Re-Discovering Melbourne Through Fresh Eyes
About one week ago I came back from 6 weeks in Bali, determined to give Melbourne a go and not to be all bitter and twisted like I was after our last trip. As hard as I tried I just couldn’t come to grips with the change of geographical location.
The mild but warm August/September Bali climate spoiled me. Getting up early in the mornings, going on long walks, pushing myself, having saunas, massages and generally not having to bother about cleaning and cooking. I just love everything about it. There is still so much more to discover in Bali.
So here I was back in Melbourne feeling hedged in and trapped then last Tuesday or around about, my daughter rang me and asked a simple question.
Why don't you try Public Transport?
I got instantly excited and inspired. Not only was I going to save a fortune in petrol costs, I was also going to push my boundaries and force myself into a new experience, new locations, new challenges. It had been pretty much 40 years since I had regularly used trams and trains.
A lot has changed since then, now I love walking, writing, listening to music and podcasts, these are 3 (or more) activities that I can integrate into my train trips.
So far I have been on a couple of “adventures”. The first one was a long trip to my dentist in Malvern and the second was yesterday when I went to my Oxygen therapy in South Yarra. I live in Mooroolbark which is in the far outer east of Melbourne’s suburban sprawl. My reasons for living way out here are a mix of financial and chance, a throw of the dice. We have a great house and a great environment but there are no bloody people who I can find who I can relate to. I need people like plants need water. My first inclination has always been to jump in my car and go onto automatic and drive to the inner city. I do admit that this is a fast way of getting around albeit expensive as the price of petrol, insurance, maintenance and other variables sky rocket.
On top of this I normally spend at least an hour walking everyday and even more time sitting on my butt writing. So here’s the math. Yesterdays outing took about 6 hours, I got around 2 hours of walking, I spent time with “A”, I spent 90 minutes in the HBOT chamber and I listened to a whole lot of music by guitarist, Alan Holdsworth which I may not have done PLUS I got to see a whole lot of inner Melbourne that I have never really seen before which in itself was so bloody exciting. So yeah, it took 6 hours but it turned my HBOT session into an adventure.
Now it’s Friday, this morning I’m off again. I walked fast and got to the station in 25 minutes and on top of this had a rush of dopamine from the mixture of the fast walking and the loud music, this time by American guitarist Paul Gilbert. I love this guy because he plays guitar the same as he talks, hard to explain but his style is unique. Now I’m on the train not wasting a minute, writing again and continuing on from what I started this morning.
The train line is gritty, this is where the graffiti kids do their work, you can feel the history of Melbourne reaching out from the past. Old back fences covered in graffiti falling down like the pensioners that roam around the shopping centres in Mooroolbark and Kilsyth.
I’m pretty certain the Lilydale line was built sometime in the 1880s just after the gold rush years when Melbourne’s outer east was being settled. It is also interesting riding on a train parallel to the roads that I normally drive on, a completely new viewpoint. But the best thing is that the overall experience is new.
The best thing about yesterday was getting off at Richmond Station and meeting my daughter. Seeing her smiling face at the exit of the station was the best thing that happened all day. We walked out and up to Swan St, we were deep in conversation but I also got the distinct feeling of being in a noticeably new location with a new vibe and facades totally different than the one that I experienced last time I was here. We then cut through the back streets into Cremorne, under the railway line that divides Richmond and South Yarra and through the gritty back streets that are fast becoming gentrified, a long way from their humble past. Even walking a foot bridge over Alexandra Parade near Melbourne High was a buzz, up close to the trains and over the river looking out across at old warehouses covered in graffiti and waiting to be knocked down or renovated. By the time we got up close to Toorak Rd and turned left toward The Olsen Hotel I realized that the trip from home had been a wondrous experience and gave me a sense of adventure and newness.
After my HBOT I went shopping for some dinner items. The journey was much the same on the way home. I felt more a part of the community even though I hadn’t talked to anyone while I was travelling on public transport. I’ll leave that challenge for a while but it is something that I am looking forward to. By the time I got back to Mooroolbark I had retraced my footsteps back to Richmond Station and journeyed back along the same train lines. I even had a chance to take quite a few photographs. By now I was getting my bearings and losing some of the anxiety about getting lost or missing my station. You know, silly things that come when you pursue new experiences.
Something I’ve just realized is that like anything there is always loads to learn and finding railway stations and connecting trains is one of them. I just walked down Church St, Richmond which is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time and got bamboozled because my original plan was to walk back to Richmond but I tricked myself into thinking that there was a train leaving from East Richmond in 2 minutes. I was thwarted and ended up deciding to walk to Burnley down the back alleys. Here I am, learning all about the Melbourne Public Transport system. But it’s all about the adventure and discovery and that’s exactly what I’m having. The one thing I’m discovering is that graffiti is alive and well in Melbourne. So far it seems to be mainly tags but having said that most of these are pretty impressive although I’m not a huge fan.
I’m now sitting at Burnley Station. One thing that I’ve spotted is that different stations have different vibes. Burnley’s just happens to be ultra grotty. Now that I’m travelling on trains I have a greater understanding of the State Labor governments project to upgrade the level crossings and railway stations. It didn’t make too much sense until now.
I’m finding is that you don’t seem to have to wait too long, it looks like a train comes along every 20 minutes or so.
My train is on the Lilydale line. It was 50 years ago that I used this line to get back to my house in Healesville. Back then there was a steam train running from Lilydale to Healesville which meandered through the Yarra River flood plains via Yarra Glen.
People have an invisible wall around them on trains, that’s my experience so far. As I said earlier I’ll give myself a challenge down the track to start a few conversations. On the other hand it’s sort of nice looking at people sitting in their own privacy, a bit like peering into a diorama full of tiny people going about their lives and having their own private thoughts.
