Windy Day in St Kilda
31st May, Melbourne, Australia
The last time we had been to St Kilda, there had been grey skies, swathes of people, a busy market and buskers keeping everyone entertained. Today we arrived in the pretty seaside area of Melbourne to be greeted by very empty streets, blue skies and the kind of wind that, if you jumped up a foot, almost takes you two feet sideways.
We were in St Kilda because a) we had wanted to come back again on account of it being such a nice place and b) because it was just 5 minutes down the road from Station Pier, where we would be hopping on to a ferry later this evening bound for Tasmania. I had been told that St Kilda was very bad for parking, but we found plenty of spaces, and the all-day parking near the Sea Baths was just $6. I suspect that the 'bad for parking' reputation is the result of the busy weekends.
St Kilda Pier, Melbourne.
We took a walk along St Kilda pier. Actually, the walk turned into a run as the wind whipped up a frenzy and we made for the next spot of shelter. From across the water, beyond the harbour, I could hear what sounded like whistling from the wind as it passed through thousands of little gaps in all the boats moored there. Normally, when you are on a pier and looking back to shore, you can see the currents moving in to the shore, but everything had turned 90 degrees. I watched a seagull flapping its wings, heading in to the wind but holding the same position in the air - he was getting nowhere fast. And to think that we'd be heading out to sea in this later this evening!
We then made our way up to Acland Street, arguably St Kilda's most famous street, and largely because of its reknowned cake shops. As before, we tried a cake each, but in all honesty I think that no matter how good an individual cake tastes from these shops, you can't beat just standing outside the shop and admiring the collection of iced, dusted, sweet and glazed goodies within.
Another of St Kilda's famous streets is Fitzroy Street. Once again, this was another place that was mentioned often in The Secret Life Of Us, the Aussie series that about one man and his dog knows about back in England (oh, that would have been me!) but is very popular in Australia. Walking up the street, we both recognized the area from the various cut scenes in the series, usually with Evan (one of the characters) walking along narrating something deep and meaningful. Everywhere we looked today there seemed to be something that was used in the series, actually. Personally, I was much more into that than doing the Neighbours tour ... but we'll probably do that too anyway!
As the sun set over St Kilda, we both raced, once more, in the wind down the pier to catch photos of Melbourne's CBD in the distance. Then it was a short drive back up the road to catch our ferry across the Bass Strait.
St Kilda harbour at sunset.
A little tip for anyone with a camper van catching the Spirit Of Tasmania - don't take a spare can of petrol with you. You can't take it with you, you'll have to empty it into your vehicle (assuming you didn't just fill up five minutes before!). Thankfully, I was able to decant some of it into Ethel's stomach, but had to tip more than a quarter away into a hazardous waste container. I couldn't help but think, just one day after 20+ people (oil workers) were killed in Saudi Arabia by terrorists, that this was a complete waste of resources.
Later: It's 12:15 am, just three hours in to the ferry trip, and this boat is rockin' all over the place. Walking in a straight line is a challenge, as your body goes from being heavy as anything one moment to almost weightless the next, depending on what part of the wave you're riding. The barman has just told me that the Bass Strait is the second most unpredictable stretch of water in the world, and that it will get worse. At the moment, the waves are largely behind us, but in a couple of hours they'll be side-on. Maybe I should stop typing and and try to get some shut-eye, try to get into a state of oblivion!