Autumn in April at St Kilda Beach - the morning was perfect

Autumn St Kilda - beautiful weather this year 2010 idea for kiteboarding

Autum in Melbourne has been wonderful this year - long hot days with slightly cooler evenings.

Kiteboarding at St Kilda Beach has been very popular over the last few months. You can have lessons at the beach.
http://www.onedge.com.au/Kite-Boarding-Victoria-Lesson-Instruction-St-Kilda-Beach-Melbourne-Gift-Voucher/?gclid=CLng973M9qACFQY_bwod9AiDuA

A Grey Summer Day St Kilda

The weather has been overcast and grey at the St Kilda Beach recently but occassionally a thin shaft of sun highlights something and casts a little magic.

Stylish modern house - Beaconsfield Pde St Kilda

There is a strip of Beaconsfield Parade that has the homes of my dreams. I first saw these houses on a clear winter's evening when I first came to Melbourne. The dusk was turning to night and the lights in these houses were coming on and lighting them up like magic. The drapes weren't drawn and the houses looked stunning and I wished to join those people living in those spectacular illuminated rooms.

Since then a number of the houses have had a make-over. This one was recently finished and I walk this way often and Im delighted with the result from the road. It is as if I had some choice in what happened to it, I want it to look spectacular and it still fits in with the houses on either side of it - the original magic is still there.

Roses are blooming in St Kilda

This beautiful old fashioned rose was giving pleasure to the passers-by in Fawkner Street, St Kilda. The roses are beautiful around Melbourne this year.

Turkey Cock in St Kilda

This turkey is filling a window in Barkly Street, near the corner of Acland Street, St Kilda. As you pass the turkey jumps into view. I wondered if I was looking at a sporting goods shop. But, no! This is a barber shop of the old kind - not your modern unisex hairdresser. Why a turkey? I couldn't see the connection.

WikiAnswers (here) tell me that the male turkey is called a 'tom'. This bird is definately a male with all his plumage on display. Then I looked in 'The New Collins Concise English Dictionary' and they told me that the male of the species is known as a 'turkey cock'. I knew then that the barber shop is the right place for this handsome and puffed-up turkey to find a home .

St Kilda is always fun and the streets full of surprises

I passed by a block of apartments in Robe Street and thought someone was waiting to open the gate. A few steps on and "What the??"exploded in my mind and I retraced my steps. A statue waiting to open the gate?!

It's an amusing statue - a bit of fun that brings a smile on a cold grey day. He looks rather like the people who cover themselves entirely silver and then stand perfectly still in Bourke Street.

This 'person' is entirely covered in white plaster.

He is so clean I am guessing that he has just arrived and got into position.

St Kilda is never Dull!!

St Kilda History - Christ Church

A feature of Acland Street, St Kilda is this old church. It was consecrated in 1863 making it almost 150 years old.

The beautiful warm sandstone comes from Point King and Sorrento. The architectural style which is so striking against today's architecture, or for that matter the architecture of the 1970s (there is a lot of that in St Kilda), is the Gothic revival style that was so popular in the mid 19th century.

The side door of the church has had so many notices attached to it, it is covered with tacks, pins and blue tack. There are no notices at the moment which may mean that no one has any instructions to pass on.

Gargoyle is such a wonderful word and I have always wondered how such a delicate decoration could be made out of stone - however soft it is.

A mist hung over the St Kilda Bay - cold and romantic

The mist added to the view seen from Station Pier, in Port Melbourne, on Wednesday this week. The smoke from the ships at the port hung in the air. It was a strange eerie kind of day and beautiful.

Shifting sand at low tide at St Kilda Beach

Nine o'clock on a weekday morning. It's good to know the council is looking after our precious beach. It is amazing how sand shifts from one area to another just with the movement of the sea.

St Kilda Living

This is one of my favourite apartment blocks along the St Kilda Foreshore. I have only see the block from the road. I have never had the opportunity to go inside. I keep hoping to go past and find there is an Open for Inspection.

Nothing is perfect and when you get up close you can see that cracks are beginning to form and some of the concrete is chipping away . Nothing some maintenance couldn't eliminate but none the less the design looks better than the construction.


Next time you are passing have a look and see what you think of it.

Tree Art in St Kilda

It is never dull living in St Kilda. This morning while I was walking I saw this decorated tree. It is outside a development site and it is tempting to thing that the Tradies on the project have filled in some down time by adding the pots.

A further look and I can see that the Port Phillip Council have spotted the tree and added their notice to the trunk. As I wandered on I wonder whether the Tradies had cut the tree to this raw state to make their on-site job easier.

It's a mystery! And it's unlikely that anyone will come forward to solve it.

Winter - Veg Out Community Garden - St Kilda

The Veg Out Community Garden can be fun but this morning this dear old bullock was standing, looking more forlorn than usual, as he watched the world through his wire cage - any moment he is going to give a heart rendering Mooooooo.

He has a purpose. He is succesful in scaring off the possums - the Silverbeet growing around him is flourishing. These beautifully healthy plants haven't a nibble between them.

Look at it. Ready to pick and cook

In my backyard garden, further down the road, the local possums have eaten all the leaves from my silverbeet, leaving the stems as a reminder of what could have been. But then I haven't got a bullock.

Microwaves and Blackbirds

Christmas and New Year have passed and so has January and I worked. Well I worked for all those days that aren’t public holidays. Now I am on holiday. It is a great feeling to label time off as a holiday. It takes away the need to do anything constructive.

Today my microwave died. The sticker on the back tells me that I purchase it from L V Martin on the 6th of May 1989. It was a Mitsubishi. I believe I need to make that point because these days nothing is expected to last for 20 years! During that time it has moved countries and has been in use everyday. I have bought a Panasonic Microwave with a
two year guarantee but I bet the makers aren’t expecting or even wanting it to last 20 years. I didn’t see any Mitsubishis which may mean they are not available any more or they are marketed under a different name

I sat outside to read the microwave instruction booklet – 20 years has made some changes but not as many as you would expect. The local retarded bird joined me.

There has been a family of black birds around here who love sitting on the TV antenna singing. Dad is a beautiful black with an orange beak and Mum that dull brown that tends to make her invisible. They hold their own in this inner city area dominated by the squawk of Miners and the cooing of Pigeons.

Recently a brown adolescent bird has hung around them squawking. He opens his mouth and lets out what can only be described as a high bleat. These come at regular intervals. I have listened to see if there is a rhythm. But just when I think I have discerned one, the bleats change in tempo. There is stamina there. He can stay in the same place for up to half an hour with his mouth opening and shutting and the pathetic sound coming from it.

I thought he was one of the black bird family. He is quite large, bigger and older than a fledgling which is why he seems retarded. Yesterday evening I noticed a very slight white tip on his tail and I can see he is going to grow into a miner bird. I have become fond of him. He has become part of the local ambience.

This is one of the most striking gum trees I have seen in my local area. It is the grey of the branches that hold the nuts that make it a stand out – quite beautiful. I am continually amazed at how many varieties of gum there are.

Australia Day weekend

It is ‘Australia Day’ long weekend with a bank holiday today, Monday. This is the time when Australians ask each other what it is to be an Australian. The news media is helping in this with questions and answers and copious opinions.

We read in the paper and hear on the radio moving descriptions of peoples’ ‘voyages’ to the citizenship ceremonies that were held throughout the country on Friday.

I am not an Australian and at times like this I feel it’s an enormous privilege and an enormous piece of luck to be able to make my home here. The news media tells us, that out there, in the big wide world, hundreds if not thousands of people want to do just what I am doing. They put their lives and often their families’ lives on the line to make Australia their home.

This weekend the weather smiled on us all. It’s been, perfect. The sun’s shone and the temperatures have been in the early twenties.

I, too, have had a perfect weekend. On Friday a friend and I spent a couple of hours having a spa and a massage and then lounging in the “Dreaming Room” watching yachts in Port Philip Bay glide past as we sipped on herbal tea. We followed this with a late lunch and a bottle of wine at a table on the edge of St Kilda beach.

During the weekend I have been to the gym, lunched with another friend, wandered around the Albert Park Shops and lazily reclined outside and read the papers.

When I was driving back from the gym my car radio told me how lucky Australians were to be born here considering that a baby is born somewhere in the world every minute.

One of the announcers’ examples of our privileged lifestyle was the way we conduct our parliamentary elections and the smooth transition when a new government is voted into office. A glance around the world and the recent elections that have been held elsewhere and we have to agree. It is another thing that we take for granted.

It is easy to become complaisant and get used to good fortune.

I needed a wake-up call from the Australian media.

I have become used to breakfasting in my courtyard, to having the choice of shows and movies, to having variety and buzz in my life and to be able to find work.

I have become used to things that astounded me and left me exhilarated when I first made my home here. I no longer think of them. They are just there.

Every now and again we need a reminder. Australia Day is a good time for that.

St Kilda Beach - New Year's Morning

The Rubbish Collectors assembling for a major clean up.

Who cleans up after you at home?
At St Kilda Beach some one else does it for you.

The mess left on St Kilda Beach after the hot New Year’s Eve was unbelievable. I’ve seen mess on the beach before but nothing like this.

Scavengers were there, too. Could there be a full can of beer missed in the dark or a packet of cigarettes not finished? I saw people with plastic bags walking away with their finds. There was a pink blanket that will serve someone well later in the year and a chance to rescue an esky that had been forgotten. People were still asleep on the grass surrounded by their rubbish.

The rubbish was everywhere. However it was quite clear that Port Phillip City Council did not supply enough rubbish containers. The ones that were there were over flowing and rubbish was piled beside them. So many people did try to do the right thing but hundreds of others walked leaving someone else to clean up their mess.

The council was on the job and teams were assembling to get the place right for us to enjoy the beach again and leave more of our rubbish for the next day's clean up.

New Year's Morning was hot and sparking but it was NOT a good day for an early morning walk at St Kilda Beach.

St Kilda Beach Post Christmas

The shags were out in full force at St Kilda beach this morning.

Most of them were fishing but these two were staring at the clean-up team and the early walkers and joggers.

The sand had been raked and carefully manicured but the beauty was marred somewhat by the piles of rubbish that were sitting around waiting to be collected. Collection is a major job. It is mind boggling to see the size of the piles. Some of it comes in on the tide but a lot of it has obviously been left by visitors to the beach.

This morning was a great time to be there. The air was still crisp but there was that magical tang that promises a hot day to follow.

St Kilda Beach - early morning

Low tide and an early October morning at St Kilda Beach in Melbourne creates a sort of magic. There's no better tonic to start the day with.

Are other beaches just a good for the spirit? Let me know.

City from St Kilda Beach