Day 18: Sunshine

 I walked to Southbank to eat my lunch in the dappled shade of the gumtrees, and crossed back over the Sandridge Bridge past The Travellers

 I walked home along Southbank, stopping for icecream along the way. 
This is the view across the river

Almost home. Morell Bridge basking in the sun

Saturday in the Dandenongs

Luke and I went for a drive into the Dandenongs on Saturday afternoon.  We didn't have a particular destination, we just drove. 

The trestle bridge near Belgrave, which is traversed by the 

famous Puffing Billy steam train  

 Monbulk Creek flowing under the bridge 

Mossy log 

We loitered for a while, but Puffing Billy didn't pass by, so we hit the road for Emerald.  It's been  a while since I've visited this part of the Dandenongs. The hills and valleys are steep and lush; they were very picturesque in the afternoon sun. I saw some suffolk sheep grazing the hillside (not a common sheep breed around these parts). I couldn't remember then what they were called and my brain thought, 'Oh, look! There's some of those sheep with the black faces!", but my mouth said, "Look! Shauns!"

Puffing Billy arrived in Emerald not long after we did, but he wasn't going full steam ahead as he passed the level crossing.  Not quite as photogenic... We gave the kids a wave as the train passed, then we headed to Emerald Lake where we went for a walk in the crisp winter air. There were ankle-deep drifts of damp leaves, which gave off that pleasing earthy smell. There was A LOT of fungus. 

And tree ferns. The Dandenongs are a temperate rainforest, with tall mountain ash and ferny undergrowth. 

Roots 'n leaves

 Seed pods of some kind

Full steam ahead

Puffing Billy terminates at Emerald Lake. Here he is on his last trip back to Belgrave for the day. We were never in the right spot for a good photo. He was letting off a lot of steam here, and it was almost golden in the late afternoon sun.  

As we headed back to the car in the fading light, Luke spotted a crimson rosella in a fern, having a snack.  

 Little stream

 Fantastic gnarled tree

Oh, yeah; the lake. It was deserted by the time we were leaving

Although it was getting dark, we kept driving instead of heading home. We saw a small group of kangaroos grazing in a paddock and stopped to take a photo. They stopped grazing to watch me taking a photo (which is  too poor to post due to distance/lack of light).

We ended up in Healesville with a plan to have a meal at one of the pubs, but there was no room at the inns, so we went to an Australian restaurant instead (i.e. native ingredients like wattle seed and bush plums, not chiko rolls and meat pies). We had a nice meal then hit the road for home. 

Second breakfast, old signs, under the bridge

Luke and I went to Yarraville in the inner west today. We had lunch (or, more accurately, second breakfast, which is becoming quite a habit for us) just near the Sun Theatre. The section of road in front of the cinema has been laid with pretend grass, which is dotted with colourful deck chairs and outdoor chairs and tables. I think every suburb should have a lawnstreet. 

After second breakfast, we wandered about with our cameras. There were quite a few old signs. 

 There are several signs here. It looks like it has been
 a chemist for many years

 Robur Tea maybe? 

 Engineering Patternmaker

Lots of engineers in Yarraville

Plumber and sewerage

Before heading home we stopped near the Westgate Bridge and went for a walk. As we walked under the bridge, I got Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers stuck in my head. 

(Bonus Australian flag for Australia Day)

  

This snake amuses me. It looks too cute

 Egret slouching in a shrub

 The Stony Creek Backwash walkway

 A cormorant resting on the skeleton of an old boat

The same cormorant followed us, apparently eager

 to pose for more photos

 Big Bird was here

 Very big ship on the way to the docks

 No, it didn't hit the bridge

Yet another coincidence

This morning I went to the video store (yes, we still hire movies) to borrow Pride and Prejudice, the BBC version with Colin Firth and that scene. I haven't seen it and decided I should after Luke's mother and sister waxed lyrical about it on Thursday night. Luke's mum all but swooned as she described Colin Firth emerging from the water in his wet shirt. Teehee.  I don't understand why women go weak at the knees over Colin Firth. I think he's an English ponce, so perhaps watching him in Pride and Prejudice will help me to understand.   

Anyway, the coincidence: the video store guy had a TV on the counter and there was a quiz show on. I didn't hear the quiz master ask the question, but the answer was....PRIDE AND PREJUDICE!!! 

Henry, dedication, growing up

Luke and I are off to the refurbished Hamer Hall for the first time tomorrow to see Henry Wagons in the first installment of a series called Performance Enhancers. He'll be chatting about his influences and performing. 

Henry also has a new "mini-album" coming out in a few weeks, which is sort of his first solo album (it mostly features duets). And look at the cover! It's Kanes Bridge, the footbridge over the river at Yarra Bend Park, seen here on my other blog. 

I went to the gym tonight. On a Friday. I've only done that once or twice in all the years I've been a gym-goer. It just seems wrong...even if I have nothing planned besides staying home on the couch. I didn't manage to fit in my second workout on Wednesday or Thursday, and I don't want to go on the weekend, or go a full week between gym visits. I did that last week, and was sore for three days afterwards. 

I saw the duck family this morning on the river's edge. The ducklings have doubled in size in the space of a week! *sigh* They grown up so fast. 

There's a story in The Age today on the Little Library at Melbourne Central, which I discovered last weekend. 

Friday night

Seafarers Bridge

I went to DFO at South Wharf after work tonight. I bought some red shoes. When I left, it was raining lightly. I walked up to St Kilda Road to catch the tram home. 

The Polly Woodside was casting a pleasing reflection on the inky water. 

The bare trees along the river are festooned with fairy lights. It's quite magical. 

There was also a painted elephant. 

This is one of 50 elephant sculptures decorated by artists and placed around the city as part of Melbourne Zoo's 150th anniversary celebrations. I've seen several of the others in Birrarung Marr, Federation Square and the mall. I'm a big fan of Melbourne's penchant for whimsical sculpture. 

I walked past the revamped Hamer Hall for the first time since it reopened a few weeks ago. It used to have its back turned to the river, but now it opens out on to the Yarra. That dark, dismal underpass thing is history. It looks great. 

 Looking towards Princes Bridge

 Back in the other direction

The St Kilda Road frontage

I love the reflections made by rain. 

I was really glad to get home, especially as I wasn't paying attention, missed my tram stop and had to walk much further than I would have liked on my already sore feet. I don't know how I managed not to notice that we'd turned the corner into Park Street. 

Weekend of glee

Luke and I had lunch at Booktalk Cafe in Richmond yesterday. As the name suggests, it's a café and a bookshop rolled into one. Although I've been there numerous times, I only just noticed that there is a little brass plaque on the back of each chair with an author's name on it. Mine said 'Anita'. Dunno who that is, but I like the idea.  I also liked their collection of games, though we didn't have time to play.

'Please enjoy of puzzles and games and fish' 

(written before the fish went to fish heaven)

After lunch I bought supplies to make another terrarium - a much bigger one this time. I can only just get my arms around the bowl when I hold it in front of me. I got a ladder fern and some moss to go in it, but will get another fern as well. The moss came from a damp spot on the ground at the nursery; the nursery lady slid a knife under it to loosen it and wrapped it in cellophane for me. 

I'm going to plant this one myself, but haven't had time so far. The moss has a temporary home on top of a pile of potting mix. I've been misting it with water to keep it moist and happy. 

On Friday one of my workmates told me she was going to the Studley Park Boathouse for lunch on Sunday and I decided I wanted to go too. I haven't been for more than 10 years, even though it's a short drive away. Luke and I went on Saturday afternoon.

The Studley Park Boathouse opened in 1864 and is Melbourne's oldest operating boathouse. It's set in extensive bushy parklands along the Yarra - if it weren't for the hum of traffic, you could easily forget you're so close to the centre of a big city. 

You can hire kayaks and canoes, as well as the row boats for a punt on the Yarra, but we only took photos of them. Here's an old sign of a different kind: 

Not sure how many swamp hens the boats can carry

Fungus

Skeleton

Kane's Bridge. It was rebuilt in the 1930s after being 

 washed away in a massive flood 

Crossing over

Swirly tree

Red gums

The Yarra is brown because of the highly erosive soil in the

 catchment area. It's extra brown after rain.

 The boathouse's resident geese

No Gleeful post would be complete without a duck

Boat garden

On Saturday night we had dinner on Chapel Street. For dessert I had stewed rhubarb with meringue, and rosewater sorbet, served in a glass with a woolly ball of pistachio Persian fairy floss on top (as was Luke's pistachio icecream). I've seen the fairy floss in shops before, but never tasted it. It was yummy, but weird, like eating air (like normal fairy floss, I suppose!). 

Then we headed to the Astor Theatre to see The Avengers.  I love The Astor. It's the last single screen cinema of its kind still operating in Melbourne and stepping inside is like travelling back to the art deco splendour of 1930s, when the cinema opened. 

The ladies powder room

Marzipan, The Astor's calico cat, was in attendance and enjoying the comfort of a moviegoer's lap in the foyer when we arrived. As we were leaving she was sitting on a comfy lounge chair being fussed over by people. I love that the cinema has a resident moggy. There was a cat in residence when I first went to The Astor in my uni days, so Marzipan is obviously not the first feline to fill the role. 

Oh, the movie was good, but I knew it would be since Joss Whedon wrote and directed it. 

Sunday 

I got my hair cut and coloured today. I've added some blue highlights to the top of my usual blue/black hair. As you might have guessed, I have no plans to start acting/looking my age despite my impending 40th birthday. (I'll post a photo another time). 

It was rather chilly and raining lightly when I left the hairdresser, so I got a hot chocolate to warm me up. I don't think I've clutched a hot beverage so enthusiastically before.