Next I take a leisurely walk about 10 minutes to Fitzroy Park. This park is one of my all-time favorite parks to walk around and enjoy its sounds and scenery. It is amazing that this park seems so
"in the quiet of the country" but be smack in the middle of the Central Business District (CBD) in Melbourne. I found myself in the past coming here on Sunday mornings with my donuts and coffee and spend the morning just walking, sitting and reading. I have a favorite spot on one of their ponds that would usually have the ducks coming over begging for part of my donuts...of course I obliged. So I look for my old hangout and it is as I remember it. I have read David Thoreau and it reminds me of some of the descriptions he would give about Walden Pond. I sit for awhile and watch people coming and going. There is a walking path that leads up to the pond that is just breathtaking with large trees that stretch up and over the walkway like a covered archway. I will have a picture of it taken while I'm here. As I'm watching I notice an older gentleman come slowly walking up to one of the benches that are around the pond. He has brought food for the ducks...and they know it. He seems to really enjoy the attention and it takes about 20 minutes for him to finish distributing his bag of goodies. I kind of wonder if that me in about 20 years, then I realize it's me now. Later on a nice young lady walks by with her bulldog. There is just something very artistic about bulldogs, must be the wrinkles. She ask if it is okay to sit at the end of my bench. We exchange pleasantries and names. She realizes I'm not from these parts and starts with the questions. She finds out about my trip and is just enthralled with what I've done. She says she would like to do this one day. I find that people say that a lot when they find out my story. I wonder if they ever will. I find out she is a third year Vet student at Monash University here in Melbourne. We spend about 30 minutes together and she stands up to leave. She walks over gives me a big hug and says good luck. That was a surprise. I guess I'm like a teddy bear to people because Ive been getting a lot of unsolicited hugs around the world..or maybe people are just nice! Here is a link to Fitzroy Park that might give you a better idea of why I love this park: http://www.fitzroygardens.com
Next its time to walk over to Victoria Market. Rather I remember there is a free tram that circles the entire CBD. The trams are their older 1930-40 version trams that are quite nostalgic. I pick the free tram up just in front of the park and its takes about ten minutes to get to my drop off point where I then walk three blocks north to Victoria Market. This is a place where Graham Nott and Willie Triplett, my Kaplan US buddies that followed me to OZ back in 2012 use to meet on the weekend to have breakfast and visits the hundreds of kiosks and booths that make up the market. It is your basic famers market...on steroids. You could spend a whole day and still not hit all the venues. I walk around but I have conditioned myself not to buy anything that I don't need...it sort of worked. I take my few purchases and start the walk back to the ancient trams back to the condo. But I decide to walk the 30 minutes and take my time doing so. Here is a great link to explain better about the Victoria Market: http://www.qvm.com.au
I make it back and get a message from the school director that had run the Melbourne Carrick operation, Di Robinson. We hope to meet for dinner tonight. Then it dawns on me that I have to leave for Adelaide tomorrow. So I have some packing to do before dinner. I hate waiting the last minute to pack.
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| Pond at Fitzroy Park |
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| One of hundreds of these tall majestic tress in the park |
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| One of my favorite pictures of the path leading to the pond areas in Fitzroy Park |
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| View of Fitzroy Park Entrance from my condo. |
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