JMCBDDatlarge: Aborigines, St Kilda and 94F

Tuesday, January 17

Melbourne gets hot. Yesterday was warm at 90F, today it’s hot at 94F. But it’s not humid, so we manage. We are actually developing a little tan.

We headed out this morning to go to the exhibit of central Australian aboriginal art, Tjukurrtjanu, at the Ian Potter Center of the National Gallery of Victoria, We walked down the hill to the museum, about two miles from our BnB, along Lygon Street, and its many Italian restaurants and a smattering of other nationalities, into the Central Business District to get there. A free city tram, dating from the 1930s, took us part of the way through the CBD to the center.

The exhibit is so overwhelming that we have decided to go back tomorrow when there will be a docent tour to explain it. It’s huge, the art is complex. The society from which it comes is so different from ours. So we couldn’t easily comprehend what it was supposed to tell us and will go back. Can’t wait.

From there we bought our day tram and train tickets to get out to dinner tonight. With those in hand, we boarded a very crowded tram to St. Kilda, full of students on the way to the beach, to escape some of the heat and have lunch.It was about 94F (35C) We got to Luna Park, which is now totally restored from the ruin I saw 15 years ago, and then searched for lunch. We found it at a very nice sidewalk cafe-restaurant Sugar Reef on Fitzroy Street. We had a couple of salads---Ben had a pear and walnut salad. John had a Greek salad, and a Yak beer. Then we boarded a tram back into the city, walked by Brunetti for Ben’s coffee, today with a map of Tasmania textured in the froth.

Yesterday with our friends was a hoot. Libby and Jane’s mother, Mary, was there. She’s about the same age as our mothers would have been today...a war bride who came to Australia in 1946 and has lived all over the world since then with her husband. Her daughter Libby and husband Geoff have sold their home and are moving out next month, after 30 years there. We ate in the garden, enjoying the beautiful summer evening with the wine flowing at swimming pool levels. All of it went so well with the delicious smoked trout, the loin of pork, various salads and a sweet and crispy meringue with fresh strawberries and blueberries dessert. The conversation flowed as well among the friends, and son Tim’s mates who had visited us in the States 7 years ago. Nice to see TK and Chris and meet Chris’ fiancée. Tim’s g/f Sara is a delight. Everyone at the table had been to America,and other countries so it was an international evening.