Eureka Day 9 Rambles through Melbourne

Eureka Day 9 Rambles through Melbourne

I did hear the weather outside my window this morning, but I wanted to be off early enough so that I would not get stuck anywhere. I would still wear a thermal shirt as you never know what could happen during the day. I was planning on visiting the Fitzroy gardens and head off to the cemetery from there. The weather was much nicer than the day before. Once out in it all the weather does seem to hold without too much drama.

There never seems to be huge waits for the train at all. I seem to get one within minutes of arriving to the station heading into the city. I nearly did start running when some of the people began running. Walking got me onto the train that arrived minutes later. On the spur of the moment I got off the train at Richmond station to head towards the MCG. The one place I had wanted to visit since I was passing it since I was on the same line. I followed the outer ring of the stadium and was not too interested in visiting the Rod Laver arena even though it would have been a short walk. I was looking at the monuments and then headed off to the Fitzroy Gardens where hovered outside Captain Cook’s house. From there I found the fairy garden, Tudor model houses that I learnt were older than I had thought. I did have a coffee break before heading of towards the treasury gardens where I was after JF Kennedy memorial. I was sure this was the American one and I was right. It was a small garden with water feature.

The next plan was to look at Hosier Lane on my way to Elizabeth street to catch the tram. Hosier Lane was not what I was expecting as it was one of those legal graffiti streets in the city. I was impressed by the amount of work and it seems to change overnight at times too.  There were plenty of other people in the lane taking pics and some locals who do their own thing too.  It would be interesting to see the changing street scape. I did have a wander into another laneway near Flinders station and observed the mass of people eating at the varied cafes. I found my own lunch and jumped into the tram heading towards the cemetery. This time I was planning to visit.

I thought I was lost trying to find the Melbourne General cemetery and was looking at my phone map to find that I was on the right track, but only had a couple of metres to walk. Once inside I visited the office and got a map that was very different from the one outside. I didn’t have all the people from the historic perspective, but I found the ones I wanted to find like Burke and Wills monument,  Peter Lalor, Someone dedicated to have found gold in Kalgoorlie, an 8 hour monument and a Chinese kiln. I never realised just how big the cemetery was and I thought t was funny to include an Elvis memorial, but who could complain about that one. It was big and a long walk. I found there was a need to watch the footing as it was slippery too. I was feeling it since I had nearly walked everywhere and I was thinking about getting a Lygon street tram, but went to the original place I had caught on the Coburg line as I wanted to visit the mall before catching a train.

Once I had left the area I caught the tram back to the city and was happy to be off my feet. I had to stop to meet with Gog and Magog who rang bells at the shopping centre. I had been feeling pretty tired and was happy to hop onto the train, but had taken an underground route called Degraves street or under it. I like the little lanes and should do a whole tour next time. For once I was early to catch a train back to Oakleigh and avoided the huge crowds. It was still light too, but I was called and was picked up to go out for dinner at a local club. There was some discussion later on about where the gangsters like Carl was buried as it had been thought it was at the same cemetery I had visited. No such luck as they are expensive and built up out in other locations. Would be interesting to look into those ones more like an Underbelly tour. I had only used public transport at Elizabeth street as the rest of the time from the MCG to  Flinders I did on foot. I do have sore feet though, but happy to be off them.

Eureka Day 8 Windswept in Melbourne

Eureka Day 8 Windswept in Melbourne

I woke up late this morning and i think it was best that I was allowed to sleep in for a little bit. The weather from the sounds of it outside the window was something that really was not nice at all. I was planning to freestyle around Melbourne with a first stop at the Melbourne General Cemetery. Once I had left the house I wandered through the streets of Oakleigh and found it interesting looking at what the Greek community has with the shops. They sold plenty of food products that I had not seen back in Tweed. Fish mongers and butchers working together with the big two supermarkets. I guess they all complement each other in their own ways. I like being near a train station as I can always go into town with no problems at all.

My plan didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. I ended up in the city and had to get onto the tram that was heading towards Coburg. I thought I could catch it from Flinders street, but it was actually on Elizabeth street instead. Not very far from the station at all and this was my first real tram I was catching other than something like the circle line. I am still not totally sure about the trams, but this was enjoyable. I got a shock when I got off as cars behind were not moving, but I thought I would wear a car as I was that far from the stop.  Turns out when discussing it later that the cars have to stop or else they get a fine. The weather was actually pretty windy and my thoughts was to get to the cemetery, but first I will have a coffee at the university. The door to the cafe due to the wind was hard to open and I was not the only one surprised. Friends on Facey were telling me to turn back and seek shelter as the weather guys were predicting trees to be falling down and would not be a great place to be in a cemetery. I tried walking a bit further once I had my coffee, but had to admit defeat even though I was close to the destination. I didn’t know if I would get very wet. I was happy to have seen a stone laid by Nellie Melba in the university. I did learn this weather was normal for Melbourne, but some places did lose power. I was messaging people hiding behind a museum realising I should turn back and follow the advice of others.

One destination I decided would be best in the weather was the Queen Victoria Markets. Walking with the wind seemed better and there was a little bit of rain as well. I was looking for the John Batman monument that was there. I knew the markets were the location for a cemetery. I didn’t know people were still under there. I was following the history of the markets and I had lunch, which was something that was needed. I think I found all I was wanting at the markets and I never bought anything at all. Only things was food, but that was something I needed. Off into the city I went looking for my favourite bookstore called Minotaur. It didn’t disappoint as I found something I was after. I found another bookstore called Dymoks and stayed for coffee. A book I had been looking for was a little expensive being $50 and I don’t think I really need to read it. I went hunting down the state library that I always visit when in Melbourne. Near the Latrobe statue I nearly slipped over on the mud. That generated some laughs from passerbys.

I didn’t know where I wanted to go next, but found another university with Francis Ormand standing there. I was interested and walked to the other side. Looking at the map I found I was close to the old Melbourne Goal. I walked around the block past the 8 hour work monument that was outside the goal. I seem to find a few of those. The Melbourne Goal’s courtyard was actually open so I could visit as I had always seen it shut up. Ned Kelly was mentioned on several occasions on the outside. I know he is mentioned many times on the inside. From there I went to parliament via the bottom edge of the Carlton gardens. I was distracted by the St Patrick’s Cathedral. It was a huge building and I did walk the grounds finding a few statues and the original building where part of a tower marked the location. I found the parliament building with a large amount of police floating around. It was starting to become dark and on several occasions I had used the loo at that station including having to use my myki card, but not getting charged for it. I was going to leave, but found trains delayed and huge crowds getting on. I decided to leave and come back an hour later.

My phone was nearly dead as I walked around the Treasury gardens and headed for food. Some random guy asked me if I played the trumpet and if I was British. I laughed and said no. He did talk to some lady who walked off very fast. He did see m again on the other side of the road, but I walked off looking for food and hoped he was not around when I came back. After a quick meal I was off again back to the station. I was wondering what was with the police bikes in front of the parliament building so I had a sticky beak. They were protesting Tony Abbott and after a new election. Several people were wearing the anonymous masks, but I don’t know if they were the real deal. I headed home on the next train after spending a few minute looking at what was going on. Trains were still delayed and I later found there had been an accident at Caulfield, but I had no problems. I had heard Dandenong line had problems with snow. I had found my way back with no problems either and the bad weather seemed to have eased.

Eureka Day 7 Puffing Billy and Winter is here.

Eureka Day 7 Puffing Billy and Winter is here.

The weather today I could hear outside with the wind and the sometimes rain, but I knew it would be one of those days where it would be cold. It would turn out to be the correct assessment and on the cold scale to be something shocking.

We left for Belgrave not long after 9am, which I was happy about and it was a nice drive too. The weather was not turning out to be the best for a trip like this and once I stopped I felt the cold a touch. I am guessing any day is a good train ride day. I was asked by the ticket person what I was going to do when I bought a ticket one way. I replied that I would have a friend pick me up at the other end, which was true. I don’t think they wanted me to walk all that way back into Balgrave from Emerald. It was only on weekends they went as far as Glenbrook, which would have been a spectacular trip. I was not in Melbourne over the weekend so I was not too worried. Unlike some of the other train trips I had been on this one was open to the air and the rain if it came through the windows. The first stop was at Menzies Creek, which was for photo ops and maybe something warm like a coffee or pie. I was cold, but that could be because my hands were pointing out towards the train from the window. I had changed the area on the train that I was on since I had jumped off and again had to jump back on. I found out they also had some trees that were on the line to that were being cleared up. It was beginning to rain once we had entered Emerald and I was to be picked up by Margie who was waiting. Once the train had gone on minus one passenger and we took a drive out to Glenbrook to where the end of the Puffing Billy line was. It would have been an excellent trip that far by train. There was not that much traffic at all up in the hills of Dandenong.

The plan was to visit Rickets sanctuary and that idea was soon kaboshed as the two of us did not want to get wet. Instead we headed to something that was nearby and that was a restaurant called Skyhigh. I had heard about the great views from up there and the views may have been excellent, but it was also very cold. I was wearing a thermal shirt and that told me I would never had made it to Ricketts as it would have been too cold for the walk. Skyhigh meant we could hide inside for lunch and coffee to warm up by the fire. There were some good views and several things to see from the carpark, but we both could see the rain starting to set in and it was time to go. I actually got into the car when the rain had began falling. Down the hill we went towards the city and we did take a short cut through Monash university. I found that to be one huge complex and apparently the library was huge too. That would be good to go visit as well.

The car had headed towards home and once there I had several hours before darkness would fall so  took off for Flinders station where I would go walking around the parks nearby. I was wanting to head towards The Remembrance Shrine, which is a large war memorial. I had never walked around this area that included government offices too. I did find the domain area where carols in candle light is performed in Melbourne every year. I guessed it was and I was confirmed to be correct.  There were other monuments in the area including of Queen Victoria and George as well. I seem to have a habit of finding Queen Victoria though in many locations I visit. I did have plenty of light to explore and once it began to get dark I was still taking photos of the buildings light up. The blue from the arts building was awesome, but I found Flinders Street station was not light up like a Christmas tree. Darkness to me meant that I should leave for where I was staying. Back out to Oakleigh, but on the Dandenong train not the Pakenham train. I proved it was to be interesting as I ended up going around the circle stations first before heading out. I still got back to the place I wanted and I had asked to be picked up as I had been totally lost in the dark.

I think I wore Margie out so tomorrow I am going to freestyle and one place I am wanting to check in the general cemetery where Mr Lalor is buried as he was part of the Eureka Stockade. There would be other locations, but I think I will know in the morning.

Eureka Day 6 – Bendigo to Melbourne

Eureka Day 6 – Bendigo to Melbourne

The night passed really quickly without too much of anything happening. I was the only one in the room i was staying in and I had noticed several things with the room and the hostel itself. The hostel had not been vacuumed once while I had been there and I do know no one had been into the room to sort out the beds that had been used or re made. It does make one wonder, but I am used to other hostels and this place supposedly had been sold to someone else.

The morning in Bendigo was cold, but I was up and out of the house by around 7am to get to the train station by 8am so I could catch a train to Melbourne. It was just on light and there was actually no fog until the sun came up and the chilly air. The plan was to get into the bakery and be off, but the problem if you call it that was the bakery was closed, which could be Sunday. I kept on the path to the station and found that there was nothing open when I walked in so I wandered to the service station. The service station was the smallest I had ever seen or been inside and they had no hot food at all. I got myself a mars bar and wandered back to find the canteen had opened. I was informed the pies were only warm, so I asked for a warm pie with coffee. I was most surprised to be allowed on the train with a coffee and pie eating in front of the ticket inspector. He never said a word at all other than to check my myki card. The rail card was interesting and would not be cause for concern at all.

The trip to Melbourne was interesting although I had my nose in a book the entire time. I think it was a pretty quick trip to Southern Cross station and then I needed to get out to Oakleigh to meet up with some friends i was staying with. It started with coffee once I had everything dropped off and there were surprises over how big my street directory was that I had been using the entire time. We all went for coffee and wandered through the town to where the Oakleigh park cemetery was located. It is now a park in the middle of the town. It was interesting that there was a whole community area with the cemetery being basically a playground. The BBQ was included in the area too. I did learn the town centre was well away from where the train station was now as the shops had grown around the station.  Always good to have locals show you around their local area and are able to show you what happens in the area.

Later on we were visiting the old Cheltingham cemetery to look for some family members where were located there. We did not find them, but did find that the cemetery was divided into two areas as one was the old cemetery and the other is the memorial park. We never found the people we were looking for, but only found an important grave to a prominent local who had a blue card stuck to the bottom of the grave. It was the only one Margie and I had seen. No matter how much searching we did on the phone we couldn’t find anything about their location in the cemetery. Most of my information is at home within my records and that is what I would need to check. Afterwards we took a drive to Ricketts Point for a coffee and I thought it was a nice area to come during summer where you could see many things on the beach including birds feeding. I would hate to be caught out in the middle of summer with a trove of people floating around.

Not much else happened as we got back just after dark and the roads were busy. Tomorrow I am going to take a ride on Puffing Billy and go out to one of the sanctuaries where there are carvings. Hopefully the weather stays nice for that to happen as I had heard it might turn nasty sometime during the day.

Eureka Day 5 Still in Bendigo

Eureka Day 5 Still in Bendigo

Today was another day in Bendigo. Last night was interesting indeed. I was reading a book in bed and some guy tries to get into the hostel. He was knocking on the door and doing something out the front. I happen to have a sliding door so he was knocking asking to be let in and for 5 minutes I was ignoring him and then he mentioned a bag that was on the bed. He couldn’t see it as the bag was on a bed and the curtain was closed. Since he knew the bag was there I let him in and told him that I would have let him keep knocking as I didn’t know who he was. The second clue that showed me he sort of belonged was the door code. He mentioned this was a Friday night thing as he would crash at the hostel for the night. He promised that he would not do anything untoward me and that he would be up early to leave. I think he had been drinking or was on something as it was like he was sleep walking trying to open the sliding door, but he was gone when I got up around 7am.

I did find some food in the morning and after getting some grub into me I was on my way towards where they did the tramways tour. The day before I had a lead on where I could get a decent pastie in town. I was wanting pictures of the Town Hall and did find several other things along the way like the dedication outside of the library to the Cornish Miners in the area. The historical society did seem to have a really old building as their base unless I was on the wrong track and it was a sample. There were several nice oldish houses along the way too. Once I made my way inside the tramways museum I had some time before I needed to go on the tour. Coffees were being made for some others who were going to catch the tram and they were all happy.

The Tramway museum guide was interesting and I found it to be enjoyable as we were taken around the individual trams as many of them were either over 100 years or approaching that age. They had been lovingly restored to working order and there were different models too. The  tram people were all volunteers who restored old trams and are a non profit organisation so worked on funding from the government. The tram depot had been closed in the 1970s and the government wanted to sell the trams and didn’t think the volunteers could run the trams on the streets. They proved they could do the job and the maintenance of the trams keeps skills alive that would have been lost today. There are many stories about the trams like how they were found in peoples gardens or people lived in them. One tram the government said another state could have and the volunteers moved to stop it from happening as it would mean other places would want the trams, but the volunteers found one service number that was found locally was a sister tram so that was restored and given to Adelaide. Other trams were found to be in such good condition that their patterns and colour work could be replicated on other trams in the fleet. Once the tour was over I retired to the shop so I could have a coffee and spoke with the local volunteers who mentioned Ballarat was the coldest, but I said Bendigo was at the moment.

The time had come for me to head out to the bus so I could head to Strathsfieldsaye for Jeanette Purkis’ book launch in the town. I had topped up my myki card and found that the bus fare was not needed as the swipe machine was not working so it was a free trip out that way. I was happy about the free trip and was wondering where to get off and getting worried. I didn’t need to as the area was further than I had realised. I did get off the bus at a stop I thought was where I need to and ended up walking to the other side of town finding on the way the old town hall that some locals later called poppa Bills. I was early for the talk, but went out to help Beck who was one of the organisers, well I got coffee and went for a wander again. The bakery had no fingerbuns, but I had to settle for lamingtons instead. The talk went off really well and I did get my book signed and met a few other people who I was friends with on Facebook. I did find it interesting listening to other people talk about what the area was like and talk about aspie sort of stuff that I don’t usually talk about. It was mentioned by several people that I should visit a cemetery called whitecliffs with graves close to the road. Maybe next time I will do that. When we went to the pub I heard they were train mad and my thoughts were that it could be because the town did at one point have a train station in the area. I cant remember when the train and station were removed. I kind of surprised the locals though I seem to do that no matter where I seem to travel.  The pub had a huge handburger challenge if people are game to try it and all I had was the pork belly roast as it was different. I had vegies and mash with it so they fixed me right up.

Tomorrow is the day I head to Melbourne and I will be there for several days before heading back to the north coast and to work. Hopefully to warmer climates too.