I've nothing written for today and I came across the oldish post in drafts.
In the last four years since retirement, at some point I realised I had travelled on many of Melbourne's tram routes. Why not make the easy target of travelling on them all. This day I discovered our most boring tram route, the 48 to North Balwyn.
Shops, shops and more shops. A tram depot. Congested Kew Junction, the Kew Cemetery where Dame M was interred in the family plot. Mediocre housing, yet it is a very expensive area. North Balwyn is a bible belt suburb and very middle class boring and a lack of people of different race. Living there stamps something on you as people will immediately judge you. It is kind of one of Melbourne's last bastion of ultra conservatism, but not generally a nasty form of conservatism. A boring suburb can be a very pleasant place to live.
The tram terminus was in the middle of nowhere at a busy intersection. It's patronage was poor but clearly depended on by older people and those of an age younger than driving age. On the return journey once the tram reached the inner eastern suburb of Richmond it at least became familiar to me and I felt close to home.
I now only have route 75 to travel, plus a tiny 2 km of route 6. I think know both will be unexciting. I plan to catch a train to Camberwell, walk down the steep hill to Riversdale Road and catch the 75 tram from there. On the return journey I will bail at Hartwell Station and catch a train back to the city.
You may note how productively I am using my retirement years for the betterment of society.
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And did you achieve your aim of travelling on all the tram routes? I hope and expect so.
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't yet EC. It will take a couple of hours out of my busy retirement life. I just need the right gap in a day.
DeleteBoring can be pleasant ... actually I think I agree with that. Can't take too much excitement these days.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean JayCee. Our house before here was in an increasingly interesting area, so much so that we moved here.
DeleteBalwyn North used to be the middle-class burb in the 90s. Now it is so affluent and snobbish I feel. Kew junction is poorly designed and a place I avoid visiting. Just a nightmare to park or commute to.
ReplyDeleteYour local knowledge is always appreciated by me, Roentare. YouTuber Phillip Mallis published a good clip about the history of Kew Junction and streets have been widened twice to improve it.
DeleteWho's Dame M? Wild guess: Melba?
ReplyDeleteBoud, I used to have a list of family and friends on my former blog. Dame M was a rich widow who lived on St Kilda hill, and adored gay men and gay women. She entertained us over many years with parties, meals out and performances. It is too hard to explain more beyond she was significant person in our lives who I wrote about in noughties and while it is all archived, it is not immediately available. I think Dame M died in 2007.
DeleteShe sounds great, and much more interesting than my guess. Thanks for explaining.
DeleteBalwyn Calling?
ReplyDeleteIndeed Merlot. Skyhooks had it right.
DeleteSo will you then ride all the buses all over Melbourne?
ReplyDeleteRiver, no way. I generally don't like buses. I use them if I have to. Having said that, I have travelled on a few different bus routes just to see what they are like.
DeleteIt's strange when going through towns/surburbs how to either feel at home or bored.
ReplyDeleteSo true Margaret. There are some terrific tram trips here, but the 48 to North Balwyn once it leaves Richmond is not one of them.
DeleteAbout that last sentence. You're not making society any worse, and not everybody (particularly the Powers That Be) can say that.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kirk. As the doctor's oath goes, do no harm. Has our Prime Minister who is now in Washington been on your news? I guess not.
DeleteI don't need excitement from a tram or train trip. Here are the choices:
ReplyDeletea] Before leaving home, I fold my upcoming blog posts into my handbag and use the time to edit the writing with my pen. Or
b] I examine other travellers and solve world shattering issues eg did that old man over the aisle kidnap the Lindbergh baby?
Hels, bugger orf. Travelling on public transport is always interesting. Your b] is a good example. Maybe the lad who stole Weeping Woman is now the old man sitting opposite you on the tram.
DeleteI liked your phrase 'a lack of people of different race'. It reminded me of what my daughter said when she moved back here from a frenetic life in London - 'it's very white'. Ever since then, I've realised afresh, almost daily, how right she is.
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting JB and I feel the same as your daughter when I am in a very white area. It can be nice but I like having people of many races in my street and in a city of nearly 5 million. I could write a very long blog post about the matter.
DeleteThere's a "bible belt" in Melbourne? Who knew?!
ReplyDeleteThere is Steve but it has waned a lot since it was first called that. Not all of us are atheists.
DeleteWhat are people from Melbourne called? I will call them Melbones. There can't be many, if any, Melbones who will have covered every inch of the tram network. Perhaps you should write an article about your experience for "The Melbourne Observer". It will go down well in North Balwyn.
ReplyDeleteYP, we are Melburnians and you are wrong. There are plenty of public transports nerds in a city of 5 million who would have done the same. Me dissing North Balwyn in a publication would not go down too well, but the good burghers may smugly quite like be known as boring.
DeleteI can't imagine riding all the tram lines here. You would see a good cross section of the city but I think I will pass.
ReplyDeleteAww Pat. I think riding all your street cars would be a wonderful thing to do, to see areas of your city. We only rode one, just after Presto Card came to be, and it wasn't accepted on the old tram we boarded and the driver didn't care to take our money and issue us a ticket.
DeleteI doubt there any place with out a bible belt, in world. I will include the Quran in my statement.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on.
You are probably correct Dora.
DeleteYour closing remark made me laugh. We live in a mostly conservative neighborhood, and in the best way possible. I feel safe and folks are friendly. It's somewhat diverse and sometimes boring. But I find my own excitement with snakes and such. lol Be well!
ReplyDeleteI do seem to amuse you at times Darla. My job is done. I kind of guessed the neighbourhood you live in, and that is nice. Your snake experience will live on forever.
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