Melbourne Places » Tram Route 67

St Kilda Botanical Gardens – a winter view

Melbourne — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:18:00 +0000

The St Kilda Botanical Gardens are in winter mode. It is a lovely time to visit and see the gardens preparing for spring and summer. Occasionally you see a sign of things to come with clumps of bulbs sending up their first spring shoots.

The ambiance in the Alistair Clarke Rose Garden is different at this time of the year. The roses have been pruned – the green and the flowers have gone and the canes are stark against the mulched ground.

I am interested in their pruning style. When I studied the canes and what was left after such abundant growth earlier in the year I realized that I had been very timid when I pruned my few roses. The gardens have cut them back severely.

I am looking forward to seeing how these canes sprout and how quickly the flowers come. Last season they were beautiful.

The grass is very green after all the rain we have had and bare branches of the deciduous trees stand out against the sky and the luscious green of the Macrocarpa hedge that protects the rose garden.

There is a lot to see at this time of the year.

Getting there:-
96 Tram to the terminus the end of Acland Street. Walk up Blessington Street – on your left.
Trams 67, 3 or 16 to the corner of Brighton Road and Carlisle Street and walk along Blessington Street – Blessington Street is on your right when you get off the tram.

Salvos move to Carlisle Street, St Kilda and take on a new look.

Melbourne — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 02:00:22 +0000

The say good things come in small packages and the St Kilda, Salvation Army Opportunity Shop is proof of this. They have downsized. In doing so they have created a much better outlet in Carlisle Street than the previous one on the corner of Inkerman Street and St Kilda Road.

That huge rambling and messy warehouse on the corner of Inkerman Street and St Kilda Road has closed. The site has turned into a bike emporium.

The new shop in Carlisle has style compared with the old one and they have cut down on their stock. I always believed that there was so much ‘stuff’ in the old warehouse no one would be able say exactly what was in there.

The new store has added style to a Salvo browse. The shop is laid ‘out’. The dressing rooms are no longer a sort of curtained box, designer gear is in the front when you walk in.

Shoes are ordered on racks and someone keeps them tidy.

Home wares tend to be colour coded for example there is a shelf of blue. Books are newer – less knocked about, It feels cleaner and there are less of the things that no one is ever going to buy. It also feels as if the place is dusted sometimes – perhaps regularly.

I have been told they are charging more that they did in the old warehouse. This could apply to their designer gear although my black Country Road singlet was $5.00.

Last time I was there they had a piano, which seemed odd because the shop next door is a piano shop. I was hoping some one in the large browsing crowd would play it. If they did it was after I left. I also noticed some crutches in one corner should you ever need any.

The Salvos, St Kilda:-
Opposite the City of Port Phillip Town Hall in Carlisle Street.

Opening hours:-
Monday to Wednesday 9.00am to 5.00pm
Thursday to Friday 9.00 to 7.00pm
Saturday 9.00a, to 5.00pm

Getting there:-
Trams No 3 or No 16
Get off at the stop on the corner of St Kilda Road and Carlisle Street.

Alister Clark’s Rose Garden in Full Bloom

Melbourne — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:49:52 +0000

October was a wet month for Melbourne and the roses loved it. They’re in flower all over the city. It was time for a visit to The Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden in the St Kilda Botanical Gardens. (See my previous post)

I went this week in the relative cool of an early morning when the temperature was to rise into the 30s later. The roses have suffered because of this heat. It has actually singed some of the more delicate blooms.

The Alister Clark Rose Garden is a special place - warm and fragment with the huge sculptured macrocarpa hedge protecting it. It is a little sad to think this beautiful hedge may have contributed to the scorching that some of the blooms have suffered.

It is still worth a visit. Many have been spared by the heat wave and are putting on a spectacular display.

This is one of my favourite roses and I am again lamenting that the roses aren’t named in this garden. I would like to own it so unless I can find a knowledgeable nurseryman who can identify it from the photo I am stuck with simply admiring it whenever I visit the Alister Clark Rose Garden.

There are some big shady trees for a picnic and at the moment it is also a chance to admire some of the irises – they don’t appear to mind a gust of hot wind.

The gardens are open from sunrise to sunset (from dawn until dusk) seven days a week.

Getting there:-

96 Tram to the terminus the end of Acland Street. Walk up Blessington Street – on your left.

67 Tram to the corner of Brighton Road and Carlisle Street and walk along Blessington Street -on the right off Brighton Road.

Hearty Hungarian meals – Authentic European eating in East St Kilda .

Melbourne — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:58:34 +0000

A cold evening, showers and a chill wind, your heading home and the big question is what to eat. Take-a-ways seem a good idea and you want something quick.

How about The Hearty Hungarian, in Carlisle Street East St Kilda?

The food is ready to go – no waiting around. All you have to do is make choices. The Hearty Hungarian – is right next door to the St Kilda branch of the Port Phillip Library Service so you can roll out of there and step into it..

The first time I got food from there I’d been to the library and at closing stepped from that warm building into the chill of the evening. There it was, the Hearty Hungarian in all its unsophisticated glory – Hungarian colours, bright lights and hot filling food.

The café has been here for a couple for a couple of years and is becoming known for serving up good home cooked traditional Hungarian food. The meals are cooked by a Hungarian cook who has been feeding her family delicious wholesome food for 30 years or more

The food is ‘cheap and cheerful’. There is nothing polished about this place. The tables inside are covered with flower patterned oil-cloth.

A meal, $11.90, is served with a main and two sides. I believe you get enough food to feed two with the one serving but of course that depends on how much you eat and how hungry you are.

$11.90 meal

Tightly filled cabbage rolls ( 2 per serve) are baked with sauerkraut. When you think of a cabbage roll keep the thought of a spring roll out of your mind. These are huge in comparison. The taste is interesting and could well come from the paprika that is used extensively in Hungarian cooking.

My favourite main is stuffed red peppers. They are filled with delicate flavoured rice and mince. The slightly sweetish taste that I love and go back to the Hearty Hungarian for may come from the red pepper and possibly paprika.

stuffed red pepper with sauce and cabbage roll

I have a retro Hungarian cook book written by Kato Frank published in 1963. Kato Frank talks a lot about the heavy use of Paprika in Hungarian food. The stuffed Red Peppers have a great colour too.

A $11.90 meal consisted of two peppers or two cabbage rolls or another main such beef stroganoff or meat loaf and two sides. For side dishes I like lentils and Hungarian gnocchi a very small sized pasta about the size of a pea and it goes well with the red peppers. The lentils are particularly good.

lentils and Hungarian gnocchi

This little food outlet enhances the European feel you get on this part of Carlisle Street St Kilda East.

Getting there:

Trams 12, 3, going along Carlisle Street, first stop past St Kilda Road. 67 Tram get off at the corner of Carlisle and St Kilda Road or a 78 that runs from Richmond to the St Kilda East end of Chapel Street.

The café is between Chapel Street and St Kilda Road, beside the entrance to the St Kilda Library and opposite the St Kilda Town Hall.

You can also can take the Sandringham Line train to Balaclava Station and walk towards Chapel Street.

Chess at St Kilda Botanical Gardens – St Kilda

Melbourne — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:28:19 +0000

One of the attractions at the St Kilda Botanical Gardens is the Giant Chess Board.

There is an area set aside especially for Chess near the pond and the conservatory. It has built in bench-seats and tables. The tables have regular chess boards set into them so you can bring your own set, sit in the fresh air under the trees and challenge your friend to a game. Summer’s fine too because there are beautiful old trees shading the area.
For the experience of walking around with your chess pieces you need to to book

Ring 9209 6777 to book the Giant Chess Set.

If you are reading this over Queens Birthday weekend you could wander along to the St Kilda Botanical Gardens and check out the ‘Paint These Gardens Competition’.

The winner is announced at 4pm on Queens Birthday Monday. All the paintings, winners or not, will be on display in the St Kilda Town Hall in September.

A lot happens in the St Kilda Botanical Gardens – they are ‘user friendly’ as they say.

Take either a 3 or a 67 Tram to the corner of Brighton Road and Carlisle Street then walk up Blessington Street. The 96 tram will take you to the end of Acland Street and you can walk to the Gardens from that end of Blessington Street.

Either way it is about 2 minutes from the tram stop.

The Block Arcade – Downtown Melbourne – CBD

Melbourne — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:50:22 +0000

Add some magic to your shopping

There is magic in the Block Arcade. It grabs you and takes you back to the past. It’s a romantic past where imaginations were given the money to roam. The Arcade was designed by David Askew for local financier. The brief was to produce something like the Galleria Vittoria in Milan.

There is a distinct European flavour in The Block with its beautiful glass ceilings, a glass dome in the centre, wrought iron and carved stone finishings.

It is shaped like an ‘L’ with identical entrances on Elizabeth Street and Collins Street. Strangely, most people enter from Collins Street and that is the busiest section.

The mosaic tiled floor runs throughout the precinct and the wooden shop fronts are elegant. In fact the whole area is elegant.

This stunning mosaic is under the huge central glass dome. The dome is so large I didn’t manage to get anything decent in the way of a photo to show it off. You’ll have to see it for yourself and try to take a photo.

I suggest you have coffee at the Cafe Duomo. It’s on the corner of the ‘L’ and runs into Block Pace that comes out in Little Collins Street. You can gaze at all the splendor from an outside table and watch the passing parade. Coffee is strong and good.

Another favourite place to eat is the Hopetoun Tearooms at the Collins Street entrance but I prefer outside at Café Duomo so I can see where I am and enjoy the experience as I watch people wandering around admiring and staring in that ‘gob-smacked’ sort of way. You can tell the visitors from the locals.

The Block Arcade is in the CBD Running between Collins Street and Elisabeth Street. You can also enter from Little Collins Street and walk through the cafes in Block Place

Alister Clark Rose Garden – Botanical Gardens St Kilda.

Melbourne — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:58:35 +0000

The Alister Clark Memorial Rose garden is one of the highlights of a visit to the St Kilda Botanical Gardens, in Blessington Street.
It is autumn now and many of the roses are still in bloom – pruning hasn’t started yet so there is still a lot to admire – and smell.

The garden is laid out with a pretty gazebo in the centre – a popular place for weddings. Chairs are brought in for a wedding but there are plenty of benches dotted around the garden. They makes a perfect place to relax, read, contemplate or people-watch. The area is protected by a huge and striking macracarpa hedge. Even on a cold day it feels warmer sitting in the rose garden with this thick hedge surrounding you. You’ll find many people agree and on sunny but cold winter’s day, it is often hard to find a spot on one of the benches.

I am sure it is a macracarpa hedge but there is no identifying notice. I find it disappointing too that the roses aren’t named. However this may not be a problem if you know Alister Clark’s roses. A number of them are attributed to him. And of course you can still enjoy them without knowing their names. Smell them too. Many have a beautiful perfume

If you tire of St Kilda Beach, the crowds, the cakes in Acland Street and the noise take a stroll up Blessington Street. Blessington Street is at the southern end of Acland Street -at the end of the 96 Tram line. It’s only a couple of minutes to Botanical Gardens.

If you want to give Acland Street a miss you can get the 67 Tram and get off at the corner of Carlisle Street and Brighton Road and walk up Blessington Street – on your left, just off Carlisle Street.

This rose is in full bloom at the moment. It is stunning. If anyone recognises it please let me know it’s name.