine Highland Band, I set off for Eureka Reef (as in gold, not coral).

I poked my head into the Theatre Royal on the way, but the foyer is small and there's not much to see. One day I'll go back to see a movie.  I do like the way they've repurposed the old theatre seats as cafe seating though.
  

I passed a lot of of old buildings and cute little old cottages on the highway. I turned right at Eureka Street, crossed the rail bridge and kept going as the bitumen gave way to unsealed gravel...and walked...and walked...and walked and wondered if I was on the right track. There wasn't another soul around, just a swarm of dragonflies and the buzzing of cicadas.

I saw this sign in the bush on my right which gave me a moment's pause, given I was in the bush all on my own with no phone reception, but then I remembered it's a low security prison (clearly). What would they do? Defraud me?

I pushed on, admiring the colours and textures of the stone on the side of the road. Eventually I saw a sign pointing to the car park for the Eureka Reef. Eureka indeed. The car park was empty. I didn't mind the solitude.

Eureka Reef is part of the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park, which, I learnt from the podtour, is World Heritage listed because of its cultural significance. Men - some with wives and children - came from all over the world in the 1850s to try their luck on the gold diggings.  Nearby Forest Creek, according to a sign on the highway, was the site of the "world's richest shallow alluvial goldfield ever".

Ruins of the mine manager's cottage

There are still remnants of the gold diggings in the bush, among them ruins of miners' cottages, the mine shaft and tunnel and remains of a puddling machine (which my brain keeps reading as 'pudding machine' and getting a bit excited about). The mine shaft and tunnel are one of only two places in the state where the actually rather uncommon Common Bentwing Bat gives birth to and rears its young. Only these two places have the perfect temperature and humidity for the bats to bring their offspring into the world.

The entrance to the mine

The bush was also booby trapped with spider webs. Before I even got to the first stop on the podtour I had to duck under a web across the path with its occupant sitting smack bang in the middle of it. I didn't account for the bulk of my backpack, however, so I quickly dropped it to the ground and did that panicked oh-my-god-there's-a-spider-on-me! dance (I'm not even that scared of spiders; I just don't want them on me). I had to keep my wits about me and my eyes ahead after that.

Waiting patiently...

The bush was also teeming with those browny-orange butterflies. With nearly every step I took, one or two would take flight, which was quite pretty, but seeing something moving out of the corner of my eye was also mildly startling since the spider encounter had me a little on edge. I didn't see any other wildlife, but I did spot some scat with large seeds in it though! (I'm sparing you a photo of that...no, I didn't take one!)

When I got back to the car park I was also startled by the sight of another human being. There was a guy with a metal detector going over the old tailings pile. It was whoop-whooping away as I passed by on my way back to the road. 

Not for drinking...

They used cyanide and arsenic to mine the gold. This tank dates from the

 1950s when the ground was worked over again.

I headed back to town (it turned out to be a 2.5 hour round trip!), dropped off the podtour at the Information Centre and got myself a cold drink. I then headed for a quick wander around the Botanical Gardens, then back to the station for the train home, foot sore and worn out, but happy (and a little bit sunburnt).

While it was a lovely day out, I don't recommend going on a public holiday if you want to poke your nose around the shops and galleries. Most of them were closed. I think I'll head back another time to see the stuff I missed out on. There's an art gallery and museum, a historic mansion, some other podtours, an old cemetery and I'd also like to ride the old Goldfields Steam Railway to nearby Maldon. 

Mostyn Street shops

Old telegraph building on the right, main street

Castlemaine Station

Exploring, book love, pencil sniffing

Puffy heart-shaped chip!

I've had a good day today. After a nice sleep-in (during which I dreamt about a Barrel of Monkeys*) I went to Sydney Road, Brunswick for a wander. I haven't really explored that precinct much before and I decided it was time to change that today. It was a perfect day for adventuring -  sunny and warm, but with a refreshing cool breeze.

I love the old shops along the street and the residences above them, especially the ones with  the balconies overlooking the street.

I went into the Brunswick Bound bookshop and fell instantly in love with a book called One: Living as one and loving it, by Sydneysider Victoria Alexander.  I had to have it; the design is just gorgeous - thick matt paper with uneven scalloped edges, fabulous photos on every page, little pockets with removable quotes in them and a large pocket at the back for keepsakes - and I feel like it's the book I need right now. (All the other books on my to-be-read pile will just have to wait.) I even love the way it smells.

I had a Lebanese sausage pizza for a late lunch (yum) and people watched as I ate it at a table on the footpath. The little white dog of the men next to me turned its gaze on me when it got no tidbits from their table.

I poked around in clothing, discount and second hand shops. I had a delicious smoothie.

Coming home on the tram,  the driver made me smile when he said, 'Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My name is Daniel and I will be your driver today.'

I stopped at the supermarket on the way home for supplies. I sniffed the coloured pencils in the back to school display (I love that smell). I nearly bought a bottle of bubbles (not the alcoholic kind) after picturing myself lying on my back in the gardens blowing bubbles into the blue sky. I might make my own....

I have the flat to myself tonight. I watched New York, I Love You on DVD (*wistful sigh*) and fixed myself a couple of vodka tonics with fresh lime. How fantastic do fresh limes smell? Divine.

I'm about to have a nice hot shower and climb wearily into bed with a cool breeze blowing in my bedroom window. *happy sigh*

*pointless aside: I still have my Barrel of Monkeys from when I was a kid.  

Weeny, walking, big bikes

Look at these weeny ducklings! They looked far too small to be braving the choppy waters of Victoria Harbour. I saw the mother duck first and the ducklings were so small  I thought they were flotsam. But no. So cute.

I walked from Harbour Town to Southbank this afternoon, with a detour to Victoria Harbour. I've never really explored that area before. I walked until I was almost under the Bolte Bridge.

On my way into the city this morning I passed a gaggle of cyclists dressed up steampunk style. There was one guy on a pennyfarthing and one man on a gigantic tricycle.  Yesterday there was a man in Myer playing a ukelele and a girl walking down the street in a tutu and ballet shoes.