The Walk

I did a lot of walking today. Aside from a 15min wait due to a technical issue cancelling the train I went for (some things are the same the world over) and the subsequent 10min train ride to my destination, I was on my feet and walking for a good 5 hours on the trot.

First stop was to the iconic Brighton Beach Boxes. Shot from this angle a million times over I guess the Australian flagged box acts as a magnet for photographers. I did start at the southern end though and worked my way up. It was another fabulous day. The sun was out and the temperatures were beginning to rise towards another mid-thirties day high and the gently rippling waters lapped against the shore with hardly a wisp of wind in the air. By the time I arrived at the northern end of the boxes though, the wind had picked up a little and the waters had started forming wee white caps as they approached. I also timed my arrival with that of a coach load of tourist/photographers all wanting this same shot. I was happy to take shelter from the sun in the cool lee of the rescue hut while everyone snapped away.

The boxes first appeared in Brighton in 1862. With the completion of the tram between Melbourne and St. Kilda in 1906, applications to build increased dramatically. At one point there were thought to be between 100 and 200 lining the beach at Bay Street. As part of a general works order to help employment during the Great Depression, the boxes were moved from their original location to the high water mark on Dendy Street beach before being moved again in 1934 to their present location at the back of the beach.

A short train trip up to Balaclava and a wander down to the esplanade brought me past one Victorian tourist icon, Luna Park (alas closed, as was Sydney last time I visited) to another in the form of the St. Kilda pier and pavilion which is my extra for the day. Built in 1904, the kiosk served refreshments to patrons of the pier until its destruction by arson in 2003. Rebuilt to the original plans and using as much salvaged components as possible, the kiosk reopened in 2006.

I had wanted to do the solar system walk as part of my trip this time, a 1:1 billion scale model of our solar system in a 5.9km walk that takes you from St. Kilda to Port Philip. For some reason I though that the walk began from St. Kilda pier but when I cam across Jupiter first I realised I had to slingshot back around to the sun some 730 billion km in the other direction (phew, that was a walk)! It was a great way to represent the sun and our neighbouring planets. We really are just a small rock in the vastness of it all. The gas giants swallow up our little ball several times over. In the climbing heat of the sun I had to add a little extra to the tour, a small gelato ice comet. I wonder if they are all strawberry flavoured? The beach bunnies were out in force, roasting themselves on the sand and playing in the waters of Port Phillip. It was good to see Pluto still standing at the end of the wander, revisionism only taking the form of a mention on the plaque that it had been reclassified in 2006. It was toaty though! ;-)

By the time I completed my trek it sure felt like a 1:1 scale representation to me. Hahaha... how unfit am I? :-)