Walking Melbourne

~ I’ve kicked off the shackles of illness and hit the streets of Melbourne town with a vengeance and a good pair of walking boots.

I set off at midday for a walk from Fitzroy North into the city centre – a pretty easy and doable distance of around 6 kilometres (3.7 miles). The object of the exercise (no pun intended) was to walk, explore, enjoy the sights, take a few photographs, eat, drink and make the most of a perfect, cool, clear sky Melbourne day.

You can see a complete route of today's walk here. I should however, point out that the route as displayed between the 4km and 10km markers looks like the ramblings of a drunken man – and I can assure you I was not staggering around the streets of Melbourne in an inebriated state. I can only assume that Walkmeter, the iPhone app I was using to map my route, had trouble getting good GPS coordinates due to the many high-rise buildings around the city centre. And it probably didn’t help that I kept disappearing into one building after another to explore some point of interest along the way.

In the end I also walked home again, completing a good afternoon of exploration of around 13.5kms (8.3 miles), that took in Brunswick Street, Federation Square, ACMI, the Arts Centre, Lygon Street and more besides.

My overall impression of Melbourne remains much the same as it was after my visit earlier this year. That is, there seems to be a pervasive sense of forward movement, continued growth and excitement about the place. Unfortunately, these sentiments can’t be said about my home town, Adelaide. But don’t get me started on that theme!

Melbourne’s alleyways are renowned for the quality of the graffiti that covers their walls, but the alleyways are not the only place you will find great graffiti. Yes, I know “great graffiti” sounds like an oxymoron, but let’s be honest, there are artists and practitioners of graffiti who do have real skills and creative ideas that rise above mere spraying of tags everywhere. Which is why I’ve decided to illustrate this post with some examples of the graffiti I discovered during my walk today.

This wonderful mosaic bench was one of three I saw at various locations along Brunswick Street. This is a good example of the types of public art you can see all over the centre of Melbourne, and the inner suburbs. In this respect, Melbourne reminded me of New York City, which also makes a point of placing public art all over the five boroughs that make up greater New York.

Melbourne even produces a public art walking map which guides you around a collection of some of the best examples of the city's public art works, and another brochure detailing the graffiti covered alleyways that have helped to make the Victorian capital so iconic and well known internationally.

There is much yet to discover in Melbourne, and I will barely scratch the surface over the next three weeks, but you have to start somewhere, and this has been my beginning.

...

Tip: Click on each image to view at full size

Mmm… Melbourne

~ So here I am in Melbourne, Australia for the start of three weeks house sitting. I should be out and about partying – or at least out having fun, which is not always the same thing – but instead I’ve been laid up all day trying to shake off the effects of either a head cold or the latest in an endless allergic reaction to who knows what.

Quite frankly, I feel like crud, but I hope to get out tomorrow to check out the city centre, and reacquaint myself with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Federation Square, and the general vibe of Victoria’s capital.

I was last here in January and February, house sitting for the same owners, and caring for their ageing cat, Bruce. Given his advanced age, Bruce probably feels worse than me, but seems happy enough to sleep and get the occasional back scratch.

Speaking of ACMI, I wrote about my visit there last January to see the fantastic Dennis Hopper exhibition Dennis Hopper & The New Hollywood. As you might expect, I, along with thousands of other fans, am deeply saddened to learn of his recent death at 74. Hopper was one of the great Hollywood rebels, and managed to carve out a niche for himself despite the workings of the big studios, movie moguls, and critics. His legacy will live on when many other lesser actors will fade into obscurity and the occasion footnote in some history of modern cinema.

But I digress.

Being in Melbourne for three weeks also gives me a chance to work on my stripped down Round The World packing list. My small suitcase weighed in at just 14.4 kilograms (32 pounds), and even that probably has more in it than I really need. I’m also traveling with a lap top computer and some other essential technological aids. However, this is the extent of my on road kit.

The other thing I am working on is my ability to budget for an extended journey spanning many months. I am hoping to keep my daily expenses in Melbourne as close as possible to $50 per day, and hopefully, I won’t be spending much more than that while I am in New York. But that remains to be seen. For now, I’m concentrating on getting over my cold/allergy, and enjoying Melbourne.

Money, Money, Money

~ I’ve had one of those days where all I did was pay out my hard earned cash, and got very little in ‘return’ to show for it. Well, that’s how it feels, anyway.

You see, today I bought travel insurance for my upcoming trip ($757.00), and paid for a couple of nights accommodation in a Super 8 Hotel near Los Angeles international airport (US$132.56). In return for my $889.56 I got a couple of electronic receipts, and documents spelling out the numerous terms and conditions governing my purchases.

Quite frankly, it didn’t seem like a fair return to me.

That’s one of the problems with travel. You seem to spend weeks, if not months, paying out large sums of money before you see any actual return on your investment. So far I have paid out $5,427.00 towards my trip and I haven’t even left the house yet!

I’m trying valiantly to stem a rising tide of panic which in my worst case scenario sees me flying out of Australia without any money left in my account to enjoy my travels. Of course, I will have enough, but when you are constantly forking out for tickets, insurance, accommodation, and pre-booked tours and such, departure time can seem like a long way off, and your wallet begins to look very thin.

Add to this the constant worry of watching the world’s financial markets rise and fall like a kite caught in a hurricane, and endless calculations on just how much more (or less) the Australian dollar will buy each day, and I know exactly why I don’t feel anywhere near excited enough about my approaching departure.

I console myself with the thought that with a month still to go before I fly out, I have pretty much made all my major travel expenditures except for any day to day living expenses I will have to deal with.

Roll on June 29!

Click here to see The (Real) Cost of Travel...