Ticked orf

I completed the tram challenge yesterday with a visiting acquaintance from the Gold Coast, Queensland.

Saturday night we caught up with Brighton Antique Dealer for a very nice dinner  near her home, along with her Toyboy and a two others from her building. If you read the Trip Advisor reviews, you would never go there but we really liked it.  

Sunday was killer hot at 38/100+ degrees which killed off any thought of attending this year's Pride March. Things became a bit ugly this year as anti police protestors clashed with police marching in the parade. Most unfortunate really. That the police march, including the Chief Commissioner is good, but I also understand why GLBTI people are against a police presence generally because of their mistreatment by police, hopefully mostly in the past. As happens, the State Premier marched too.

Monday morning was a bet wet and much cooler at abut 21/72. The rain cleared away but the clouds did not. We had brunch at a newish local café as we had been given a coffee voucher. The food was nice, the coffee, not as good as we expected.

At 1pm I met with D from Gold Coast and we caught a 75 tram to the terminus at Vermont South. It was a long trip, taking an hour but pleasant enough. We left the tram there and let it depart and then caught the next one back towards the city. We left at Hartwell where I took some mural photos and then caught the train back to the city. 

We were sitting at the front of  the tram and for some reason D was sitting on a single sideways street in front of me. A very attractive young woman boarded the tram somewhere in full leather, well done hair and full makeup. She looked stunning. I suppose she was mid twenties. She sorry, but do you mind if I sit with you. If I sit backwards I feel like I will throw up. D said we will have tone our conversation down then, half joking. She replied, I've seen and hear it all before. I said to her, How sad to be so jaded at such a young age. She laughed. Boy could she talk. She worked in a bar in the city and was on her way to work. In about fifteen minutes we knew almost everything about her. We even learnt about her grandmother's car, an Austin 1800 if that means anything to you. She was also interested in us and asked questions. It was an amazing experience. 

We left the tram at Hartwell and I took  some mural photos, but one I am not happy with and I missed some. I will just get the train back soon and get it right, when I am on my own.

I thought the train station was close to Toorak Road but it isn't, so it was a decent walk to the station. I knew we would not make the planned trains, and sure enough as we arrived the pedestrian gates closed. So close but so far. We didn't have too long to wait and at least it was a direct train without a change at Camberwell Station. 

This Tuesday night we are just back from dinner with Bone Doctor and Jo, who is going to see Melanie Martinez in concert. I Googled 'images' and I can instantly see one reason why Jo likes her. Martinez'  performance outfits match Jo's taste in clothing. 

Saturday night's dinner at Tao.

A rather spesh ceiling lamp.

Passing by the Dr Hugh Wirth Animal Care Centre at the Royal Society for Protection of Animals, RSPCA, in the 75 tram.

The 75 Vermont South Terminus. Boring.

What bird is this? Maybe a hooded crow? Some kind of crow, I believe. Never heard of it.

The Melbourne Look

Yes, apparently we have one. This is of course a gross generalisation but there is some truth in it. 

I hope I know how to best dress myself in a casual manner and if I was younger and had money to spend on clothing, with today's importance on fashion, I expect I would spend time and money on 'the right look'. But I don't.

Black hair and bright or dark red lipstick is a Melbourne look. In the gay circles I used to move in, this colour was called ****sucker red. I actually just shrugged my shoulders. I don't know why.

We do get snow, up in 'dem 'dere hills but the trees look very un-Australian, though her look is Melbourne. 

This photo is probably quite realistic. 

And this one.

Getting towards eshay, but eshay has become a style as much as it was ever an identity.

Boys' night out.

Cool look and a great casual style.

This dude is very Melbourne.

Monday Mural

Welcome to South Melbourne, as I join with Sami and others for Monday Mural. This very long mural features a number of aspects of one of Melbourne City's oldest suburbs. Our weekly shopping is in South Melbourne, at Aldi's and Woolworths, put on the Lotto, visit Dan's for supplies, and have brunch,  less than a kilometre from the city edge of the city.

While for decades a direct tram to South Melbourne from the south has been discussed, and featured in planning for our new underground railway line to open this September, I can't see it happening. I think I will be dead before we have a direct tram to South Melbourne, and a train to our international airport.

We can catch a 58 tram to Sturt Street and then either walk up a bit of hill to Clarendon Street or catch a 1 tram. But we really need the planned tram, along Park Street and turning right into Clarendon Street.  

Later edit: Blogger has a bet each way, sometimes using the world dating system and sometimes using the US dating system. It does my head in. This was meant to be posted at 5am Eastern Australian Summer time on Monday morning. I mucked up.

Sunday Selections

I'm joining with River and others for this week's Sunday Selections and this week it is about random buildings.

It's such a shame this photo is crooked. It is a lovely apartment block in Ripponlea. I wonder why I was there. 

A stroll down, I think, Osborne Street, South Yarra. A slim fit.

Because of flat roofs and lower ceiling heights, three storey buildings can be not much higher than a two storey building they may have replaced.

There must have been quite a few demolitions in the street. I am surprised there isn't a heritage overlay. 

I think this building is in East Melbourne. Being timber and being preserved is quite unusual. The land would be worth a lot and lot of money. Later edit: This may be called Osborne House, or once was. After conflicting information, I think it is best I write nothing about what I found out beyond the visible timber was pre-cut and imported from America. 

Best to return in winter when the leaves have fallen. Well, I'd need to remember where it is. Ah, I  embiggened the photo and it is the Equity Trustees building. Apparently its interior is very original and in excellent condition. 

The old  Ball and Welch building in Flinders Street. Ball and Welch was a successful department store and was bought by another department store, Georges in 1970. Georges closed all other Ball and Welch stores, and finally this one in 1976. The company was no more. Georges as we knew it has gone too now. A shopping centre was built within the building called Flinders Fair but it failed and the building is now offices for some conservative pro business anti worker and anti social reform lobby group.

A bit further along Flinders Street is the  Masonic Club Building. I don't think I've ever met a Mason who has the hand of someone who does masonry work. 

The Forum Theatre, originally the State Theatre. It is now owned by David Mariner group of companies and externally is in very poor condition. However, I believe the exterior will receive some much needed work. I don't know about the interior although a few years ago floor coverings were lifted to reveal a beautiful mosaic floor, and this was very carefully restored. Click on the photo. Its exterior is rather...busy.

Later edit: I think these were all taken with my old phone, hence they look somewhat dull.

Point Lonsdale, good bye

Friday was our last full day in Point Lonsdale. What to do? Sister has lived there for about 14 years. We've seen and experienced it all.

Portarlington is nice. We will visit there and as I set off I thought we should drive via Drysdale. Bone Doctor attends there I don't know how often to treat sports medicine patients. Drysdale is also the Bellarine Railway terminus. 

For once R didn't say he wasn't interested in history as I theorised about how people used to travel to the Bellarine Peninsula by steamer ferries for holidays. I think the train line opening from Melbourne to Queenscliff killed off the steamer ferries. If there wasn't a train change at Geelong, I expect it would have taken around 90 minutes, which would be very competitive with ferries.  

The train to Queenscliff didn't close down until 1975, when many country train lines closed in our state, without a Beeching report. Part of the railway track was turned into a cycling trail and some was retained where the tourist railway runs, from Drysdale to Queenscliff. The Q Train experiences sound great. A train at Drysdale was loading for a lunch run and the attractive and friendly young train platform gate attendant welcomed us to platform for 'a look'. Many had already boarded and even before noon, they were getting stuck into to the wine. They were determined to get their money's worth. R suggested we should take the trip at some point in the future. No children were visible.

We had a nice brunch at a Portarlington cafe, went to a local supermarket for a couple of things and headed back to Sister's. 

Dinner was at the nice enough at the Ocean Grove Bowling Club, a recommendation by Sister. The dining area was booked out so we had a meal in the public bar. 

The grape vine Triffids are coming. It's time to go home, as we did the next day. 

How's your Latin? Nautis must mean sea.

Drysdale was larger than I remembered. All along the main street were a mix of elms or plane trees, and flowering gum trees, in full flower as we drove past. They looked marvellous. 

Lazy cloud post

When a regular blogger has nothing prepared or written, they should have a folder of good clouds phots to resort to. The sun sets over Port Phillip.

Bits #97

We went into town today. Our often place to go, the QV shopping centre is undergoing renovations with the promise of a fabulous new food court, except being a bit on the posh side, they don't call it that. It isn't a great place to be at the moment, with hoardings everywhere.

Instead we visited a nice cafe at the corner of Bourke Street and Hardware Lane. Its chicken and coleslaw sliders are delicious and such good coffee. 

Our reason for to visit town was to buy some sticky tape for the dispenser (we used to call it Durex but that eventually led to confusion) and a marker pen for our shopping list whiteboard. R decided we needed  a pen colour change to brighten up our lives, so we bought a blue pen to replace the black one. My writing is distinguishable and you can see the new blue pen's work. 

Our small desk top calculator is about 25 years old. It is solar powered and battery powered, but it has never seen sunlight and never needed the battery replaced. $12 for a smart new one, why not. We can afford that. 

Look R, I proclaimed about our new calculator. It has a back button so if you type $65 and you meant $66, you can just press the back key to delete the last number. That is a useful feature. As I placed the old calculator where e-waste is stored until disposal, I noticed there was a back arrow on the old model, but we'd never noticed. Sadly when I do household expenditure sums on the new calculator, it goes into the negative, just like the old one. It gives me no different numbers. No tech improvement at all.

 

Yesterday there was a terrible tram crash in our street when a tip truck illegally tried to make a U turn in front of a tram. The tram hit the truck and derailed. There were long delays, with trams rerouted. The truck's fuel tank must have been punctured as I could smell diesel as we passed by the location today. 

I was rather pleased to see at the big blue office supply shop a recycling wall, with one opening for old pens. I have saved our old marker pen to deposit in the future. 

We were going to war about future holidays. I am not cruising anywhere on a ship unless very local discussing a future holiday and I suggested R look at the video by Canadian Mike Downie and his partner taking a first class flat bed train trip from Brisbane to Cairns in our state of Queensland. Twenty five hours and it looked pretty good. R is interested. One problem is the train arrives in Cairns at around 8am and Australian hotel check in time is not until 2pm. I haven't looked at the trip in detail yet. Very early days of planning but it would be nice to be away from home in warmer climes for our coldest winter months, maybe a four week Queensland holiday.

Lordy, it is February. How did that happen.