a beautiful church in the city…
two days ago i left for the most marvellous, FUN adventure…
work sent me and my colleague lile (who is also one of my closest friends) to a training course to…. fabulous Melbourne.
I hadn’t been to Melbourne before, so we left the day before to get there and see the sights
we were so so excited…
Lile was amused by my puppy excitedness
i just soaked it all in…
when we flew into the city, all i could do was stare at the construction, the skyscrapers… the CITY.
we walked around the city heart…
I delighted in the gorgeous contrasts.
ancient buildings next to new skyscrapers and construction…
buildings that looked like cathedrals were universities advertising free imacs…
we walked into federation square ~ a place of architectural art.
modern modern modern…
buildings were warehouses meet glass shards meet cliffs of rock…
the people were so FRESH! so real, so funky…
I.want.to.be.a.melbournite.
I loved that they all wore what they wanted to wear.
a man drew amazing chalk drawings on the sidewalk…
his drawings belonged in churches instead of the streets…
or maybe it was exactly where they were supposed to be…
bringing fine art to the people…
I met Inka Marka (www.inkamarka.com) a South American band in Canberra a few times the last month,
and they rock my socks off every time. There are five of them,
with jet black hair, dark eyes.
Perfect unison, sublime energy.
Two days ago, in Melbourne, me and Lile walking down the streets.
We hear familiar flutes playing… then the guitars beginning. Lyrical music that lives in mountains far away.
We run, joyously, gigglings and shrieking down the street
There is our Inka Marka. In the middle of Melbourne.
Playing our songs.
Magic is well and alive.
Serendipity sings.
Chinatown is our next stop. Red banners with gold Chinest letters hanging against old buildings.
I find a Chinese tea cup set to give to Chris for drinking his green tea.
White china with blue traditional designs. Perfect.
I am loving this city.
Lile takes me to small lanes, arcades, malls
mosaic floors and gloriously small stores. Each is a surprise, a treasure, a find.
We find ourselves at Koko Black, a boutique chocolate store.
Upstairs there is a salon cafe that has a CHOCOLATE menu.
Lile pours over the menu… mmmm…. chocolate!
She gets a hot chocolate…
I get an icecream and chocolate martini…
Do I look excited at the prospect of eating it?
It is sublime to eat scrumptious chocolate in a scumptious room with old fashioned wall paper and soft leather chairs…
The atmosphere is wonderful…
I find and secure fabulous things ~
a turquoise hippy skirt
a shell and amethyst necklace
a multicoloured stone bracelet…
all of the above for a total of $25.
I kid you not.
Melbourne shopping is FABULOUS!
We take a train to an outer suburb to visit Lile’s mum and sisters.
We have the most incredible homemade spaghetti bolognaise.
We take a train back into the city.
There is someone waiting at our hotel for us.
Not just someone, someTHREE.
Three SARKettes. Praxis, Purple Goddess, PG’s hubby Furry.
Three gorgeous people I had only met on the internet before.
I walk through the doors, and there is laughter immerging from couches at the bar.
I run.
There is a woman with spectacularly long hair and a fabulous purple outfit.
another with dark pixie hair and a cheeky smile.
a man with kind eyes and fantastic facial hair.
Friends I hadn’t met yet.
I broke out into a run, bombdiving them with hugs.
we walk to an irish pub across the river.
The SWW Triangle ~ Purple Goddess, me, Praxis.
(Yes I really am that tall, and yes, she really is that short)
It was so gorgeous to see Purpy and Praxis together…
like two besty friends… they definitely would not have been allowed to sit next to each other in school…
we found our own cranny to sit in in the pub…
aptly named “POSTERS and newspapers”
Lile, Praxis, PG, Furry.
It was like meeting up with old friends.
Giggles and wine overflowing.
We speak of all things. Any thing. Everything.
Me, Prax, PG, Furburger
Praxis was wearing the most fabulous boots in the world, Purple Goddess was wearing incredible pants.
We even had time for a mini photo shoot, commissioned by the divine Miss Praxis herself.
We like to call this one “Who are you calling common?”
We walk back across the bridge… the bridge becomes a part of our photo shoot
Lile (who WILL be joining the SARK board! She has to now!), Furry, Praxis, Purple Goddess
Models Extraordinares… the next Calvin Klein shoot…
Me, Praxis, Furry, Purpy. Love Love Love.
Alas… being a school night… as the clock strikes midnight, our friends must go home.
we hug tightly. smile widely.
The girls as we say goodbye… the city’s lights in the background.
New friends, old friends, beginnings and highlights.
i love that i worried that i was so achingly young.
i love that praxis worried that she talked too much.
and i love
that purpy and furry would stop for snog/pash breaks… sweet sweet newlyweds.
Furry living up to his location name of “flubbering betwixt pg’s boosies”
They offer to walk us across the street safely to our hotel, but we stand on the street instead,
waving as they walk away. Giggling madly. What a wonderful night.
We walk instead to another pub for nightcaps and debriefing until they bar closes.
So we find ourselves at a 24 hour McDonalds.
A McDonalds with internet access (!!!!!) so of course,
we get on the SARK message board. Drunk.
That was my day in Melbourne.
It was an adventure, it was sublime.
And most importantly, it was damn FUN.
You know how “Fun” gets used too often and with little meaning?
I mean this one.
F U N was the theme.
And fun it was. This wasn’t a nice day in the park fun.
This was hula hoop red cordial party popper FUN!
I come back from Melbourne, and I am changed.
Imperceptibly, but I can feel it.
I feel freer, wider, more open eyed.
I’ve seen a new experience, a new way of living.
I really adored Melbourne, (would even consider moving there!)
and I REALLY adored its people.
What an adventure!
So much LOVE,
Leonie
