The mighty Hawkwind played in Melbourne last weekend, so I thought I'd treat myself to a weekend away and flew down to see them. I was also keen to check out Melbournes new city bike scheme and compare it to its Brisbane equivalent.
Suitably refreshed I headed down to the tourist information centre to get my bike access sorted out. The tourist info people weren't much help and suggested I get a 'proper' bike from a bike hire company, but I persevered. The process is easy - you swipe your credit card and for a fee of $2.50 you can then take out a bike from one of the bike stations for upto half an hour for no additional charge. Once you dock a bike you have to wait 5 minutes or so before you can get another one out. There are stations all over the city, but unfortunately none down by the seaside. And oddly there are no take-away maps showing you the location of the bike stations - you need to get a city map and mark it up based on the maps they have at the bike station.
Once you're done with it, return it for a $3 refund. Easy.
The bikes themselves are a little more basic than the Brisbane bikes, but just as good. Or just as bad, as my bike snob mates would probably prefer :)
I had a great time pedalling around the various Melbourne sites in what was beautiful weather - 29 degrees & not a cloud in the sky
Eventually I returned to the lowly status of pedestrian and accidentally walked down from Toorak to St Kilda - I was looking for a bike shop on a specific street and it later turned out that it had closed down. Still, it was a nice day for a walk so I just kept on going and worked up a thirst. 
St Kilda is home to what is now one of my favourite pubs - 'The Taphouse' - on the junction of Chapel St & Carlisle St. They have a rotating menu of 20 beers on tap, including (on my visit) two separate Saisons. Above is a pint of Mornington Peninsula Saison, a lovely brew. Sadly this is not available in Queensland, but if my Saison ends up anything like that I'll be a happy man.
After a few beers the New Scientist I was reading stopped making much sense so I thought it was time to leave. I wandered through St Kilda enjoying the sights
I also noticed this dude, rocking courier style on a full downhill bike. With barends.
Time was pressing on so I went back to my room to freshen up, and after a quick and not entirely intentional nap I made it out to the gig venue. It was a bit of a wierd place - a teeny bopper club after 10pm, so the support band started at 6.30pm and Hawkwind at 7.40pm. It was a good gig - not great, and not as good as I've seen them in the past, but it was still well worth the visit. Dancers, guitar solos, wibbly wobbly synthesisers, strobe lights, synth breaks on a guitar-synth and lots of smoke - everything that a space rock band should have. No pictures unfortunately as I'd forgotton my camera.
I managed to get a 'budget' flight to Avalon airport, 'the second Melbourne airport', on Friday night. It's actually in Geelong, a good hours cab ride & $100 from Melbourne CBD, so that's not something I will be doing again. Still, I got to have a good chat with the cabbie.
On Saturday I went out for breakfast and remembered that Melbourne is different to Brisbane - people just don't get up early. At 9am the city was deserted. I was lucky enough to find a place offering Mexican breakfasts and my bacon, green chilli & olive breakfast burrito hit the spot. The sauce is a green habanero hot sauce.
Suitably refreshed I headed down to the tourist information centre to get my bike access sorted out. The tourist info people weren't much help and suggested I get a 'proper' bike from a bike hire company, but I persevered. The process is easy - you swipe your credit card and for a fee of $2.50 you can then take out a bike from one of the bike stations for upto half an hour for no additional charge. Once you dock a bike you have to wait 5 minutes or so before you can get another one out. There are stations all over the city, but unfortunately none down by the seaside. And oddly there are no take-away maps showing you the location of the bike stations - you need to get a city map and mark it up based on the maps they have at the bike station.
They've also addressed the problem of compulsary bike helmets - you can buy a helmet for $5 at a 7-11 or at a helmet vending machine
The bikes themselves are a little more basic than the Brisbane bikes, but just as good. Or just as bad, as my bike snob mates would probably prefer :)
I had a great time pedalling around the various Melbourne sites in what was beautiful weather - 29 degrees & not a cloud in the sky
Eventually I returned to the lowly status of pedestrian and accidentally walked down from Toorak to St Kilda - I was looking for a bike shop on a specific street and it later turned out that it had closed down. Still, it was a nice day for a walk so I just kept on going and worked up a thirst. St Kilda is home to what is now one of my favourite pubs - 'The Taphouse' - on the junction of Chapel St & Carlisle St. They have a rotating menu of 20 beers on tap, including (on my visit) two separate Saisons. Above is a pint of Mornington Peninsula Saison, a lovely brew. Sadly this is not available in Queensland, but if my Saison ends up anything like that I'll be a happy man.After a few beers the New Scientist I was reading stopped making much sense so I thought it was time to leave. I wandered through St Kilda enjoying the sights
I also noticed this dude, rocking courier style on a full downhill bike. With barends.Time was pressing on so I went back to my room to freshen up, and after a quick and not entirely intentional nap I made it out to the gig venue. It was a bit of a wierd place - a teeny bopper club after 10pm, so the support band started at 6.30pm and Hawkwind at 7.40pm. It was a good gig - not great, and not as good as I've seen them in the past, but it was still well worth the visit. Dancers, guitar solos, wibbly wobbly synthesisers, strobe lights, synth breaks on a guitar-synth and lots of smoke - everything that a space rock band should have. No pictures unfortunately as I'd forgotton my camera.
To be honest I was secretly glad that it finished early - after a long day I was exhausted....
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