Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Melbourne- Notice

After a looong journey home involving late flights, running between terminals like a mad person only to discover the next flight was delayed, plus a long drive home a lovely "welcome home, I love you mummy" sign and a bowl of curry was waiting for me. Plus a sleeping Busy a smiling Chef and an excited dog.

On the 1388km journey home I had time to reflect about the previous four days and what I had discovered. I had stayed in the most fabulously charming of places- Brooklyn Arts Hotel just off Gertrude st. It was full of eccentric old women who were always up for a cup of tea and a chat by the fire. I loved them! I discovered that Gertrude St is so good and every coffee, meal and snack I ate on there was divine.  I also noticed LOTS of beards and  combed slicked to the side short hair- a bit of a 1900's look. I noticed this look only in the Fitzroy area but there was a lot of it. I liked it. I noticed everyone looked cool. I noticed not for the first time- that I didn't. I noticed that didn't bother me much.
I noticed the difference in light. The light was less glarey in Melbourne, even on overcast days here, it is glarey and sunglasses are needed. I noticed not wearing sunglasses all the time. Despite living in London for 2 years in my 20's I forgot what cities that get cold are like. That as soon as you walk into any shop cafe etc it is 10 degrees warmer. I learned this on day one and learnt about layers. I noticed that lots of people thought I said I was from Belgium not Bellingen and I couldn't be bothered to correct them. I noticed that people were always friendly and the service was good. I noticed that Melbourne hasn't completely replaced the old yellow and green trams- the nice old ones thank-fully. I noticed a family friend of mine who is now almost 20 is growing into a beautiful young woman before my very eyes and it was so lovely to take her out to dinner and hang out with her as a grown up.

I noticed  the excited feeling of seeing hundreds and thousands of new faces I had never seen before day after day after day. Of seeing hundreds of pieces of art and sculpture and mediums on which to do things ( more on THAT later!!)
I bought a few pieces home from Rose st Markets and and a kiss for Chef from Industria. I noticed that I never felt lonely and that I missed Chef and Busy but not to the point of tears (actually maybe just a little tear on one night after I got off the phone) I noticed that I had to quickly rush to sit down and write an idea that was at risk of falling out of my head a lot. I noticed that I felt so inspired and full of new ideas and things I want to do and that lots of the time my head was spinning taking so much in.  I noticed that when you get together with women who's blogs your read its like catching up with old friends and not awkward at all. And it's funny. And fun. I noticed how good it was to actually talk about my blog to other people who "get" it. I noticed a suburb of Melbourne that I would have probably not ventured into otherwise had the most delicious Turkish Pide and that as painful and hard as it was I did manage to get it home for Chef to taste and resisted eating it on the plane.(and he loved in thanks Beci)
I noticed that some people are shy and I that maybe I didn't get  to chat to them as much as I wanted to to but that next time I will. I am sorry!
I noticed not for the first time that I often think about how to move to Melbourne just for a little while.
I noticed how good it is to be home amongst the trees and the forest and the warmth.
Scroll down for a great giveaway!

15 comments:

  1. I share many of these sentiments with you, well most of them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So jealous....sounds and looks like you had an absolutely charming time. Lucky you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I chuckled to myself over your Belgian heritage..didn't they think it was strange that you had an Aussie accent? It's interesting how the light is different..more like NZ light than further north in Australia. When I go back to NZ for holidays that is one of the things I miss most about Australia. It sounds like you had an invigorating trip.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love all your noticings.
    I'm so glad you had such a great time, and was so inspired by my home town ( i think it rocks too)
    it was wonderful to meet you, although I think I might be one of the shy people you noticed...
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh Cath it all sounds wonderful, I am SO, so glad you had a great time.

    My book arrived today; it is AMAZING!!! I can't get enough of it, I hope I get a chance to do some sewing soon.

    I have been waiting for you to get back. I had to tell you that thanks to you, or thanks to missing your dinner, I was brave enough to suggest to some other bloggy lovelies perhaps coming out to dinner for my birthday in September, and they, love them, said they would love to come. AND, thanks to that, thanks to the possibility of a birthday get-together in Melbourne, two of my very best Sydney friends are going to try to fly down too. Wow. WOW!

    You can probably tell that I am a teensy bit excited about this? ;) I really am. As I told everyone already; I have never had a birthday party! The idea is novel & exciting, and it's all down to YOU! xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. I noticed that you are much taller than I imagined. I noticed that we must be so thorough in our blogging because although we had never met before, we knew so much. I noticed that I can trust my blog feeling about a person and that it will translate into real life. I noticed that I think about your new boots often and wonder if I should have tried them on too. I noticed how happy I was to come home to the country after my day and night in town. I noticed that I like reading blogs so much better when I know the sound of the blogger's voice in real life. x

    ReplyDelete
  7. So glad you enjoyed your stay in this part of the world and I'm so glad I got to meet you while you were here!

    I like your observations... the things we take for granted, living here.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds like my kind of weekend. I love visits to the city (and melbourne has so much to inspire), but always love the return to my patch of earth.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It was so lovely to meet you in the flesh and you were just as lovely as in your gorgeous little interwebz home. Kate is so cute, and I agree with everything she said (except for the country living bit cause I wasn't lucky enough to go home to trees - hee hee) xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sounds delightful! Very very strong to not eat all the Pide; doubt I could have done similar.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You are so dead!!! .....hows Simon with his back turned....HILARIOUS!!

    I LOVED it...ALL of it and will certainly be one of those ex-centric old ladies sitting at the brooklyn once a year......right next to a really tall woman in a lovely green jacket lined with fake fur!! xx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh...if jod pops in and makes a comment......


    Hey jodie, I think, we might, just a little bit, have the same shaped head????!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey we do have the same shaped head - but mine is a bit rougher than yours my friend !!!

    Cath I knew (as one does) that you would be just as perfectly you in the flesh as you are in blogland or in email chats. Its the universe' cruel joke that blogging opens up these fantastic friendships, often with people who live so far far away...

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've noticed that reading your "noticings" has made me excited to start exploring my own adopted city again... and that people I admire from afar are just as good if not better up close.
    (and that when my internet is throttled, it's really hard to leave comments... so I have to do them really late!)
    hope you had a fun weekend at home!

    ReplyDelete

what a nice person you are- taking the time to comment in this busy hectic world...Thank you!!