A Day in Melbourne

I don't get in to the city very often these days. We are only an hour and a half away from Melbourne but our small town is self sufficient and so I don't venture very far these days.

Today was an exception. I rose at dawn, packed some sandwiches and a thermos and came in to town by train. When you travel by train you see the world differently and, as it rumbled along the track I had time to meditate, eat my sandwiches and permit myself to simply be. I had a book with me but this morning I was happy to simply watch the workers who were making their daily pilgrimage into the city. I felt no envy as I looked at their strained faces. Mobiles phones kept ringing and I wondered when these people ever have a moment to themselves.

From Spencer Street I caught the loop to Melbourne Central and wandered up the escalators, past the endless food stores, up, past shops filled with gaudy merchandise out onto the street. I was heading towards the Melbourne State Library. It may not be the first place you'd think of to look for treasure, but the State Library of Victoria is home to some of the State's most precious, rare and beautiful items. Today I was interested in finding the Experimedia centre.

The Experimedia centre is the venue where Heather and Sarah Boland have been displaying student work from the Pop Fiction Project and I was blown away by the material that they had gathered in just a few short weeks. Today they were working with Hip hop artist, Elf Tranzporter, who was teaching Heather's students about hip hop and how to write hip hop lyrics. I came to watch. It was magical to see students record their songs in Experimedia's sound booth. Kids began nervously but by the end of the session Monkey Mark and Elf had them producing extraordinary tracks. How many kids get an opportunity like this? How many cut their first single in Year 9? Technology really does seem to be providing so many opportunities these days. I feel envious of the banquet of tools Heather has to work with these days.

During a lunch break we went visited the newly renovated reading room and swooned over the art deco fittings. Then we went across to Melbourne Central where I stocked up on my favourite perfume, Evelyn and we sat having some lunch. My garden is always filled with the perfume of beautiful roses but nothing quite matches the scent of Evelyn.

The train trip home was hassle free and I am just relaxing after a late dinner. Anyone want to share a coffee and musket with some chocolates?