Thursday 23 November – Finished the novel “Uncommon Type” by Tom Hanks. This collection of short stories was ok, but nothing to rave about. I wasn’t in an hurry to finish this book, other than to get it over with and get on with the next novel.
Frankston – Melbourne
Paul was awake early knowing he had to get the car next door for its service. I stayed in bed while he drove it there and walked back. They weren’t there yet, so went for a shower and then walked back again to leave the keys. I figured I should get out on his third return.
We had breakfast, I showered and then we were ready to make our way into Melbourne. This required a 30min walk to the nearest train station first. Unfortunately the station was part of the regional train line and there wasn’t one due until just after 10am. We had a 35min wait.
In the meantime I had Melbourne United membership personnel ring me about the game we attended and wanting to sign us up to more regular attendance. I had a laugh and thankfully they also thought it was amusing that I am a staunch Wildcats member, particularly after the beating the cats gave them on Sunday. Hehe. I did however manage to get them to send a rally towel, so it was all good for me.
We caught the train one stop to Frankston, disembarked from the regional train and the waited 10min to board the next train to Flinders Station. 1025am and we were finally heading to our destination. It wasn’t a quick journey though, not arriving until 1130am. Paul spent most of the time reading his book and taking calls from his boss about his position for next year and a colleague, while I fluctuated between phone surfing and watching the suburbs pass by, as well as enjoying the impromptu entertainment one guest supplied, singing tv theme songs and adverts. I told Paul I had learnt what you should do on trains and promised a selection of Christmas carols for our journey home, but he told me if I did he would sit in another carriage. Hmm,.
Once in the city, I took out the tourist book, following the map to check out a number of alleyways showcasing street art. We checked out Hosier Lane first, where we had to jostle the Asian tourists on a walking tour. We continued on to AC/DC Lane, where a small shrine at the entrance was set up for Malcolm Young. The walls however, were covered with all things ACDC.
This lane lead to Duckboard Place and more graffiti art to take in and enjoy. Some of it is quite impressive and demonstrates great artistic skill.
We continued up Exhibition Street, ducking into Strachan lane, not on the map, but the art was jus as beautiful. From there, it was into Little Bourke Street and the top end of Chinatown. I had two other destinations; Payne’s Place and Croft Alley and when done, we returned to a yum cha restaurant for lunch. It wasn’t really what we were after, but it still hit the spot and we were ready to continue on at 1pm.
We walked through the centre of Melbourne to Whitehart Lane where we stopped for a drink at the funky Whitehart Bar, an establishment made out of shipping containers. We found a place to sit back and enjoy our drinks as the storm clouds began to brew above us and the blue sky was turned grey.
After taking refuge from the crowds, we made our way back on the street where I could take in the festive decorations of the city. We stopped briefly to look at new phones and then continued to follow Elizabeth Street all the way to Flinders Station where we could catch a train to Collingwood.
When we disembarked, big, fat raindrops were beginning to fall, leaving splat marks on the ground, thankfully there weren’t enough to make us wet.
We walked about 400m to Stomping Ground Beerhall and made ourselves at home. Paul talked to the bar staff, before Justin, one of the owners came to have a chat and proceed to give Paul free beer. I ran around taking photos as well as playing with the fun beer coaster masks, that had us both laughing.
In the end, Paul came away with a couple of bottles for the trip home and a tshirt, so he was happy. Conscious of the time however, we left at 230pm so that we could be on the 238pm train back to Flinders and then on the Frankston train for 255pm. Once on that one, we settled in for the hour ride back.
I again phone surfed and Paul read. We watched the threatening rain clouds and saw suburbs that had received a drenching. The train became noisy, as the school kids jumped aboard and were chattering away to their mates.
We made it back to Frankston for 4pm and were on the train to Leawarra at 410pm, finally making the 30min walk home. We were hoping to get back to the service station before it shut, but we missed it by 15min, seeing our little car all locked away inside the garage.
We returned to the van at 5pm, disappointed that the Internet was still out of action. I unpacked everything and the sat down to watch the next episode of Offspring, while Paul began his write up. I phoned home, catching Dad for a short conversation.
I started on dinner, while doing some internet shopping, along with organising our next lot of brewery visits. Gee I make a good PA. I also chatted with work colleagues about next year’s class arrangements. But who wants to think about that!
I got on to writing the blog and taking it easy while Paul continued to read. Mum rang for a brief catch up chat and then it was about that time to head to bed.
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