I found my way back to Coda where I had been on another occasion and was treated like royalty for all my solo-ness. I sat up at the bar and had champagne and a mini assortment ( 3 plates) of delicious asian-slash-european wondrousness.

One of Europe’s most innovative temporary architectural installations is set up on the banks of the Yarra for Music Week. Kubik is a french-inspired cafe by day and an open-air music venue by night. It is constructed from interconnected glowing water tanks which change colour in response to the music. 

 As soon as I walked into the grounds of Como House, I was transported to France. There were people speaking French, french food, wine, music, costumes, French products. I was in heaven.

 After a happy time wandering the stalls, sampling caneles, macaroons, wine, cheese, I emerged from my little French experience with French dvds, children’s clothing, French earrings…none of which I needed but I was so caught up speaking French and wanting to ingest it all that I couldn’t help myself…damn those French and their beguiling ways…

French bull dog, dressed for the part

Ivanhoe is a historical fiction novel by Sir Walter Scott written in the 18th century, but set in 12th century England.  Scott has been credited with starting the wave of medievalism which swept over the 12th century literary world. Ivanhoe is all crusades and tournaments and capture and rescue.

Ivanhoe is also a suburb in Melbourne just 10km from the CBD, perched on a hill and home to Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School, my employer for next year.

Ivanhoe – the suburb

Ivanhoe, the school

Ivanhoe Girls’ was founded in 1903 and some of the buildings date back to then, especially the Federation frontages of the houses along Marshall Street which house the Junior School and Administration wing. Then there is a very fancy state of the art library, media centre and upstairs staff area with a deck for lunch in the sun…

Cate Blanchett grew up in Ivanhoe and went to the school.

These are some of the things I saw on a 33 degree day off from The Turtle.

 It was 24 degrees at 7am this morning and the outdoor pool at MSAC in Albert Park beckoned.
Lunch with a colleague from PEGS in Moonee Ponds and then over to Northcote. On the way I passed the ROCOR, or Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which I couldn’t miss because of its gold domes. Originally built in Collingwood, the church had to move to another site as there was no room for expansion on the original site. The congregation was none too happy at this prospect and even less so when they discovered that the site proposed by Alex Alexander, a prominent and astute parishioner, was opposite a former rubbish tip. But this site was available, the right size and, in fact, cheap because of its location. Eventually a park was built on the tip site and Alex Alexander was a winner at the end of the day.

 Just around the corner from the ROCOR is the CERES Community Environment Park. CERES = Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Studies. The park is all about education and urban farming and seeks to use sustainable energy and green technology to run facilities on site. There is an organic market and nursery, as well as an education centre and cafe.

 Next stop, Northcote. Northcote is 7km from the CBD and is on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people. They were the main tribe of people settled in the area which would become Melbourne. The European settlement of Northcote began in 1839 and in the 1870s it was home to a number of slaughteryards, piggeries and claypits. Now there are lots of shops, cafes and the Northcote Social Club, which I am yet to get to but which seems to host numerous bands which I think I’d rather like.

 Coffee at Penny Farthing with Patrick who is one half of Patrick and Jane, ex-Christchurch people. See http://bignoisefromalytteltown.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/patrick-and-jane/ to hear more…

 Melbourne loves cycles. Of all shapes and sizes, it seems. Run by brothers, Penny Farthing Espresso is all wooden tables, whitewashed walls and single origin coffee. Nice.

Fly My Pretties, the fantastic seed, nurtured and cultivated by Barnaby Weir, has been growing over 8 years, and tonight, on their 4th round, they played in Melbourne with a stellar line-up of extraordinarily talented musicians. Five are from Christchurch, two of those from Lyttelton. Their performance tonight was incredible. Those people are creative geniuses in their own rights and, collectively, they are epic ART. They played from 8 til 12 with an intermission and it was magic from start to finish.

To quote Mary Shelley completely out of context, I loved Fly My Pretties with an ardour far exceeding moderation. Bring on the CD, I will be dancing with myself and wanting more, more, more.

….tonight….tonight.

Anyone, get the Billy Idol quote?…anyone…? Ah well.

Regardless of your knowledge of 80’s music and whether or not the line of a song can cast you back to the roller skating rink in Wainoni, as it does me, it IS hot in the city tonight and it was super hot today. When I say ‘super’, I mean 30 degrees. I shudder at the thought that, for here, that is not super hot at all and how on earth am I going to cope when it hits 40?

There were a lot of people on MY beach today.

Elwood
28°
Morning spent hunting and gathering at the St Kilda Farmers’ Market at The Peanut Farm Reserve. Melbourne gets the big thumbs up from French Karen, perhaps largely because of the incredible range of really good food. Organic goat cheese, which was volcanic in its oozing-ness. Artisan bread and, luckily it’s not so much that you taste the hands that made it (?!), but you can feel that they were there. Tomatoes that taste of the sun. Mizuna that tastes of a light breeze and a hint of pepper.

 Their ‘thing’ is ‘healing and sustainable food from scratch’. I am all for that, but really, the time it took for 2 coffees and 2 mueslis to come out, they may well have been growing, harvesting and roasting the beans, not to mention stewing the rhubarb and selecting each rolled oat according to its personal characteristics. It was all excellent, so who can complain, really and I am imagining the zen origins of the place mean that time is irrelevant and it is all about enjoying and savouring the moment and being content to sit and absorb.

The name comes from Bodhidarma, a 5th century monk who may have introduced Zen Buddhism to China and Japan. During a silent nine-year cave meditation retreat, he fell asleep and being so frustrated on his failure to stay awake, he cut off his eyelids to ward off sleep. According to legend, the world’s first tea plants sprouted from the place his eyelids fell. I’m just not going to think too hard about that.

 Next stop: Rooftop Bar, Swanston Street. Artificial grass and young people galore. Once up there, the cloud disappeared and the sky became a brilliant blue.

 Aboriginal art at the NGV. Rich beautiful colours and amazing patterns. (below)

 Yarra River, big city.

 Melbourne Central Station. The shot tower and the Melbourne Central Cone.  Shot Tower…the brick you see in the photo was  completed in 1888 and is 50 metres high. It was saved from demolition in 1973 and was incorporated into the Melbourne Central complex in 1993. The tower produced six tonnes of shot weekly until 1961 when the demand for lead shot dwindled because of new firearm regulations.