Melbourne until now

Flinders Station

Well I’ve been in Melbourne for about three weeks now.  My plan, as I heard so many good things about this city, was to find a place to live and some work. I have found a place to stay as a local dancer had a furnished room available to rent but I’m still looking for work.

Someone at St.Patrick's had fun and rather than a gargoyle
he went with the face of a local politician

Week one

During my first week in town, I stayed with Matt and his family out in the suburb of Beaumaris (Was it French for Beautiful husband, or did the A go missing in Beautiful marsh?). I met Matt while travelling in Spain last year and was quite spoiled by him and his parents. I got into town on the eve of the Melbourne Cup “The Race that Stopped the Nation” as the slogan goes. In the state of Victoria, that means a public holiday while in other states, people just leave work early or make time so that everyone gets to see the horse race. Folks also use it as an excuse to dress up, (for the ladies, it means spending tons of money on an outfit and an over the top hat or a hairpiece called a fascinator) and drink a lot. In our case, Matt and I went out on Chapel street to get me to see a new part of town, (the cool expensive boutiques), and look for a place to watch the race. Finally, we went to his friend’s place for an impromptu barbecue and watched the race won by Americain, a horse with a French jockey.

Taken on a walk along the shores near
Beaumaris

That morning, Matt and his Dad had actually assigned different horses to the family and, one of my horses, Maluckyday, got second place. So even though I had no input in choosing my horses, I was handed my bet earnings! It was great to have an adoptive family for a while. I even went to Zoomba class with Matt’s mom, Gabrielle. It was a lot of fun, and well with my far away memories of aerobics class, I kept up fairly well.

As Beaumaris is a bit out of town, I mostly stayed out there but did go out to see the city a couple of times. On my first day out, I went to the Tourism office for some maps and found these convenient leaflets that guide you through walks around the city with brief explanations at numbered locations. That day I did the parks one and visited Fitzroy gardens and the churches of St. Paul’s and St. Patrick’s. I also went to visit an apartment that same morning, but even though it was quite cheap, I was turned off by the mould on the bathroom ceiling. And that evening, I went out swing dancing at Revellers in the neighbourhood of Fitzroy. It was a really good night of dancing and I met quite a few people, including Nick who had a place to rent. So we arranged for me to visit his place that weekend.

The Fairy tree in Fitzroy park

On that Saturday, I went into town and met up Jae, a friend met in Byron Bay, for brunch and then headed off to check out Nick’s place. On the way, I also stopped and met up with my friend Frédéric who’s also just made it to Melbourne. We had last seen each other in Cairns in August and compared adventures.

So yeah, Nick’s place is a three story town house in Coburg, one of the northern inner city suburbs. Our balconies, (yes we have balconies in our rooms, and a deck off the living room), give onto trees and a creek. It’s mostly quiet except when the fire station on the other side of the creek uses its sirens. Plus, I also have my own bathroom. And since the price was right and that Nick seemed like a quite nice guy, I went for it and moved in on the Monday evening.

Matt and his dad Owen work in the fruit and vegetable business, so as a going away gift they gave me a boxful of grocer goodness! It was a great first week and I was made to feel quite at home.

Week two

These three statues represent the founders
of Melbourne, including one Mr Batman

As I was now closer to town, I went into the city a bit more often on my second week and also got to know a bit my neighbourhood. I also started spending a lot of time sending resumes to different placement agencies looking for admin work. On Wednesday night, Frédéric came over for dinner and we then headed over to Revellers for some dancing. I also went out dancing on Thursday as a live band was playing and on the Friday, I met up with Matt and his friend Renee at the famous Corner Hotel where a lot of the Melbourne gigs are held. It is an intimate venue that could hold about 200 people and I much preferred Renee’s boyfriend’s show, Nicholas Roy, to the headliner, the Audreys that were a bit too mellow for my taste.

During the weekend, I went out for a massive grocery shopping trip with Nick (a car is quite convenient) and also to the local library. I found a couple of French books by Marc Levy that I hadn’t yet read as well as some Laurell K Hamilton which I’d been reading back home. I also went to visit Matt’s brother Dan as he had offered to lend my his bicycle. I thought it would need a bit of work and did not mind putting a bit of money to it however…

Ganesh in Rutledge lane

Week three

On Monday, at the bike shop, they said it would cost at least 200$ to fix. I did the math, and it wasn’t worth it, but I still missed cycling and needed to find a solution. I had even already bought a helmet! And it’s so flat around here, bike heaven! So at the shop, they gave me the name of another place that fixes bikes for non-profit. I called them up, and they had a ladies bike ready. So I got on the tram across town and met my new ride. Her breaks work, she has mudguards if ever I get caught in the rain), and I’ve sort of learned to change gears the old fashion way. My butt was sore from the ride home but it was worth it.

I went back into town on Wednesday for an interview. It seems like the industry can vary quite a lot before the holidays. Last year was crazy and this year seems rather quite. Basically, the agency wants me but has nothing to offer at this point in time. So I’m not quite sure what my next step should be. There are other jobs I’m sure, perhaps I’m too picky?

A bit Itchy & Scratchyesque

On Friday I decided to go and check out the local ska scene at the Bendigo hotel in Collingwood. The 2^nd band was ok, though they should not let their bass player sing, but there were hardly any paying customers, the “crowd” was mostly made up of the people from the other bands playing.  So I decided not to stick around for the headlining band and rather went to check out a Speakeasy blues night out in Richmond. Once I got there, my mood was much better. I had some great dances and even though it was a cold and long ride home (about 11 kms) it was definitely worth it.

And on Saturday night, a local dancer was playing in a Celtic band at a bar in Brunswick. They were quite good, and it was nice to hang out with dancers in a non-dance setting.

Reflections

Another shot from my walk in Beaumaris

All this downtime has forced me to spend a lot of time with myself. It’s not quite the same as being on my own in transit looking out the window of the bus or a hostel as there usually is more going on around me. I know this city is great but I don’t want to go out too much for the time being since there it no income. Part of discovering new neighbourhoods is walking around them and checking out the cafes and the shops, but that’s usually spending. I also need to put myself out a bit more. As the dance scene here is bigger, I think it will take more time to become part of it as I was back home or in Brisbane. I now know many names and faces, but it’s not the same as having people to hang out with in a non dancing context. I did go out to a Couch Surfing meet this week, but I was feeling antisocial and preferred reading a book rather than push myself to be social. Am I becoming some kind of antisocial hermit? I’m not sure… but I am getting antsy. I did keep myself busy on Friday and did a lot of translation work for Fluevog as I was quite behind. Unfortunately, that also meant using quite a bit of my monthly internet access in just one day! That is something I do miss from back home is unlimited Internet, an inexistent thing here (unless you go use the free and slow wireless at McDonald’s or the library.). I also miss my wardrobe. It’s not that I can’t manage with just a limited amount of clothes, I can. But you know, when the outfit would just be perfect with that hat, those shoes, or that necklace! * sigh *.

This lane is quite popular with the artists

I guess I’ve always enjoyed my down time, but that’s because there’s usually a lot of up time. I know this city can give me that up time, I just hope it can happen soon!

Things about Melbourne

They wrap the trees to prevent the possums
from climbing and destroying them.

The street names have various incarnations. There’s Brunswick street and Brunswick road. There are at least three Nicholson streets. 125 Johnston in Fitzroy isn’t the same as 125 Johnston in Collingwood though it’s the same continuous street. Ok so they figured out how to create a grid map city but not make the numbers and names coherent?

Bath pillows are hard to find, I’ll keep on looking.

Car drivers seem to like to honk at cyclists at 1 in the morning for no reason when the bike isn’t in their way. Cab drivers seem to be more respectful.

Weather can vary a lot over a short period. Must be the bay.

Chinatown