17.08.2010
Opening my eyes to the sunlight streaming in through the cracks of the window shades is always a wonderful way to wake up. Especially after days of gray skies and rain. After getting keys cut and slipping the postcards into a box, I was visited on this side of town by Sebastian. After only a bit over the week, it feels like I know the streets of the city centre quite well already. The grid is quite easy to remember and even stores and restaurants seem to be burned into my memory. St. Kilda however was still unchartered territory. We walked down Carlisle Street, with its many funky stores, cute cafes, deliciously tempting bakeries and kosher butchers. The residential streets are lined with cute houses, red brick or dark green painted wood (my two favorites), Victorian styles with the grand décor carved into the wood… Quite a nice contrast to the high rises in the city centre – everything is small and quaint and cozy looking. At the end of the street, we hit the beach – or more like the beach hit us, with its beauty, its smell of kelp and salt, its sounds of light waves and seagulls. After having seen the sandy coastline during a gray and windy evening, the bright blue sky and calm dark blue waters stopped me dead in my tracks. After enjoying the sunny sight for a few minutes, we walked to the left, away from the city skyline, away from the pier we had been to already to visit the penguins and towards nowhere specific. Being out in the sun lifts my spirits every time, but being able to run around in sunglasses after days of rain and lack of light was like shooting up to the stars. The vegetation along the beach is so different from what I’ve seen, pale green salt bushes, bright green grass, wind-blown trees growing low to the ground and leaning over like they’ve had too much wine…We walked. And walked. And walked.
And walked. Passed the marina with its sail and speed boats and yachts on which I wished I could just hop on and speed off, continuing my journey by boat. Passed little rocky piers and sandy beaches and many locals walking their dogs. We stopped every once in a while, had a cigarette and a rest to soak in the sights more deeply. Once lying on the rocks next to people fishing, once in the cold sand surrounded by kelp and washed up jellyfish…The houses got larger and more impressive to our left and the ocean stayed big and beautiful to our right. At some point we turned around, knowing that we’d have to walk the whole way back as well. We gathered out strength in a Fish&Chips restaurant and then made our way back, the sun in our faces.
The one day where I dress up nice and warm and even bring an extra jacket and it’s the one day where I can even take my jacket off for a short period. Sitting on a hilltop, apparently an old aboriginal campsite, the view that stretched out in front of me was…Melbourne. The ocean at our side, the beach glowing in the late afternoon sun ahead, green grass of a park rolling down the hill and spreading out beneath it, the city’s skyscraper skyline, not too tall, not too wide, not too cluttered or too gapped, along the horizon and a path that winds through it all…
After walking for six and a half hours, my feet throbbing accordingly, I’m back at the apartment and can’t wait to feel my head sink into the pillow, to drift off into deep sleep and dream of hilltops, warm rocks, cold sand and sunlight.
Notes:
Seaside - The Kooks
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