Tram Challenge #109. Collins Street/Southern Cross to Box Hill

Lindsey and I did the Collins Street to Port Melbourne section of the #109 route back in April. Today we did the section that takes you to Box Hill.

The #109 runs for 19.2 km. I think the section from Southern Cross Station to the Box Hill terminus is probably around 15 or 16 km.  It wends its way out through the leafy (and affluent) Eastern suburbs to the end of the line. Box Hill is also an Eastern suburb, and reasonably leafy, I suppose. However, it has developed into a high density, high rise commercial, retail and living centre with a very diverse cultural profile, primarily East Asian with a significant proportion of Chinese speaking families. It is not as affluent as its neighbours such as Camberwell, Deepdene, Balwyn and Auburn but equally it is not amongst Melbournes least affluent suburbs. It is certainly busy.

I have taken the tram as far as Victoria Gardens in Richmond several times, if only because there is an IKEA there. I have also been as far as The Skinny Dog in Kew, where we had the work Christmas party for a couple of years. But I don't remember ever having taken the tram as far as Box Hill. I haven't even been there for many years.

Lindsey and Ian lived in Box Hill early in their relationship and I later did some casual shifts in the library after I had finished at Moonee Valley Library Service and before I went to England. It was much smaller, quieter and more homogeneous in the 1980s  and 90s than now. The then shopping centre (I think The Whitehorse Plaza) was smaller and has since been swallowed up by the two-tower Box Hill Centre. I remember going there for lunch sometimes and finding pies, fish and chips and sandwiches. My memory, which may well be misleading me, says that it was really quite a dull place.

Not now!

Lindsey and I mused upon how some of our more, erm, insular politicians would have coped with the food hall. We were more than comfortable, although I expected to hear Japanese spoken, rather than Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese. 

We had a bit of a wander around the shops but not for long. And we came back on the train, partly because the station is inside the shopping centre and partly because neither of us could remember having taken the train from Box Hill before. Box Hill may be the end of the tram line, but it is only half way along the train line. When I have finished with the trams, I may have to do the suburban train lines.

So, after quite a hiatus in my Tram Challenge, I've completed Route #109. I must pick up the pace if I want to get the challenge finished by the end of the year.