Tuesday 11th March
The first stage of what is now becoming a regular journey went well. A lift to the airport from my mate Jim before dropping off my luggage and passing through security, which was made easier due to being allowed to use the priority security area courtesy of Lesley, one of my ‘Scotia Buddies’ who works there. When our flight took off on one of Emirates’ A380’s it was relatively empty, leaving me with a full row of seats to myself, which was most welcome. After watching the movie Gladiator II and enjoying a nice meal, I was able to stretch out over the 3 seats for a comfortable nap.
The transfer in Dubai, again, was very smooth, mainly due to my having travelled through it quite a few times in the past, and I didn’t have too long to wait until we were called to board yet another quite empty A380, where I once again had a full row of seats to myself. Like the previous flight, I watched a movie, this time the excellent Conclave and had my meal before settling down for a sleep. The opportunity to fully recline was most welcome on this 13-hour night flight, meaning that I arrived in Melbourne fairly relaxed.
Wednesday 12th – Friday 14th March
Once through Immigration and customs, I was met by Graeme and Briony, and we quickly made our way to their home in Bonbeach, arriving around 2:00 am. Due to the late hour, we all retired to bed after a chat to catch up. Thursday and Friday, as expected, were lazy days, sitting in the sun reading my book, trying desperately not to fall asleep in an effort to beat the jet lag, it seemed to work and I quickly got into a good routine.
Saturday 15th March
Saturday afternoon saw me going to visit Sean Brean, one of my Merchant Navy contacts, who lives in nearby Chelsea Heights. Sean is a bit of a character, he went to sea aged 15 and stayed afloat for the next 50 years. He “jumped ship” in Australia in the 1970’s and eventually achieved official residence status. This visit to Sean’s was timed to allow me to attend a party held in honour of one of his old shipmates, who had sadly passed, and also to celebrate St Patrick’s day, a bit of a weird mix with Irish themed decorations, everyone wearing green and a lone Scottish piper playing the last post, but somehow it all worked out well, I had a great time in good company.
Sunday 16th March
Sunday was footy day, Graeme and I made our way to Richmond to meet up with some of his mates before heading to the MCG to watch Melbourne play Sydney’s GWS, it was a great game, all very exciting and good fun to watch, unfortunately the Giants stole the victory in the closing minutes, the final score being 74-77 in Sydney’s favour. Despite the result, I really enjoyed the experience.
Monday 17th March
Just after I left Melbourne last year, a street art festival was held in Graeme’s old neighbourhood of Mordialloc, so on Monday afternoon, I took the train along to have a look at the artworks created during the festival. To me the stand out piece was one created by Smug, but many of the others were of a high standard. I then visited the shops at Mordialloc for some bits and pieces before heading home.
Tuesday 18th March
Whilst at the footy on Sunday, I got chatting to Steph, one of Graeme’s friends, and she told me of one of her pals, Bronik, who is a street artist with loads of pieces in the St Kilda area, as it was arranged for us to visit St Kilda in the evening, I thought I would go a bit earlier to see them before meeting up in the evening. I took the train into Flinders Street and had a wander around town, reacquainting myself before stopping for lunch. I then took a tram ride to St Kilda and started searching Bronik’s work, which was mainly on electrical junction boxes dotted around the area, I must admit that they were very good and well worth the trip. My wanderings led me into the Balaclava area where I came across more good street art.
In the evening, I met Graeme after work in the Local Taproom, where Graeme & Briony are both members of a club called Ale Stars. For an annual membership they receive an embroidered shirt, a tankard and locker. They meet once a month when a guest brewer visits to give a talk about four beers being sampled, a meal is served and there is also a beer related trivia quiz during the evening. Unfortunately Briony was unable to join us, but were joined on the night by Simon, one of their friends, (he was best man at their Australian wedding), It was a great fun night, the talk by the brewer was very interesting and the beers we sampled really hit the spot and the food was good, it’s just a pity they only have it once a month.
Wednesday 19th March
After my busy weekend, I had a rest day today, lounging around in the garden reading and just chilling out and recharging my batteries. It was so nice to just relax a bit, it’s what holidays are meant for some may say.
Thursday 20th March
It seems to be that I arrive in Melbourne in time for the Frankston Big Picture Festival, this annual event brings street artists from Australia and around the world to create some spectacular pieces, and this year is no exception. I decided to visit on Thursday to see some of them being created and to meet some of the artists, who are only too happy to stop and chat for a while. I also happened to meet a couple of guys from Melbourne University filming a documentary on the festival and they talked me into giving an interview, what comes of it we will wait and see.
Friday 21st March
On Friday morning, I took the train into Southern Cross Station to pay a visit to the Stella Maris Seafarers Centre on Little Collins Street. It was nice to catch up with the friends I had made there over a coffee. I then logged onto the Street Art Cities website and went in search of some art, (with some success) before going up Flinders Lane to visit The Outsiders, an exhibition of the largest collection of privately owned street art in Australia.
The exhibition with over 100 works by street artists, including local favourites Rone and Adnate, in addition to international artists such as Banksy, Vhils, and Shepard Fairey, it certainly was worth the walk up the hill to see it.
During my time there, I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Andrew King, who, along with his partner, Sandra Powell (collectively known as Sandrew), is a Melbourne-based art aficionado who has been collecting local and international street art for more than 15 years. He certainly is an interesting guy.
Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23March
Saturday afternoon, Graeme and I went down to Frankston to attend the block party at the end of the street art festival and to see the completed artworks. To be honest, the event wasn’t as good as last year’s, so after a Quick Look around, we visited the Hop Shop for some food and a couple of beers. We then spent Sunday preparing for our trip away on our silo tour. This trip was really good, you can read all about it in my previous post.
Monday 24th March
Monday 31st March
Briony left us early on Monday morning for a flight to Portland, Oregon, to attend a conference for a week, so Graeme and I had the house to ourselves, not forgetting Joffrey of course. I spent the weekend and Monday creating my blog post of the silo tour and just chilling to recharge my batteries.
Tuesday 1st April
On Tuesday morning I was picked up by Pat and we went to visit the Bayside Men’s Shed where he is a regular, it was really nice to be recognised by many of the members who remembered me from previous visits and made me most welcome, I think I may take out a membership when I visit next year as I enjoy my visits so much. After lunch at Pat & Kay’s house we visited the nearby suburb of Cheltenham to see some new murals they had spotted, stopping off for a nice coffee before heading home.
Wednesday 26th March
As it looked like it was going to be a lovely day, I caught the train to the costal town of Williamstown, just like a trip ‘down the water’ back home, I did all the usual seaside trip staples, I sat by a lovely beach, wandered through the Botanic Gardens, entering through a beautiful set of gates made in Glasgow’s Saracen foundry, there is also a nice little fountainby them on the harbour front. I then paid a visit to the Maritime Museum before sitting with a pint of Guinness watching the world go by before catching the train home. It was a lovely day out in the sunshine.
Thursday 26th March
For my last full day in Melbourne CBD, I went down the tourist route, I strolled along the banks of the river, visited the Polly Woodside tall ship, took the City Circle heritage tram and popped into the cathedral. Despite having been before, I looked into the Outsiders exhibition to photograph the exhibits then ventured into the famed Hosier and AC/DC lanes to see if anything new had been added. To finish it all off, a schooner of Little Creatures in the Duke of Wellington went down a treat.
Saturday 27th March
Mordialoc, where G&B previously lived, were holding a street art festival, so we decided to nip along to see it. The artworks were, like last year’s, being painted in a small industrial area, so we were quite surprised to bump into Smug painting on a wall right next to the station exit, it was so nice to stop and chat with him again. The Wall to Wall event when we got there was so much more vibrant than this year’s Frankston event, with heaps more artists working, with plenty of options for food and drinks. I was pleased to be able to meet and chat the some of the artists, especially Matt Adnate, who I much admire and Sofles, who is apparently going to be painting at this year’s Yardworks festival in Glasgow in May. We also got to meet some of the ladies from our silo tour who had popped along to see the artworks.
Sunday 28th March
Sunday turned out to be a busy day for us, Briony returned early from America, I caught up with my laundry and started packing, then Pat & Kay, Sean, Moni and the boys came over for lunch and to say our farewells. We also celebrated Ollie’s birthday with a nice cake baked by Kay. An early night for us all beckoned as my flight in the morning meant a 3:00am start for me.
This turned out to be a wonderful trip for me; what I thought would be a quiet, relaxing break turned out to be rather special. The time Graeme and I spent together during our silo tour was wonderful. I got to visit and see some fabulous places, and met a group of nice people. As usual, I spent time searching out new (to me) street art and was lucky enough to be here at the right time for a couple of street art festivals. I got to visit the MCG to watch Graeme’s favourite team, Melbourne, playing. Unfortunately, they haven’t been very successful during my time here; hopefully, they will improve now that I have gone ( Graeme thinks I was a jinx!). Despite Briony being away for a week during my stay, it was really special for me to visit and spend time with them. We have already started to plan next year’s trip.
Jim's travels 