Had real trouble dragging myself out of bed this morning. Eventually got myself together and walked, slowly, down to Maccas for a drink and surf. I think my excessive walking yesterday has caught up on me – my feet are still really sore and my right Achilles is particularly bad, so I think I must have been walking slightly comedy. After walking a little bit further, I had to hop on a City Circle tram as it was too painful to walk the whole way and I figured I would have to walk quite a lot at the other end.
This tram took me straight to where I needed to pick up the other tram from and within moments it arrived. This was not a City Circle tram, instead one of the more modern ones, and whizzed me through to St Kilda. I managed to get out at the wrong station, so then walked back the way it had come to go to the right Gate.
I didn’t really know what to expect – lots of petrol heads I guess, instead I saw hundreds and hundreds of children all out on school trips it would seem! After making my way through all them, I found the petrol heads! I had a mooch around for a bit, I didn’t really know where to go and somehow I hadn’t previously got a grip on how big the place would be – it is massive! Suddenly the sun seemed to turn itself up a few notches and it was scorching hot. I saw a bridge and crossed over, as I did, a load of very noisy cars shot underneath it – the V8s.
From the other side of the bridge, I could see the lake, more school kids and petrol heads! I came across the Support Paddock, where there were lots and lots of cars. I believe they were Formula 5000 and Formula Ford cars – old ones and new. I could see lots of people looking at me funny – I think I must have stood out like a sore thumb, seeing as I was neither a school kid or petrol head. Next to this paddock was Centre Circuit where there were places to sit and get refreshments.
I walked through a section called ‘Little Italy’( which was exactly that!) and across the lake on a pontoon (which I fear may sink when lots of people start walking on it!). On that side was another set of entertainment and a Kids Zone (more school kids!), along with a F1 wheel change competition and Harley Davidson riding challenge. It was getting hotter and hotter by the minute and I felt a bit overwhelmed by the place (it’s just so big!), so I went back across the pontoon and sat on a bench by the lake for a bit.
After a while, I made an executive decision – to go to the beach! I made my way back through the school kids, cars and petrol head to the entrance – seeing a load more big, loud cars go out in convoy from the paddock to the track along the way - and then used my powers of navigation to work out which direction I needed to go in order to find the beach. Surprisingly, I was correct!
As I walked to the beach, I went past lots of houses, in terraces. It was really interesting because each house looked very different and many had the ornate decoration around them. Some looked more modern, but the vast majority of the houses were very old (for Australia!) and rather cute.
Once at the beach, with the gentle breeze coming off the water, it felt a bit cooler, so I installed myself on the sand and chilled out with only my ipod and thoughts for company. It felt very relaxing and serene as there were very few people there, despite it being a main beach right next to the main Esplanade. As odd as it may seem, even though the serenity was broken by the sound of the V8 engines hammering around the track, it did not alter the relaxation I found whilst laying on the sand.
After a while, I became very aware of an old man standing quite close to me, looking up in the sky. He stood like that for some time and I did wonder what on earth he was doing, then I heard a new noise and looked around to see what it was. Suddenly, zooming over the tops of the houses and over the beach were 6 planes – it was the RAAF Roulettes! They flew in formation and the old man got snap happy with his camera. By the time I had fumbled around for my camera, they had whizzed past and were somewhere in the distance, but then shot back over, reformed into formation and headed back towards the circuit. It was quite impressive, I only wish I had been expecting it so maybe I could have gotten a decent photo!
Back to chilling on the beach for a bit longer, then I noticed that the few people on the beach had left and instead it seemed to have been taken over with people doing various fitness-related activities - hundreds (and I really do mean hundreds) of people running, power walking, cycling along the Esplanade and beach. I felt guilty being sat still! The sun was starting to go down and I figured that probably meant that lying on the beach in a bikini might not be so appropriate, so I got ready to leave, but got sucked into watching the sunset. It was seriously beautiful. Sunsets have never moved me before, but the ones I have seen so far this trip have all blown me away. The sea burnt red and orange and as the light danced off the surface, it looked like a sea of fire.
Once I was sure there was no more sun to set, I found my way back to the tram stop by the circuit and headed back to the city. I got out at Southern Cross Station and followed my internal navigation (and map!) back to the hostel, where I got showered and changed before heading back out to the Drunken Poet. I was warmly welcomed by Siobhan, she even greeted me by name! There was a different artist singing tonight – Francesca something – she was really good too and I enjoyed listening to her sing whilst supping on a pot of Cooper’s.
Shortly after 10pm, I got a call from Andrew who had just arrived at the airport, so I finished my drink and left the pub to meet him from the station. On the way I was thinking to myself that I hadn’t seen a possum since being in Oz, then I saw one! It was up a tree - I was very excited and stopped to look at it. Then another one joined it, so I looked at that too. I carried on walking and before I knew it, there were possums everywhere, in the trees, next to the trees, hanging off the trees, climbing up the trees – I’ve seen enough possums now to last me the whole trip!
When Andrew arrived, I navigated us back to the hostel where he checked in and tried to move his bags into his room without waking his sleeping room-mates! Next we went back downstairs and formulated our plan of action for the morning and day ahead. As much as I enjoy it, I am really not looking forward to lots more walking, my feet are seriously killing me! Oh well, needs must!
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