Avalon Road

Where I live and work I always find places that become special to me. These places delight me, warm me, leave me in awe, amuse me or trigger some long forgotten memory. This photo is of Avalon Road. It warms and amuses me.

The road has a twist at one end and if you enter from the other end it appears to wind into the distance rather than to a busy thoroughfare. I don’t know the history of the road but I see it as someone’s folly and it never ceases to make me smile.

Today we live with councils that are heavy with regulations so it’s hard to imagine anyone getting permission to plant trees with such disregard for their future growth. To plant trees in the roadway today would be impossible. As you can see in the photo there is a pavement and some nature strip but these trees grow in the road pushing the surface up with their heavy roots. The other wonderful thing about this is that the council trims the trees and lets them remain. This is one of my favourite streets in Melbourne and I drive down it whenever I’m in the area.

One or other of the houses along the strip are always being renovated so during the day the place is jammed with tradesmen’s vehicles. After they leave and before the residents return to park between the trees there is a short time when the street is empty. That’s when I took the photo; just before dusk.