Capital Trail: Brunswick to Docklands

  

 

View towards Ross Straw Field

It was a beautiful morning. We headed down the Capital Trail, past the Zoo, through wonderful and threatened Royal Park and along the pathway next to Moonee Ponds Creek. First of all, it is but a swamp, like a forgotten wasteland under the concrete flyovers of the freeway. Then, it widens and becomes a small creek. With bridges, drains, industrial landscapes. But today, so beautiful.  A couple of men were fishing. A train stopped at Macauley Station. And I managed to capture a few wonderful sights. Hard to believe it is in the heart of a big city.

Update on Countryman Clothing building: stained glass windows

The back and roof have gone, but this wonderful little building continues to be a gem – just look at the lovely sight that has come about due to the combination of demolition and street art. The midday autumn sun shining through these windows is delightful.

Here is the view from the back of the building. Through the destruction, we can still see the lovely symmetry of the front entrance and side windows.

Countryman Clothing building Brunswick Road

When I arrived home late one afternoon, Vince said: “Do you know that the back of the Countryman’s building has disappeared?”  I had to rush down and see. I knew that the building had recently been up for sale but I did not know whether it had sold. My dream of a museum of manufacture on this site had obviously not occurred to anyone else. What a pity.

So I went down and snapped a few photos. Then my day just got better:

Two Marches in March

Today I found myself at the March in March. It was amazing to see so many people out on the streets of Melbourne, all with different complaints and concerns. The effectiveness of social media networking to bring people together and advertise events is quite mindblowing.


On Twitter later today I found out that there was another march, on the wonderful Sydney Road. In fact earlier today I had been near the Sydney Road Baptist Church, from where the march started. Tri Nguyen, who had arrived in Australia after a horrendous boat trip from Vietnam and shocking experiences in a refugee camp in a third country, is setting out on a 35 day walk from Brunswick to Canberra, hauling a wooden replica of the boat which carried them through the monsoon. The boat had "thank you" written on the side, thanking the Australian community for the kindness and welcome he and his family had received.

What a wonderful odyssey, back up the trapdoor to Melbourne, to the seat of power in Canberra, via those small towns which are perhaps not as multicultural as Brunswick but with a great diversity of opinions and personalities. I will be following his journey, and gaining inspiration from it.

My installation at the Sydney Road Street Party

Inspired by the Yoko Ono wall of wishes and comments (visited by me and Rosario in Sydney in December), I thought the Greens stall at this year’s Sydney Road Street Party should have one also. Despite scepticism from a number of quarters, that the set up was “jerry built” (well, it was mounted on a paint spattered vintage ladder which had originally come from ETSA) and “hippy”, it became a talking point. Tim even tweeted a photo of him and Greg attaching their contributions to “What do you want for Victoria’s future?”

Men’s Hairdresser Ghost Sign

I love this sign in one of the old shops along Sydney Road in Coburg. Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk to one of the owners of the neighbouring shop, Al Nada Sweets. She told me that the Men’s Middle Eastern Hairdressing Salon had opened in 1978, run by a gentleman from Tripoli, who passed away just recently. He had run the shop for about seven or eight years. The shop was in the front but he had lived out the back.

The Number 96 from East Brunswick to Costa da Caparica

Yesterday I farewelled my Portuguese friend. She had come out to visit me, braving a 35 hour journey from Lisbon via Paris and Guangzhou to Sydney, then Melbourne. Intrepid Portuguese traveller, in the spirit of her forebears who explored the known and unknown worlds.