Sunny afternoon walk yesterday,

over the Webb footbridge and around Yarra's Edge. I hadn't been across there before. Then I came back and wandered down to the library and walked back along the promenade 

Today it's colder, wetter, windier and not very nice outside. I may not go for a walk unless the weather improves. It might be a tea and cake kind of a day. 

Last Week

I've been quite busy lately.

On Monday I went into the city and met Freyja for an impromptu lunch. I wanted to go to Daiso and there is one right next to where she works. We had ramen for lunch.

Tuesday was the three yearly accreditation visit at the practice. I went into work for it. Fortunately, we passed it with no major recommendations for improvement. After, Lindsey needed to go to the DHL depot at the airport so I went with her and then we went to La Manna for some vegetables and tasty things.

Tuesday morning hot air balloon

Wednesday I had a breast screen booked. The nearest clinic to me is inside the David Jones department store. You walk through the underwear section and specifically the bras to get to it. I did not buy a bra. I did go for a potter in The Emporium and in Melbourne Central and I came home on the City Circle tram (not the quickest way but it was fun).

Thursday I did mostly domestic things. I went for a wander along Bourke Street and the promenade. I went across to Coles and the Asian supermarket on Spencer Street.

Friday was a public holiday and Lindsey, Wendy and I took the ferry to Portarlington

Looking towards my building from the ferry.
Normally, I am looking the other way

Bolte Bridge

Grand Hotel, Portarlington

If you show your ferry tickets, you can have a free drink

Waiting for the ferry home

It was a fun day but there wasn't quite enough for us to do in Portarlington to fill 5 hours. The point of the adventure was the ferry but it was a bit cold to spend over an hour sitting by the beach reading our books, waiting to come home. We could have gone on to Geelong (the ferry goes from Portarlington to Geelong on weekends, public holidays and during school holidays) but I rather wanted to have a look at Portarlington. I don't remember having been there before. 

On Saturday, Robert, Susan, Rod and Simon came for the first big lunch I had prepared in my new kitchen. (Freyja was unavailable.) I did a Sunday roast on a Saturday. Roast beef (and roast faux duck for Simon) with Yorkshire puddings and all the usual accompaniments. I hadn't seen Robert, Susan or Rod for some time and it was good to catch up. And it turns out my kitchen does quite a good "Sunday" roast.

I woke up yesterday morning and realised that we had eaten all the vegetables I had bought at La Manna. So I hopped on a train and went out to Alphington to the Sunday market. My kitchen is once again vegetable replete. Simon was at the market at the same time. Freyja was in the city, on the radio.

A good market haul

I met Lindsey and Ian in the Quarterhouse for dinner last night. I might have had the Sunday roast. Roast beef two days in a row! Lindsey also had the roast. I had taken  a food box with me and brought the left overs home. I'll make a curry or a stir fry or something with them for Lindsey and my lunch on Wednesday.

And now I am starting the new week looking out at the sunshine glinting on the harbour, drinking tea and pondering the week ahead. I don't think it will be quite as fun-filled as last week

Sunday afternoon 

The Quarterhouse

My brother Matthew announced his intention to come and visit. He wanted to inspect my new flat and to have a Sunday roast in the pub across the road on Bourke Street. Unfortunately, it isn't open on Sundays but there's a fairly new place on Collins Street, near Southern Cross station which looked shiny and bright - and which does a Sunday roast. It's also a ten minute walk from my place

I booked a table.

Matthew and his daughter Sage came. Lindsey and Ian, Freyja and Simon, Wendy came. And so did Christian, Cassie and their two daughter and Suzie, Chris and their two month old baby. Everyone else was unavailable.

I would definitely go there again. Matt was a bit disappointed. He had ordered a Sunday roast which didn't turn up but there was an unclaimed plate of fish and chips kicking around on the table. Eventually he decided he would eat that but it had been sitting on the table for a while. Next time we'll have to make sure he gets the roast because it was magnificent. It was far too big for me. Lindsey had also ordered it. We could easily have shared it with Matt, had we thought about it. Two between three would have been more than enough

Vegan options:

They shared the dishes but there was still
lots left over

These are some of Freyja's photos of the gathering

I was also in a pub on Thursday evening. Lindsey and Ian came over and we had dinner in the Friends of Fire next to Marvel Stadium

There isn't a rooftop garden here. There is a gym, and a foyer, set up with comfy chairs, tables, books and a concierge - and that really is it for communal facilities, apart from a small "community" garden on the stadium concourse which you can arrange to have access to. It belongs to Victoria Point and people grow things in boxes. I shall look into how I go about getting access to it. Eventually! In the meantime, I don't really need a communal garden or pool.  I would probably sit in a rooftop garden if there happened to be one, but since there isn't I take coffee or sandwiches or whatever and sit along the promenade, if I want to sit outside to eat or drink

Lunchtime view on Saturday

I am pleased to report that so far people who have been to inspect my flat have been impressed with it. I realise that people are unlikely to tell me if they hate it, but the "wow" reactions as people walk in seem to be genuine.  This is good. Means I don't have to move again!

Advantages

Some of the advantages to living in Docklands:

I can walk across the Stadium concourse to Southern Cross Station and meet Freyja for coffee on a Sunday morning when she is on her way to visit Ballarat.

I can then catch a train to Alphington and meet Simon at the Alphington Sunday market and buy my vegetables for the week. It is true that there are purveyors of vegetables closer to where I live and I was only at the market for 20 minutes. But I like the Alphington Sunday market and public transport in Zone One is free at the weekends for people with Seniors' Myki cards.  I have a Seniors' Myki card. I was travelling in Zone One.

I can decide on Sunday afternoon that I want another air fryer and I can walk across the concourse with my trolley to the Spencer Street Outlet Centre and buy a new air fryer from Harris Scarfe and then trundle it back to my place.

I can take a couple of trams out to Richmond and return the chair covers I bought from Ikea which didn't fit. I can then buy a few bits and pieces that I had been looking out for and come back on the trams.

I have several standard and Asian supermarkets an easy walk from here. There are also Japanese and East Asian supermarkets a short tram ride away.

I do not, really, need a car for regular use.

I can finally use the "Too Good to Go" app on my phone and order a mystery box from a soup and skewer shop at the station. I don't know what's in it yet. I have to pick it up at 6:30. I've had the Too Good to Go app for some time but wasn't able to use it in Ballarat and had more or less forgotten about it until this morning. There are quite a few places around here that use it. I must keep an eye on it.

I can sit at my dining table on a very windy afternoon, drink tea and watch the view:

Disadvantages?  I haven't really found any yet, although the presence of so many shops within walking distance may not prove to be an undiluted advantage.

My veggie haul from the market was comparatively small this week:

This is what it looks like now:

My Busy Week

On Monday I went to the Melbourne Museum to see the Viking hoard exhibition. I bought membership at the museum not long after I moved to Docklands and bought the ticket to the exhibition at the same time.

I was a bit disappointed with the exhibition, although I have a feeling that might have been based on my mood rather than the actual exhibition itself.  If the ticket hadn't had a day stamp on it I might not have gone on Monday. I didn't really want to and I was a bit grumpy when I got there. I also found the low lighting in the exhibition made it difficult to see. And - the museum was busy. Much, much busier than I had expected it to be on a Monday. I kept tripping over school children (who were, it must be said, not being naughty but they were getting underfoot).

If I have time I will go to the exhibition again but I'll buy the ticket on the day, when I am in a sunnier mood, and I'll go much earlier in the morning.

On Tuesday, I went to work. I'm alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the moment which I am finding a bit confusing. I'll get used to it. Or I'll go back to regular Wednesdays with the occasional Tuesday.

Wednesday saw me heading back to Ballarat to pick up a few more bits and pieces. Most of the stuff that I had at Hill House has now come to Docklands, although there is a bit still up there. I meant to "borrow" my garden kneeler. I won't need it to live permanently in my flat but I would find it useful for the next couple of weeks. Alas - I completely forgot about it until several days later. I'll have to make an another trip up for the last few things, and for the garden kneeler.

On Thursday I went to the local supermarket for I was pretty much out of cat tins. I went for a potter around the Victoria Harbour part of Docklands. I had brunch in Groovy Mama. Lindsey came round for a cuppa during the afternoon. And I joined her, Freyja and Simon for dinner in Kinyoubi in Fitzroy, less than a half hour tram ride away.

Set meal in Kinyoubi

Walking home from the tram stop after dinner:

Victoria Harbour and the Bolte Bridge

I live in the tower block next to Marvel Stadium

Friday, I went back to work and the car went in for a service and new tyres

Saturday was a busy, busy day. I woke up to find morning visitors floating over my harbour:

Brandy didn't notice them.  Whiskey did and was rather intrigued

Then I drove out to the zoo, where I was having breakfast with Freyja, Simon and the giraffes

As well as these treats there were quiches, croissants, pastries, sweet treats

Cherry brownie

Vegan zucchini fritters for Freyja

Then I came home on the tram and Ziggy went to live with Freyja and Simon in Northcote, where there is an actual car spot for it. There isn't a car spot with my flat and I am not sure how safe it was in the public car park across the road (although to be fair I haven't had any trouble up to now).

I went for a wander around the Newquay side of the harbour on the way home and then paid a visit to the library later in the day.

Today I am meeting Freyja for coffee at the station. She will be on her way to Ballarat for the day. I am heading to Alphington for the Sunday market. I have no actual plans for the afternoon but I'm sure I'll find something to do. At the moment I am drinking my morning cup of coffee and watching the rowers practising on the water in the sunshine

Exploring

Lindsey has pointed out that the last time she and I spent a lot of  time together messing about in Melbourne was when we were teenagers at school in South Yarra. We usually caught the train into the city and then trammed out to school. We would sometimes go shopping or wandering about on our way home. That, as she said, was a long time ago.

I lived in Parkville, North Carlton, Fitzroy as a young adult and was familiar with the city centre then.

But then I moved up country, then to England, then back to Ballarat. The city has changed quite a bit during that time. In my youth the major national communities were the Italians and the Greeks. Now they have been joined by the Vietnamese, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese. People from all over the world.

Melbourne is a great place to live!

On Thursday, Lindsey and I joined Freyja for lunch, next to her work place in the Queen Victoria Centre. When I left home it was quite dry. It started raining as I walked to the tram stop. By the time I got on the tram it was pouring and I was soaked

My jacket definitely wasn't waterproof!

I might have bought a properly waterproof jacket in the gift shop at Freyja's work place.

We had lunch in a Japanese place next to the gift shop, then Freyja went back to work and Lindsey and I went to the Daiso in the shopping complex then wandered to Melbourne Central, then back down to Collins Street and came back to my place on the tram.

On Friday, I went to work

My view, while I was waiting
for the tram

On Saturday I went out in search of a Japanese and Korean supermarket which I had run across on the internet. It's called Tokyo Hometown and it turns out it isn't all that far from the Queen Victoria Centre. I had a great time in there. 

I foolishly had a chicken fillet sandwich in an American style diner for lunch. I should have gone to the Malaysian restaurant next door. The chicken fillet was ok but the overall experience was very sweet and everything for some reason was covered in dried rosemary.

Sunday was the first Sunday of the month which is the Sunday that the Docklands Farmers' Market happens.  During spring it is held just inside the Marvel Stadium, which is a mere two minutes walk from the building that my flat is in. It is a small market but the only thing it didn't have that I would have wanted was vegetables. I suspect that it usually does. There are pictures of vegetables on their Facebook page. It had everything else that I wanted though, including some fancy potatoes, fish, Turkish bread, gyoza, mushrooms. I enjoyed it. Freyja and Simon I think also enjoyed it although it probably isn't big enough for them to add it to their regular market calendar.

Docklands is supposed to be very, very quiet on Saturdays and Sundays. Allow me to inform you that it definitely was not quiet yesterday afternoon. I went round to The District for a wander around, to visit the East West Asian supermarket and to top up my meagre vegetable supplies. There were people everywhere. There was a queue for the checkouts in the Asian supermarket. The trams were full. There were people playing table tennis, children chasing each other around, other people wandering along the promenade. It was all a bit disconcerting. I was expecting the abandoned windswept wasteland that Docklands is reputed to be (Spoiler: it really isn't - although it was very windy). But no. Not abandoned at all.

Not a deserted shopping complex

I came back on the City Circle tram (Yes, I could have walked but it was very windy and my shopping trolley was full). The only reason that this tram was almost empty was because everyone had crammed onto the tram that had left two minutes ahead of it.

The city circle trams are old W class trams.
They're really intended for tourists but everyone uses
them to get around.
They were free to use, even before the Free Tram Zone
came into being

The harbour is also busy at weekends. There are lots of people, restaurants and events on the Newquay Promenade. There are party boats on the harbour. There is quite a lot of activity

Night view from my place on Saturday evening

Quick Catch Up

Sunday: I went to Macedon for lunch with the Sunday Lunchers at Chris and John's place. It was a lovely afternoon with delicious food and convivial conversation. I considered going by train but then decided that I have the car and I might as well use it. It is a direct route from here to there. Hop on the freeway and 45 minutes later - there you are.

Monday: I went to The Flat in East Melbourne, arriving good and early to let in the bloke who was coming to check the smoke alarms. He was due between 10 and 12. I was there by 8:30 in case he came early. And, of course, he arrived at about 11:50 so JUST within his window of punctuality.

Then I went to Ikea to pick up some chair covers I had ordered. I might have had lunch in the cafeteria, although not the meatballs. I had salmon and salad. I got slightly lost coming out of the shopping complex and had an interesting walk around the back streets of Richmond before finding the tram back to Docklands.

Alas. I had forgotten that Ikea things only fit other Ikea things and the chair covers were never going to fit my Koàla dining chairs. Fortunately Ikea has a generous returns policy. I have organised to take them back.

Tuesday: Yesterday I went back to Daiso for a few bits and pieces. My trip back on the tram was enlivened by a woman, who was not holding on and also was not sitting in any of the available seats, dramatically falling when the tram jolted, over one of the grab rails and cracking her head on the railing. Fortunately, she had companions who insisted that she leave the tram accompanied by them, despite her insisting that she would be ok and that she would get off and they should all leave her and go on to their intended destination. I think they also called an ambulance. Which would have been a good move, given the crack to her head that she incurred.

Despite that excitement, I am very much enjoying using the tram network to get around. Most of the places I go to are inside the free tram zone so I don't need to pay to get around Docklands or the CBD. Even if I do need to pay, with my senior's travel pass any tram trip I might make will only be $2.75. 

Today I am back at work. I've only been off for two weeks but I had definitely got out of the Get Up And Go To Work routine. I came on the tram - and just missed the tram I was aiming for. Didn't really matter. Another tram came a few minutes later. It doesn't take significantly less time coming by tram than it did driving from Ballarat. On the other hand- all I had to do was sit there, read my book, watch out the window, relax. Someone else got to do the driving through peak hour traffic!