St Kilda at Night

I'd been to St Kilda before, but not at night, so I hopped on a tram to visit it again. The gates to Luna Park look even more sinister at night.

As it was Saturday, it was open until 11pm. Admission is free - you just pay for the rides. I didn't do any of them myself, but plenty of other people did. I think this one is the Silly Serpent.

No it's not the ghost train, it just whizzed through my long exposure.

I also took a stroll down Acland Street (which is where I found the expatriate Suffolk Beer). Acland Street is famous for its Cake Shops. Here is the window of just one of several along a short stretch.

I'm not a cake man myself, but they still looked pretty yummy. Click on the picture if you want to see them better.

Melbourne Fiesta

Today there was a street Fiesta in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Or is it Carlton? I'm not sure where one stops and the other starts. My drinking buddy Dave told me there was a Spanish Fiesta this weekend, so I went to see what it was all about. Actually it encompassed more than Spanish, including Central and South American too (including Portuguese speaking countries). All the better. Johnston St was closed off for the event.

There were loads of stalls serving yummy food and thirst quenching drink all along the street. You can maybe see the smoke rising. There was also a carnival procession of a number of groups. Here they are before they set off.

The costumes were great.

And they danced as they made their way along the street.

At the end of the procession came the Mexicans. I take my hat off to you too sir!


See more of my photos of the event here on Flickr.

Melbourne G20 Summit

Melbourne has been a centre of International affairs this week, being the host of the G20 summit. They started closing roads and putting police on the streets on Thursday. I had to laugh on Friday when I saw a policeman wearing a vest with 'Police Crowd Safety' on it. Yes, the police are safer in crowds I thought. But today I wasn't laughing any more.

This is where it is all centred.

The Hyatt hotel is a couple of blocks down Russell St from my hotel and a block along Collins St from my office.

The roads were barricaded off in each direction from the Hyatt. There were police everywhere, seemingly outnumbering demonstrators. The news says there were only about 2000 demonstrators, although 10000 were expected. There were certainly some colourful characters about.

Mostly I saw people just sat about in the road, or dancing to music pumped from impromptu lorry concert platforms. Here they had a bit of a dig at President Bush.

I didn't see much real confrontation, although I did see broken glass on the ground. I certainly didn't see anything like what the media called the 'Battle of Collins St'. But here is what I saw across the crossroads from my office.

The ANZ Bank were being accused of profiting from warfare and exploitation of the poor. Well I'm not sure why they should be singled out. But here were the police in more than just their normal uniforms and a streetwide line of police horses. I suppose it was necessary - there were clearly a few troublemakers around, but it did seem a bit excessive.

You can see some more of my pictures here on Flickr.

Sky High Mount Dandenong

On my way 'home' (in Melbourne) from the Mornington Peninsula on Saturday I stopped off at 'Sky High Mount Dandenong' (check out the link for a cheesy experience). There is a restaurant, park, garden and viewpoint there and it is meant to be a great place to watch the sun set over the city.

Actually, it turned out to be a bit showery, but the effect was still quite atmospheric. You can see the sun glinting off Port Phillip Bay in the distance.

The centre of the city is 35km off and looked a bit apocalyptic in the haze and pinky grey light.

Or maybe that was just my imagination.

It was a bit of a shock to the system when we got an icy blast from the Antarctic this week. After temperatures of 36 deg C a few weeks ago, yesterday it struggled to 13 deg C in the centre of Melbourne and rather less than that elsewhere. Here is how it looked on Mt Dandenong (as published on The Age website).

Yes. There is snow lying. And it is only two weeks to the start of summer. The weather around here really is crazy.

Update Mon 20th Nov: It is 36 deg C here again today!

Victorian Wineries

One of the delights of being in Melbourne is the fantastic range of Australian wines available. I had no idea there were so many vineyards and wineries in Australia, nor the variety of wines in Victoria alone - I'm told there are over 600 vineyards here in the smallest (mainland) state.

I've had a few tastings on my trips out over the weeks, but only a few, really, as you can't do many when you are driving. But here are a few bottles that sum them up.

Actually there are a couple of cheats there that need explaining...

My first tasting was on my bus trip to The Dandenongs and Yarra Valley. Here we had lunch at Fergusson's Winery near Yarra Glen. I particularly enjoyed the Chardonnay, but remained unconvinced by the Forte Shiraz.

My next outing with wine tasting was also in the Yarra Valley on my Yarra Day Out. I visited two random vineyards here. I saw the sign to Long Gully and recognised the name, but I wasn't sure where. I visited it anyway and loved the vineyard along the narrow valley (hence the name, I suppose). I later remembered I'd bought a bottle of their wine in my first few days in Australia. So where's the bottle(s) in the photo? Ahem. I'm afraid I threw them out after emptying them, but I kept the bag (on the right). I quite liked both the 2004 Pinot Noir and, especially, the 2001 Irma's Cabernet.

Sticks, in Yarra Glen, was launched in 2001. Their wines are quite fruity and only very lightly oaked. Very easy drinking and I love the twiggy label.

Last weekend I visited two other wine regions. In the Mornington Peninsula I visited two vineyards. My first was The Cups estate near Fingal. This is only about 8 years old, so their first wines are from 2003. They do an interesting line in White and Rose Pinot Noir, but I preferred the fruity red. Then, late on in the day, I visited the bigger and better known T'Gallant, famous for its Pinot Grigio/Pinto Gris. I preferred the "Imogen" Pinot Gris of the several styles they do.

In the Macedon Ranges I visited two more wineries. I stumbled across Barcaldine House in the Spa region. It was still quite early in the day, so I tried only a couple of whites. It was here that I learnt from the owner that a lot of wines are made with grapes grown elsewhere than on the estate. Over the last 3 years the price of grapes has plummeted from $3000 to only $300 a tonne, which makes it pretty hard to earn a living. It also means that boutique wineries can shop around for good quality grapes to make wines that they can charge a premium for.

My last wine tasting was at the Big Shed Winery near Glenlyon, sporting (appropriately) a St Andrew's flag on the roof. Yes the owners are originally from Scotland and, again, they make wines with grapes from more than just their own vineyard. There were several other tasters there at the same time and Miranda kept us well entertained as we worked our way through their list. I took away some of the Reserve 2004 Shiraz, a recent medal winner. I eventually realised what the underlying pervasive taste in it is. Eucalyptus. I kid you not! It must be the effect of all those trees in the area. But quite tasty, nevertheless.

Oh, and as for the extraneous bottles in the picture....

I included the bottle of Hanging Rock 'The Prospect' Cabernet, Merlot and Mourvedre (quite southern French like) even though I never had a tasting at the winery because I went very close to it.

The last one, which I haven't tasted yet, it is a complete imposter. I saw it in the window of a wine shop in St Kilda and couldn't resist. It is a Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon from Tassell Park. So what is so special about that? Check out my email address for a clue.

And I've only really scratched the surface here. All the vineyards have been 'cool climate', unlike the majority of Australian vineyards. And, in Victoria alone, I've still not been to the Pyrenees, Grampians, Rutherglen, Nagambie Heathcote and Bendigo or Alpine districts, let alone done a proper sampling of the areas I have been to. Hmm. I think I can see a potential hobby coming on. If I come back to Australia, that is....

Spa Country and the Macedon Ranges

For my Sunday drive, I headed west from Melbourne along the Western Freeway towards Ballarat. I was much quicker getting out of the city than my trip to the Mornington Peninsula the day before. I turned off at Ballan to head for Blackwood and Trentham through the Wombat State Forest. This is real bushwalking and 4WD territory, with numerous trails and tracks. Blackwood is tiny and Trentham not much bigger, and both were very quiet, it being a Sunday Morning. But I found more activity when I got to Daylesford. Here, at the train station, I found a Sunday market in full swing.

I had a hotdog made with spicy bullboar sausage - a local speciality. Very tasty.

Very close to Daylesford is Hepburn Springs. Between them, they are they centre of the Spa Country of Victoria. I had actually visited and tasted a couple of other springs before I got to Hepburn Spa.

Unfortunately the bathhouse was closed for redevelopment, but I did fill my water bottle from the Locarno spring.

Quite strong tasting. And, after a few days, this is what the bottle looks like...

A bit of iron in there, I fancy.

I headed on to Malmesbury, so I could wander back to Melbourne through the Macedon Ranges and the Calder Freeway. There is not much to see in Malmesbury. The botanic gardens made me pause for thought.

So dry. Here you can see effects of the drought. Is it just a drought, or has the climate changed? It has lasted for 10 years now, and the Victorian reservoirs are down to about 42% full this year before summer has even started.

I found a similar picture in the gardens at Kyneton. They seem to be trying hard to persuade people to visit here as tourists, but some how I found the historic Piper St a bit uninspiring.



I returned to Melbourne via Hanging Rock and Mt Macedon feeling a little tired. I think I'm ready to go home to Bury St Edmunds. The Missus is getting fed up with me being away too. And Little Miss has been invited to a disco on 2nd December, and is upset that she can't go because she has to go to the airport to collect Dad. "It's not fair", she cried.

Oh well, wont be long now. And sometime soon we're going to have to decide whether to all come here next year - yes they are offering me a fulltime job. Should we or shouldn't we?

By the way, I've posted my other photos from the day here on Flickr.

Mornington Peninsula

I have a hire car for the weekend again, so I could explore more around Melbourne. On Saturday I went to the Mornington peninsula, which forms the land between the southern reaches of Port Phillip bay and the Bass Strait. Driving there brought it home to me how much Melbourne sprawls. I travelled to nearly 60km from the centre of Melbourne as the kookaburra flies before I stopped and I felt I had barely left the city. A bit like driving from London to Maidenhead, I suppose. "Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough". But I digress...

I drove to the top of Arthur's Seat (named after the famous Edinburgh landmark), some 314m above the bay below. This is the view looking towards the tip of the peninsula.

Looking north I could just make out the cityscape of Melbourne, but it was too hazy for my camera to see it. I did the short lookout and statues walk around the Seawind Gardens, ravaged by bushfire a few years ago, but now replanted with indigenous plants. It is haven for wildlife and I saw my first pair of Fairy Wrens, although when I heard them sing I realised I'd heard plenty more of them.

I went on down to the bayside and travelled along the edge towards Point Nepean. The shallow sloping, calm and beautifully white-sanded beaches are ideal for children. I stopped at the original settlement site of 1803 at Sullivan Bay - abandoned after 7 months because of lack of water and suitable timber.

A little further on, at Sorrento, I came across this children's play area.

I was curious about the names carved in the wooden railings. At the entrance I came to the answer - there was a plaque saying the play area had been created in the space of just 5 days in 1994 by 1800 volunteers. Wow! That was some makeover team.

At the end of the peninsula is the Point Nepean National Park where you can walk the last 3km to Fort Nepean at the heads of Port Phillip bay.

The entrance to the bay is quite narrow and known as the Rip, because of its strong currents. Over the other side you can see the beginning of the Surf Coast at the eastern end of the Great Ocean Road.

On the path back up from the point itself I was rewarded with this sight...

It's an echidna. I'd seen them in captivity at Healesville and Ballarat but not in the wild before.

On the Bass Strait side of the peninsula are what are called the "back beaches". I stopped at Blairgowrie back beach for a stroll and a paddle. The water was so inviting, but the undertow looked fierce.

The peninsula is also know for its wineries. So I had to visit at least one or two. Here at The Cups I met this happy couple soaking up the sun on the terrace after their tasting.

And as for the wine? Well that's another story...

You can see plenty more of my photos of my day out here on Flickr.

Beer

I went for a few beers with my workmate Dave after work the other day. I asked him where we could some decent beer near the office and he took me to the James Squire Brewhouse just down the road. They brew some of the beers on the premises and have quite a range on tap. It reminded me of the Old Cannon Brewery back in Bury St Edmunds. We tried most of the beers. I liked the Highwayman Red Ale best, but I didn't think any of them were as good as the beer we get at home. That got me wondering. Surely in a shopping Mecca like Melbourne it must be possible to find some bottled Suffolk beer?

Indeed it is. I found Acland Cellars in St Kilda stocked a range including both Greene King and Adnams beers. So I've got a couple of bottles for Dave to try.

Melbourne Cup Day

Today was a public holiday in Melbourne. Why? It is Melbourne Cup day.

Is there anywhere else that has a public holiday for a horse race? I thought I'd hop on a train to Flemington race track to see what it was all about. I'd never seen such a well-dressed train-load of people. Everybody had their glad rags on. And what a lot of them. I'd never been part of a crowd of over 100,000 people before.

I was down on the trackside by the parade ring and 400m marker. The roses around the parade ring were lovely, but it made it a bit difficult to see the horses. Here there was a water wagon.

Was it because it was chilly and grey day that I never saw anybody take a drink from it? I think not. The Fleur de Lys sparklng wine was being guzzled at a fair rate. I asked one guy if had had any winners. "Nah, mate. I don't bet. I'm only here to get drunk", he said.

For the big race, I had my money on No.5, Geordieland, the only grey in the race, ridden by Frankie Dettori.

I knew that's what the missus would have put her money on, being brought up in Geordie country and 5 is her favourite number.

And here they are thundering past.

No Geordieland didn't win. I sould have known. The missus is useless at picking winners. To the surprise of many, the Japanese horses Delta Blue and Pop Rock finished first and second. The biggest races are an international business these days.

I stayed to watch the next race before getting the train back to Flinders St. Yes it was a good day out.

Kangaroo Steak

I had to try it. The local Safeway supermarket had kangaroo fillet steak for sale. Here's how it looked on my plate.

I looked good, but I didn't like it much. It had a very strong taste - a bit like venison crossed with liver in flavour, and was rather tough. I think I'll stick to the excellent Australian lamb and beef.

Dandenong Creek

Yesterday I took advantage of the Metlink Sunday Saver ticket again and went to the end of the Glen Waverley line to the east of Melbourne - still not out of the suburbs, but close to a string of parks along Dandenong Creek. This was my target for my Sunday afternoon walk. I saw this sign at the edge of the path through a conservation area, which reminded me that 9 of the 10 deadliest species of snake in the world can be found in Australia. I overheard one mother saying to her worried daughter, that the sign just meant that, if you keep your eyes open, you might lucky enough to see one. I think it was more likely to be there in case anyone actually got bitten - then they wouldn't be able to sue saying they hadn't been warned.

I started my Dandenong Creek walk in Jells Park. Close to the car park there were plenty of large family groups enjoying a Sunday picnic or barbecue. Drifting across the park I heard the sounds of some mellow jazz. When I got to the tearoom and information centre, I discovered they have jazz there every Sunday afternoon.

I went down to the lake, which was created in the 1970's.

I walked along the path to the south end of Jells Park. This sight reminded me of the Bury St Edmunds Circular Walk back home.

You have to get the power to the people somehow, I suppose.

Dandenong Creek itself is no bigger than the River Lark, and as I headed north from Jells Park it still felt quite suburban, albeit with pleasant views of the Dandenong Ranges across fields until I came to Shepherd's Bush.

This was more like being out in the bush. No, I didn't see any snakes, but I did watch my step!

Don't Swear

Spotted on the V/line trains...

"No indecent language", it enjoins. I wonder what difference it makes? I'm told that "You pommie b*****d", is actually a term of endearment rather than being impolite. (Not that anyone has actually said that to me). Fair dinkum. (Yes, they do say that!)

Ballarat

Yesterday I went to the gold-mining town of Ballarat, about 90 minutes by V/Line train from Melbourne. Founded in the gold-rush starting with the first find in 1851, there is lots of grand Victorian architecture, not least the railway station.

I was told that Sovereign Hill was really worth visiting - and so it was. I was on the train after the "Goldrush Special" so had to walk from the station instead of getting the courtesy bus, but that gave me a chance to walk through the town.

Sovereign Hill is a recreation of the town as it was in the 19th century - a gold-mining equivalent of England's Beamish coal-mining town museum. It is every bit as fascinating. You can, among other things, go down a mine, watch gold being smelted, see performances in the theatre, eat in the hotel, buy pies from the pie-shop (yes I had a traditional meat pie for my lunch) and pan for gold.

There are lots of people in costume, on the streets as well as in the shops, to tell you all about it. Excellent. I wish I'd had longer there, but I'd heard the Ballarat Wildlife Park lets you get up close to the animals and I wanted to get some more koala pictures for Little Miss.

Yes I got some good views of the koalas, and there were kangaroos and emus who came right up to you and would feed from people's hands. The little ones were very cute. I also saw wallabies, quokkas, wombats, echidnas, giant tortoises, crocodiles, iguanas, tree frogs and snakes. It's probably just as well the latter were behind glass - they included taipans (the most poisonous snake in the world) and death adders.

I discovered there were no buses after 1pm, so had to walk back to the town centre. There were some lovely gardens, full of flowers, including lots of roses.

They smelt so good.

I also passed the Eureka Centre, commemorating the bloody rebellion of 1854.

As Wikipedia says...

The Eureka Stockade was a miners' revolt in 1854 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, against the officials supervising the gold-mining region of Ballarat due to many reasons, including heavily priced mining items, the expense of a digging license, and unfair treatment. It is often regarded as being an event of equal significance to Australian history as the storming of the Bastille was to French history, but almost equally often dismissed as an event of little long-term consequence. Although the revolt failed, it was a watershed event in Australian politics, and is often described controversially as the "Birth of Australian Democracy".

You can find loads more of my pictures of Ballarat,Sovereign Hill and the Wildlife Park here on Flickr.

Don't Forget to Look Up

There are lots of entertaining sculptures around Melbourne. These three city gents are standing at the corner of Bourke and Swanston Streets.

But don't forget to look up. Above their heads, at the top of the lampposts at each corner of the intersection are these four weather vanes.

I particularly like the flying pig. There must be a message here, but I'm not sure what it is. I suspect some Melburnians would suggest it represents the idea that England might retain the Ashes when they come to Australia this (Australian) summer.

Melbourne Docklands

The Docklands in Melbourne have been recently redeveloped, with new apartments, offices, restaurants and waterfront. It was here that my boss took his team for a meatie meal out a couple of weeks ago. Here are a few other pictures.

I like the way they do these lines of flags around the place to advertise things.

Here is the view from Waterfront City looking back at the CBD over the Telstra Dome.

In the children's playpark there s this fascinating Mobile. The wind gets caught in the little cups and it rotates in all sorts of different ways.

Over the other side of the Telstra Dome there are these three giant Heinz cans.

I wonder how many servings you cold get out of them?