The Quintessential Traveller

29th March 2008...
And so after two weeks at Caulfield I had to move to Clayton. A place far from the busier parts of city life, this district is definitely sub urban. It is nice though, very calm, very peaceful.. and the night sky here is awesome! It wasn't hard to locate the house, the guys there picked a sweet spot right across their school, Monash's Clayton Campus. It was here that I experienced the first of Autumn and it was not gentle. But when I first arrived it was still Summer in full force, it's hard to get used to the idea that when the sun's down, it is time to sleep. Sunset is around nine at night during summers here, you'd think it'd only be time for dinner. Even then, the climate is most irregular with bouts of cold fronts from the south for days and then an abrupt return to the heat. When you seek shelter under a tree in a hot day you'll be surprised of the difference!
Now I've come to stay in the home of five guys, Jeff's friends, Monash students, football players and gamers. They've just gotten the place not too long ago either, cabinets weren't available, door handles litter the corridor.. but it was peaceful.

The thing with this place is it is quite some distance away from Swinburne University of Technology.. not to mention on a different railway line altogether. Clayton's at the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne metro while Hawthorn, where Swinburne's campus is located, is still well within metro and in the east. To get to school I could do it several ways. One way was to take a bus from Monash Clayton to Clayton Railway station and get on a train to Richmond which takes around 40 minutes at least and then switch to an eastbound train. That path normally takes almost an hour. The other one which we only discovered after a few days was taking a bus from Monash northwards to Syndal Railway Station and then head towards Burnley and then off to Glenferrie.. All in all... it was still very time consuming. At times I didn't even feel like going back to Clayton after school! I'll load up a nice map of the Metro railway network for a good idea of how it was!
THERE YOU GO! Melbourne Metropolitan Railway Network.

That's the temporary home at Clayton!

And from the driveway...

The first signs of Autumn from very visible from Syndal station. On the way to school of course...
This station is quite camouflaged by bushes and trees and everything that it actually looks like a railway line cuts through a hill from the outside.

The good thing about staying at the suburbs is the view, which are clear and unobstructed most of the time. But that comes with the wind, the cold, the hail and the storm. Oh well...

Syndal station!!! This was my favourite hangout place for a good two weeks!

Oh and of course I've finally managed to get some music back in here, just as it was orignally way back in.. I can't remember which year. Anyway this IS a sanctuary so if all this lets you escape even for a moment from the rush and the works, then the purpose for the existence for this place has been fulfilled. And I'll be glad it helped.

Dire Straits

8th March 2008 then...
And so I've moved on to a nice chap's house. He's Jeff's friend, and so I'm his. The place is a nice little studio apartment at Caulfield right across from the Monash University campus there. From there on to school isn't too bad, just about six stations up to Richmond interchange and then another four or five Eastbound to Glenferrie. I'm just glad there's a small little spot for me where I can relax and unwind and stare at the walls and ceilings. There's a small little cove that's supposed to be some sort of balcony. When I send my clothes for a wash, I tend to sit out there and just look at the nice starry skies. The skies are different here.

The search for a suitable home here continues with no end in sight. We've visited many and applied for some and yet here we are. Walking up and down the streets looking up homes and property agencies have never been this essential, never felt this.. cruicial. And still we happy homeless few...

During my first week at Caulfield I got myself a stomach infection. Most horrible feeling ever.. You can't keep your food down properly and the toilet's your best friend. Between these two you basically lie on the bed powerless.. you just feel.. tired and very very uncomfortable with all the gas in there. I did manage to get myself to the nearest Asian's grocer to get some ginger and honey tea though, on the day itself when I was grazed by this terrible affliction. Went to see the doc the next day and he simply said stomach infection, nothing you can do about it just take some medication and you'll be fine. Easy for him to say when I was the one going purple.

This here is a picture of Glenferrie Road just by the school. Swinburne's to the right along with the Railway Station that cuts the campus in two. It's a busy little street and it may not look much but there's a couple of nice things here. There's Mc Donald's along with Sushi Sushi and some other asian restaurants, a personal favourite is Hawker's Cafe since they have my beloved Teh. There're two supermarkets, bookshops, gameshops, couple of banks and there's even a dedicated crumpler shop. No Krispy Kremes though...

This I took on one of my many trips walking around looking for houses. I took this picture because after that long walk I realised I was up on a high ground and turned around to see how far I've gone. This street is a couple of streets down that runs parallel to Chapel Street. Toorak Road itself isn't even visible here. Oh and look at that slope...

But on some cheerful days I am greeted by just such a sight. A sight many will kill and die for... The Gucci, the LV for gaming systems... Alienware.

And when you stand up and see this.. There's a reason why it's called Alien Invasion!

Within Southern Cross Station on a bright sunny evening. Everything looks nice and fine when the sun's up and shining, then you'll feel just fine...

Well soon I shall have to be moving again as Caulfield will be unavailable. Next destination I've been told is an outskirt called Clayton...

Mein Kampf

28th February 2008
Eastern Front
Situation: Nomadic

The struggle to locate a long term habitable location continues. Multiple possible positions have been identified but has yet to be confirmed if we are to be able to acquire the said locations. Meanwhile we toured our allies' stronghold to get a better idea of how well entranched we are and of our lines on this front. One of the more prominent locations is Fort Ying, after the commanding officer of the settlement. Located near the end of Bourke street it is a remarkable place with the Southern Cross Railway Station just across the street. It also commands the high ground with very good lines of sight.

A good idea of the high ground from Fort Ying with a view of the streets below with the Victorian church across.

Looking deeper into CBD area from the sentry balcony of Fort Ying shows the good lines of sight.

Also, a good coverage of the Southern Cross Railway Station as can be seen here in the evening light with docklands beyond it. The docklands area was more like a harbour not 20 years ago, it has been turned into a modern residential and commercial district now.

The day after we toured the western edges of the CBD and this is the view up the Yarra river between Southern Cross Railway station and Crown.

This is taken recently from the approaches to the southern half of Swinburne University of Technology. A lovely walk from Glenferrie train station.

So then 13 days after our landing we still have yet to secure a prominent settlement that can be fortified and be held with confidence. I shall have to relocate to another temporary shelter as my current position is compromised after the first planned 10 days. We need to find that settlement, fast. Time is not on our side now.

I shall lodge in another report once I have completed my temporary relocation. I pray it won't be long...

New Life, settling down...

But then it seems life is peachy. The first ten days I was in Melbourne I was staying at a backpacker's inn while we were looking for a more permanent sort of lodging. Meanwhile there's school to deal with as well. Registration, orientation and everything. It's only the third day and I had to find my way to Hawthorn for my registration day and so with sushi as breakfast I blundered my way onto Glenferrie Railyway station. The view wasn't half bad.

That view above was what greeted me when the train I was on pulled into the station and on the station sign it boldly stated "Glenferrie - Swinburne University of Technology". A beautiful day indeed, clear blue skies and all.

Making my way through most of the campus was fairly easy as they had boards pointing the way towards the Hawthorn Town Hall where the Registration was to take place. Right across the street I took the liberty to snap a picture of it while waiting for the light to go green. The tower can serve as a marker. The Melbourne CBD skyline can actually be seen from here!

And there it is! 360 Burwood Road, Hawthorn Town Hall and a full two hours of rigors await.

After three hours I was back on platform 1 of Glenferrie station and I found that even here the CBD skyline is clearly visible. Feels like the city isn't far off. No, no within normal walking distance. Have you not heard of the phrase appearances can be deceiving? Further, it seems that the process of searching for a long term home here is more complicated than expected. Ten days it seems may not be enough. I had to find alternatives.

But not all is lost. A couple of days after registration was the orientation day proper and my lecturer/tutor/unit convenor/superman Dr Mark Finn brought me up to the computer lab that was being prepped and readied for us gaming students and the new semester. Guess what these rooms are loaded with? Check out that silhouette. I'm sure you've seen that somewhere! Oh that's the good Dr reflected on the beautiful clean glass.

Hell, that was enough to light up my day.

Five more days now...