Today's Montage is all about the Docklands... I cannot get over how much they've changed, and how weird it was trying to orientate myself using a five year old memory...I had a fairly bad night's sleep... between the pub down the lane and the two clubs... I was okay until about 3am, but I think that's when everything starts letting out which woke me up and could not get back to sleep. I tossed and turned until about 4:30am, but fortunately I passed out about then and didn't wake up again until 6am. I do miss my bed and especially my big long Bodymate pillow...
After I got dressed Ma came down to my room for a bit and we watched some random crap on teevee so that PT could sleep in a bit longer (teenagers, whadyagunnado). I don't actually remember what time we left the hotel... it must have been around 9am or so though...
We just grabbed some breakfast from a random café on the run (I had big thick slices of raisin toast, although they could have been a little more toasted) and made our way to the Docklands... with the aim of getting to Harbour Town, but also taking in all the buildings and public art along the way (and stopping off at Southern Cross Station to buy some tram tickets for later today and tomorrow). And because we were fairly early I had the opportunity to take lots and lots of photos (it also let the ladies have a rest every now and again when I wandered off on a tangent).
Docklands is definitely the prime example of Melbourne's interesting architecture I was talking about yesterday.
We eventually wended our way to Harbour Town... which is about as interesting as our version (ie not really that exciting). I did get a pair of very groovy tartan shoes with a zip up the side (which had been $89.95) for $22.95... so I think that's a pretty good deal. There were also a pair of very camp yet groovy white leather shoes with pointy curvy toes... but they were still around $50.
PT just has no concept of shopping like a person (as opposed to shopping like I'm guessing teenagers do), she wanders around and around and around the shop, then seems to wander back past the stuff she's already looked at. Plus she's a label whore... not even an interesting labels at that... but then she is 16.
I also picked up a pair of aviator style sunglasses for $10 and a black alarm clock with a leopard print face... tacky, but it was cheap.
By the time we were done wandering around it was lunchtime, so we had lunch in the Food Court... of course we all wanted something different so we split up and did our own thing before coming back to the table (mine was from Burger Monster, and quite tasty).
I also had to go and hit the ATM while we were there since I was down towards the end of the money I'd taken out for the trip. I tell you what, its a good job I had some money in the bank, because with one thing and another, there's a big dent in it now...
Since we wanted to go further along the Docklands we jumped on the next available City Circle tram and then jumped off at the Blowhole (which isn't as filthy as the name suggests, it's actually the sculpture in the centre of the top row of the montage) and then wandered over to the Web Bridge... and I realised that somewhere along the way I'd lost the print out with the map and all the names of the sculptures... which meant I never got to see the Car Nuggets which was a little disappointing... so in the end we gave up and hopped back on the City Circle.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was around 1pm, so we dumped our morning purchases and wandered down to the Town Hall and jumped on the tram to take us down to Chapel Street.
I like Chapel Street... it's like Rundle Street crossed with Hindley Street on steroids... too many homos, too many cute boys, too many cute homos, too much funky and just a little bit skanky.
PT got all excited about the Playboy Boutique (see what I mean about questionable fashion choices)... but I'll admit, while it was all very overpriced, there were a few funky things in there, clothing wise.
I found a cool little figuring in this dodgy little store... I think it's supposed to be one of the Michael Lau "Gardener" figures... but I have the feeling that it's actually a knock-off (I need to investigate that)... especially because all the metal bits on him need a clean and he didn't come with a box of any kind. He's still funky though. I also picked up Latter Days at JB HiFi (since I'm not going to make it to Hares & Hyenas this time around) and got served by this funky little fag hag/dyke who knew the movie (Chapel Street, whadyagunnado).
The real destination was the Chapel Street Bazaar... and while it's very funky (if totally crowded and slightly confusing to navigate) I didn't find a single toy soldier of any kind and I didn't end up buying anything (even though I probably could have). It was also kinda odd when I suddenly had the realisation while perusing the antique cameras that I was probably standing in the exact same spot fellow blogger Shannon had been standing a week previously. It is indeed a small world after all.
Our last stop was this place selling lots of Bonds stuff cheaply... so I went a little nuts and bought three pairs of Bonds boxerbriefs (all about half price) and a pair of Levis boxerbriefs (I didn't even know that Levis made underwear).
We were actually pretty lucky with all the trams were were jumping on and off today... we didn't have to wait very long for something to come along (tram-wise that is).
When we got back into town I jumped off a stop before Ma and PT to go and do a brief street art reconnoitre... unfortunately it didn't work out quite like I planned (I only found a couple of things), but I did have a bit of a wander around and poked my nose in a few alleyways. I also wandered past Little Cupcakes, but since it was about 5pm on a Saturday afternoon the tiny shop was completely full and they were actually lined up out the door, so I decided against waiting around and headed back to the hotel.
I jumped in the shower when I got back, put on my new Levis undies (very comfy) and discovered that Lens Cap, the God of Cameras and Accessories was still not completely on my side (although as Ma said later, it was still left over bad juju from the first day)... the head of my little travel tripod had snapped. This one is my own fault though... it would have happened in my suitcase on the trip over, and I put it right at the bottom of the case rather than in the middle surrounded by clothes. Buggeration.
Thankfully the new camera is much better in low light...
Just before dusk we headed off to Southbank and I discovered that the camera was down to one bar of battery... which is also my own fault, I should have charged it last night, but it was still showing up as fully charged. Fortunately it made it through the evening without dying one me.
We crossed over on the white pedestrian bridge (I can't seem to find it's name anywhere), mostly because PT wanted to go and see some dumbass busker who was performing on the other side... I left her and Ma to it because there was no way known I was going to stand around watching pointless shit I avoid here at home, so I kept going down towards the Crown Casino (and was accosted by a cute guy who wanted to play noughts and crosses with me... I kept walking). Eventually they caught up with me and we headed over the road to look at the water feature in the Crown foyer. I should have realised that because of water restrictions they would have to turn parts of it off... so it just ended up looking very sad and pathetic to be honest... it was nowhere near what it used to be (stupid dry country).
In fact that whole Crown Complex was a little bit naff... I don't remember it being mind blowing before, but it just seems a little less interesting now.
We did the "Food Court Split" for dinner (which was fairly average as far as these things go)... and PT was the last one to go and get something and seemed to have been gone for an awfully long time (turns out she had to wait for her burger), and then had some unappealing guy give her his number and try to pick her up with cheesy pickup lines. Rude!
Unfortunately PT was still halfway through eating when the Gas Brigades went off for the first time along the concourse, but Ma stayed at the table with our stuff and I took her outside to let her see the show (and I managed to get a few half decent shots).
Once the flames had finished and we'd come back and she'd finished her dinner we headed back across the river to the hotel. I stopped off to get a Farmers Union Iced Coffee for tomorrow morning from the 7-Eleven (only a normal one unfortunately though... but I haven't had one since Tuesday), and that, as they say, was that.
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