Still unconvinced by how far away St Kilda is from the centre I decided to walk in along the beach. It was a cooler day but quite soon the sun came out and once again I was walking around in the heat of the day. On route I checked under St Kilda Pier for penguins- yep, some chicks were waiting home for mum and dad hidden under the rocks. Pretty cool. I had a swim to cool off having finally made it into the city and having no energy for further walking, and decided to get the tram back.
Next day, I met Jessamy (an Australian Vet who had locumed with the West Mount practice back home). It was great to see her and she took me to a little restaurant called St Ali's in South Melbourne tucked down one of the typical laneways that Melbourne is famous for. Because Melbourne is based on a grid pattern there are loads of these little side streets and as Jess said all you really expect to find are dead cats, rubbish and perhaps a tramp or two. Instead: artist markets, hip restaurants and the artistic style of graffitti.
We wandered around S. Melbourne a bit then Jess dropped me on Brunswick St in Fitzroy to get a sense of this area of the city. From here I walked down to Carlton gardens with the Melbourne museum and Exhibition building then cut through to Lygon St, centre of the Italian area.
On a whim as it was such a nice day I decided to go up the Eureka Tower- essentially a slightly overpriced "viewing experience". 288m it's just the highest thing on the skyline and importantly just slightly bigger than Sydney's version!
Great views and I feel I'm starting to get a sense of the geography of Melbourne. Yes, it's a grid but somehow I still manage to get lost! Coming down I hit Southbank along the river and watch the street artists and performers, it's a great atmosphere here Sat eve at dusk and I feel rather more connected with the city- less of a hot and tired tourist!
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