Above the Verandas

Do you ever look above the shop fronts?

I do and I wonder why I haven’t hit the car in front.
Above the shop fronts, there is another world. Sometimes it shows you signs of the early history of the buildings, or shows the contrast between a modern street level and the original second level.
Many of our inner suburban strip shopping streets have evolved from the late 1800s through prosperous times, the depression and times of migration with enclaves of different nationalities.
One street that has fascinated me has always been Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

I decided that during a break during the working day, I'd park the car, not easy in this very busy area around lunch time and walk a small portion of Brunswick Street with my camera.

Fitzroy is actually one of Melbourne's first suburbs, in fact the oldest being proclaimed a borough in 1858. My early ancestor, George Sims arrived in the late 1800s at the age of 16 from London to make a new life for himself. Originally living in the inner city, he later moved to the Fitzroy area as did later generations of the family, the last being my father as a child. The life was particularly tough during the 1930s and 1940s.

I remember the rough times during the 60s when it was not a nice place to be when the sun went down. Towards the city end of Brunswick Street was the Rob Roy Hotel. It had a reputation as a bit of a blood bath of a drinking hole. Things started to change leading into the late 70s and then the 80s.
Today the street is vibrant with the Bohemia and trendy mixing with long term residents and the not so well-off.

The shops have a similar theme to the people in the street. Next to the community help centres for the poor could be a trendy boutique beer bar. Eclectic music and book shops snuggle up to pre-loved clothing stores and all manner of cuisine from the many cafes and restaurants.


Brunswick Street somehow, despite its buildings of peeling paint, graffiti and hotch-potch appearance, it oozes with a vibrancy that can’t be found outside the inner Melbourne district. It really is worth a walk down its three kilometer length.

Above the verandas is well worth a look in Brunswick Street.

For more information on Fitzroy's history and the day to day life within the suburb, go to the link below.
http://indolentdandy.net/fitzroyalty/

Nar Nar Goon - the Mural Town

This morning was my corner duty day – if you have been watching the Tour de France, you would be aware of the traffic control involved? Well smaller club races are no different, albeit on a smaller scale. Safety and duty of care are always the main issues today in this litigious society.
Get on with the story Leon….
OK so I did my corner duty out in the cold with my Hi Visibility vest and the all important stop/slow lollipop sign (I felt important) and did my bit for the year.

These days road racing is some distance from the built up areas of the Melbourne sprawl. On this occasion the race was about 65 kms south east from the city.
Not far from the corner that I was marshalling is a small town called Nar Nar Goon. It’s probably no more than a km or two from the main highway. I’ve always been intrigued by the name, even as a child. It means Koala in the language of the Aboriginals from the district.
I can remember a radio personality by the name of “Joffa Boy” Allen talking about the local Nar Nar Goon football team. Before the war they would race cars on an old dirt circuit out there. I’d interviewed some of the drivers who raced there before the war in my book “Rob Roy Hill Climb”.
As well as the local footy club, Nar Nar Goon would have their Potato Festival to raise funds for local community projects – there was even a Miss Nar Nar Goon, a title to be proud of by a local Belle that raises the amount of funds.

Anyway, I thought being so close, I’ll have a look at the town out of interest.
These days Nar Nar Goon is known as the “Mural Town”. The walls of the different establishments are tastefully painted with scenes from an earlier era of the town.

Hope you enjoy the photographs – click on them to enlarge.
Have to go now, Sue wants me to vacuum. I have to build up some Brownie points for next weekend.

Contrasts in Architecture

Pic 1: Me having a great day in my home town - note the tiled entrance to Block Arcade.

Pic 2: The Mansion still stands although now dwarfed by steel & concrete.

It’s Sunday morning in Melbourne, and deciding on a sleep-in, Sue and I enjoyed a late breakfast at a Bayside Café near home. The sky was cloudless and the bay was still. People were walking their dogs or stopping at the café after a crisp winter morning ride on the bike paths hugging the beaches of Port Phillip Bay.

My mate, Daggy Dazza called me later in the morning to organize a ride into Melbourne Central to take some pics.
I had this concept of “Contrasts in Architecture” within Melbourne. I see old buildings from Melbourne’s past that have escaped the wrecker’s hammer, and yet the ones that didn’t escape have these weird and sometimes wonderful buildings in their place reaching upward and dwarfing the heritage below.

During the ride I also rediscovered the arcades leading from the place where I had my first job, to the other end of the city. How it has changed, not the buildings in themselves, but the ambience. The character of the laneways which to me in the 60s were a quicker place to get from where I was to where I wanted to go had now transformed into a buzz of Sunday Socializing. Sections of the arcades cater for the cafes and have a certain grunge factor where further up the city they become a more up-market shopping area.
Pic 3: This gothic style building, now apartments has always intrigued me. I'd like to know more of its history. The area known as St Kilda Road has lost many of its earlier buildings with little pockets still hiding under tall buildings.

With cafes, bars, fashion shops and a mix of locals and tourists abound, I actually felt like a tourist with my camera. Riding out of the city, we took the bike paths home. These follow the bayside beaches and even though its winter, the paths were being used by other cyclists with their families and locals walking their dogs while taking in the fresh air of the bay.
On my return home, I said to Sue, let’s go there next Sunday and enjoy our own City.
Even Daggy Dazza said, “Travelling opens your eyes to home.” He’s right you know.

Pic 5: Sitting beside a modern metal (& rusty) structure is the Malthouse Theatre. Originally a factory and warehouse, the complex is now a venue for plays and music with several small and intimate theatres.

Pic 5 & 6: One of the "Grungy" laneways of Melbourne now full of cafes. Note the running shoes hanging from the light fittings. A regular activity of the local teenagers I suspect.

Pic 7: Daggy Dazza in front of Block Arcade - will they let us in dressed like this?

Pic 8: Melbourne was founded in August 1835 and the Mitre Tavern was built in 1837. It is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Melbourne and still has a full operating licence to this day. It is nestled amongst other fine examples of architecture from the late 1800s, early & late 1900s in the upper end of Melbourne's financial district.

Pic 9 : Melbourne's Flinder's Street station is an iconic monument. Note the high rise building in contrast.