It has been here for a couple of years and although there isn’t much foot traffic it is a busy corner for road traffic.  There is free parking in the local streets and this Op Shop appears to be flourishing.

The shop has become known locally for its stylish windows.  They are ever changing and they display someone’s skill at window dressing.

It’s not quite the Royal Wedding but it is very cute

A recent window as seen from Hotham Street.

I think the prices here are good, too  There have been complaints about the increase in prices charged by the Salvation Army shop now that it is in Carlisle.  See here. I think the prices in Inkerman Street are still reasonable.

For example the charming old dolls in the window display are $10 each.

It is crowded inside but the layout works.  Again someone with some flair has been at work here.

I suppose an increase in prices has become inevitable now that Op Shops have become more main stream – a place where everyone browses.  Real “finds” have become harder to come by.

A spin off from this maybe the enticing window displays.  In this Sacred Heart Op Shop everything in the window is for sale and you can collect your item when the window is dismantled. It is rather like putting a red sticker on a sold piece of art.  You leave your phone number and an assistant will ring you and hold the item until you can collect.

Where:-
Sacred Heart Mission, Inkerman Street Op hop
415 Inkerman Street, St Kilda East

Phone: Shop – 9536 8437
For donations – 9536 8437

Opening hours:-
Monday to Thursday 10.00 to 5.00
Friday            10.00 to 7.00
Saturday & Sunday  10.00 to 5.00

Getting There: -
Trams 3 & 16 take you to the corner of Carlisle Street and Hothman Street and you can walk along Hotham to Inkerman
Driving.  There is one hour street parking locally.

Related posts:

1. Salvos move to Carlisle Street, St Kilda and take on a new look.
2. Carlisle Street in St Kilda East is evolving. Check out the Carlisle Street Bazaar
3. Gattica Restaurant, St Kilda East, is all about atmosphere

The smell of food cooking leads you to the Suzuki Night Market.   The smell is delicious with the main ingredient being the aroma of barbecuing.  This is strange because when you get into the market there is an incredible selection foods – a chance to eat your way around the world with food from many countries.

This market is held every Wednesday until 2nd of March on the Queen Victoria Market site. It  has  been operating on this site for a number of years and has built up a strong following.

In the unusual weather we are having this summer the evening I went was the first sunny Wednesday for a few weeks.  Not that rain really matters because most of the stalls are under cover. The market opens at 5.30pm and this is the scene at 5.45pm with the crowd  flowing in.  In the fine weather this is where the entertainment is.

There are a numerous stalls but with the stomach-rumbling smells that meet you on Elizabeth Street most people head to the food section.  There are two food areas both on the right of the walkways.  This gives you some an idea of the fare on offer.

Nepalese food – Chicken Sekuwa

African curries

Australian eating – Ostrich Burgers – Croc Burgers – Roo Burgers

Korean tornado potatoes – these were a hit with queues waiting to be served

.

Beautiful cup cakes to finish you eating experience.

Prices are good for the food – mostly $10.00 or under with the Korean Tornado Potato at $5.00

Food is not the only interest.  There are numerous stalls of clothing,  jewelry, crafts and an area for tarot reading, massage, reflexology – all good things for the spirit.

Hair Sticks

coconut watches

Locally designed clothes

While all this is happening there is entertainment.  Check the web site here for further information on who is performing.

Where:-
Suzuki Night Market
Queen Victoria Market
Corner of Elizabeth and Queen Streets

Hours:-
5.30pm to 10.00pm
Every Wednesday until March 2nd
Further information

Getting There:-
Tram: Any tram that goes up Elizabeth Street or the Free City Circle and get off at Queen Victoria Market
Train; Get off at Melbourne Central

Web site:-

http://www.qvm.com.au/snm/snm_home.aspx

Related posts:

1. Prahran Market –the food lovers market in South Yarra
2. St Kilda Night Market Thursday 10th March 2011 -O’Donnell Gardens
3. St Kilda Beach Night Market – Thursdays

W-class Tram at the corner of Chapel and Carlisle Street

A W-class tram was the first tram I rode in Melbourne.  It was before I lived here and in the days when there was a conductor on board.

I clambered up the high wooden step and sat on a hard seat and fell in love with these charming yellow and green vehicles.

Now these wonderful old trams have almost gone.  The green and yellow ones on Prahran to Richmond route are to phased out and scrapped.  So clamber aboard one of these work horses of the public transport system while you can.  They will be history soon.

You can see how badly they are being maintained.

There are some W-class trams that have been painted a dull red for the tourists.  They don’t feel like the real thing to me and I haven’t photographed one.   The real thing is painted green and yellow!
To take a ride back  in time.  Take the 78/79 tram from St Kilda to Richmond North (78 during the day and 79 at night).  The W-class is  still in every-day use on these tracks.

This is one of the few tram routes that doesn’t go through the CBD.  It travels in a straight line along  Chapel Street and into Church Street.

News reports tell us these trams are for the scrap heap.   You can check out what is happening at this web site.  So instead of being shaken and joggled on this route in future we can expect to glide along as one would on, say, route 6 which always carries new sleeker models. No charm there.

Grab the opportunity and grab a 78 and slowly progress along Chapel Street, and into Church Street until you get Victoria Street, Richmond – the home of  Vietnamese cafes and the Minh Phat Supermarket.

This is not a comfortable ride.  People have described the trams as the ‘old green W-class rattlers’.  It is the charm of Melbourne’s past you are experiencing.  In the recent TV mini-series “Pacific” about World War II, two of the characters flirted on a W-class tram.  I wonder if they borrowed one from route 78 for the filming?

Recently a number of the W-class trams congregated in St Kilda – There are 6 in this photo.

Tram route 78/79 is an interesting route to travel.  Starting in St Kilda, that is the Chapel Street end of St Kilda, the tram picks up many people who make short journeys – sometimes only one or two stops.  Then you cross Dandenong Road and head into Windsor with its eclectic collection of op shops, cafes, designer shops and the fascinating Tarlo and Graham shop.  From Windsor it’s across High Street and into  Prahran and South Yarra.  Chapel Street is packed with cars so the journey is slow.  This gives you a change to gaze around.  It is a great area to ‘people watch’ – some are walking faster than you are travelling.   Across the Yarra and you are into Church Street and the speed picks up.  This segment is filled with furniture design emporiums and exotic car show rooms.  It is here that you can view the latest Ferrari or Maserati.  Finally you arrive at North Richmond where you can take the 109 (always a sleek modern tram) into the CBD or ride back the way you came.

A good place to board a W-class tram is the corner of Chapel and Carlisle Streets.  The no 3 and 16 trams from the CBD intersect with it here.  The number 6 intersects at High Street and the No 72 at Commercial Road.

What:-
W-Class Trams – Route 78/79
Trams run every half hour – about 5  and 35 past the hour from the St Kilda terminus

Check out the timetables here:-
78 daytime tram-
79 Night-time tram  slightly changed route goes to St Kilda Beach

Related posts:

1. Street Art at the Windsor end of Chapel Street.
2. Trash, Treasure or vintage? It is hard to decide in Womango, 47 Chapel Street, Windsor/Prahran.
3. The best place to buy a fresh (that is dead) duck in Melbourne

In fact now I think about I only buy it at the Market. I still pop into Noisette’s on Bay Street, Port Melbourne for coffee and cake but I buy their bread at the South Melbourne Market.  It seems a very odd thing to do when I think about it.  But of course I have an excuse to buy cheese and other deli items while I’m in the South Melbourne Market.

My fruit loaf on my charming ‘marine’ chopping board – sourced in New Zealand

I’m not sure why they cover it in flour.  It’s not ideal if you are wearing  Melbourne black.  I take great care to bang off the flour before I slice it.

Pickadeli stocks breads from other famous bakers like Irrewarra and Phillippas but I can’t go past Noisette’s Fruit Sourdough toasted with morning coffee; large chunks of fig and apricot set off by currants, sultanas and orange peel.

I’m not the only one who likes it because I have been there about midday and found that they have sold out.  Of course for any market you need to be there early in the morning to get the selection.   South Melbourne Market is no different.

What:-
My Favourite fruit bread:

Where:-
Pickadeli South Melbourne Market:
At the end of the market near the car ramp and the light rail

Getting there:-
Tram:
96 (Light Rail) from Bourke Street, and get off at the South Melbourne stop. The market is about 2 minutes away.
112 Tram from Collins Street, get off on the corner of Clarendon and York Street.
Driving:
Melway:       Map 1C Ref E11
There is parking on top of the South Melbourne Market and some parking in the neighbouring street ( alot of street parking is Permit only, so watch out for that)

Related posts:

1. Red Star Cafe right opposite The South Melbourne Market, Clarendon Street
2. Prahran Market –the food lovers market in South Yarra
3. Urban Art – Frank Malerba – South Melbourne

They don’t always change weekly but another view gives another perspective and sometimes I miss something on the first
viewing and even on the second.  These objet d’art and the style of the interiors they suggest, are a sort of industrial meets the….  well the
macabre.  They may not be everyone’s idea of home sweet home but it is great fun to view.

The windows vary which is what  makes them so fascinating.  These colourful wool rugs appeared during the cold winter months.

William Tarlo and Philip Graham opened their shop about 6 years ago.  They said in a recent interview that their aim was to provide an exciting and stimulating environment focusing on the unusual, exotic and collectable. Check out their website to see what they mean.

Where:-
Tarlo & Graham
60 Chapel Street
Windsor – phone 9521 2221

Opening hours:-
Monday to Saturday 12pm – 6pm
Sunday 12pm to 4pm
Of course their windows are open for viewing 24/7

Getting there: -
Train:-
The Sandringham Line to Windsor Station They are opposite – on the corner of Chapel and Mcilwrick Street
79 Tram:-
This tram runs from St Kilda East to Richmond along Chapel Street.

Website:-

http://www.tarloandgraham.com/home.html

Related posts:

1. Tarlo & Graham after the fire
2. Street Art at the Windsor end of Chapel Street.
3. Trash, Treasure or vintage? It is hard to decide in Womango, 47 Chapel Street, Windsor/Prahran.

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.

Related posts:

1. Carlisle Street in St Kilda East is evolving. Check out the Carlisle Street Bazaar
2. Sacred Heart Mission’s Inkerman Street Op Shop adds new interest to East St Kilda
3. St Kilda keeps on changing with new apartments for old houses.

The Garden of Eden Nursery in Albert Park is a Melbourne place where you can recharge your batteries and dream about what you could do in your outdoor space.

It  is a place to stop off, wander about and dream.  For a while you can imagine that the winding paths and the secluded nooks are your own.

The staff will talk to you about the plants and they are knowledgeable and know what they are talking about.  They also let you wander and daydream.

The building is part of the old Albert Park Railway station so while your musing on how to get that metal arch onto your balcony and then entwine the structure with plants, the 96 tram will slide into the station, doors open, then close again and take off . You have seen nothing because a block of wonderful trees and bamboo has obscured the mundane from view.

When I work in the area and need time out I pop in and soak up the atmosphere.  And sometimes I find it pleasant to get off the tram, browse and then pick up a later one.  They run frequently on the 96 route.

The Garden of Eden has been there for about 20 years so it is no wonder there are some well established permanent plants.

The staff is interested in sustainable gardens and drought resistant plants and there is a home-ware section in part of the old station that they share with the Railway Antiques and cafe.

I like their garden sculptures and the way they display them making this Melbourne place an oasis in which to escape the everyday world.

The soul soothing experience of the Garden of Eden nursery is free – you can just wander about.  It is of course a  commercial enterprise but no one stops you absorbing the ambiance.

Garden of Eden
365 Ferrars Street,
Albert Park
Phone 9696 0551

Opening Hours:-
9.00  to 5.30 daily

Getting there:-
The 96 tram to the Albert Park Station

There is free parking on Ferrars Street
You will recognize The Garden of Eden by the bright coloured buckets hanging outside.

Related posts:

1. Fitzroy Nursery – Garden Oasis in Fitzroy
2. Railway antiques, restored furniture, coffee and cakes at the Albert Park Station.
3. Lunch at Hotel Nest – Albert Park

Rupert had grown up in an affluent household and learned to speak French and German fluently.  He became much better known in Paris for his art than in the country of his childhood.  He made a good living in France.

The exhibition at the Ian Potter Gallery at Federation Square is a very comprehensive look at his work, covering the different styles that evolved over the years

Rupert Bunny has become a news item over the last few weeks.  His exhibition opened at the Ian Potter Centre in Federation Square and a painting of Rupert Bunny’s that was stolen 19 years ago was found in a house in East Malvern and was seized by the police during an early morning raid.   The painting is called  Girl in Sunlight and it belongs to my favourite era of his paintings – the Belle Epoque - meaning beautiful era

He excelled at painting beautiful women in beautiful frothy clothes showing a graceful and languid life style with a background of colour, texture, light and warmth from the Belle Epoque period.

These are the paintings I enjoyed.  These are the paintings I bought post cards of.  The NVG shop on the ground floor has a French inspired display in their window and you can buy a rose or poppy parasol/umbrella.

Those of us with a touch of the Francophile in us can’t resist.

A bag decorated with poppies is just another beautiful reminder of that time and place in history.

Here is an example of a completely different style that he painted. It reminds me of some of the Indian miniatures I have seen.

Rupert Bunny Exhibition:-
The Ian Potter Centre
Federation Square
CBD Melbourne

Opening Times:-
10.00am to 5.00pm Daily
The Exhibition lasts until July 4th

Admission:-
Adult $15.00
Concession $12.00
Child (ages 5-15) $7.50
Family $42.00
NGV Member $7.50
NGV Family $21

Related posts:

1. John Brack @ the Ian Potter Center, Federation Square, Melbourne CBD
2. Australian Made: 100 years of Fashion at the Ian Potter Centre, Federation Square
3. Mary and Max Exhibition – see their miniature world FREE at ACMI Federation Square.

This flurry of summer markets led me to forget the markets that just keep-on-keeping-on.

The Esplanade Market in St Kilda has been keeping on since 1970. And some of the stall holders have been there for most of that time.

The market runs  from Luna Park along The Esplanade to Fitzroy Street.  On my first trip to Melbourne, some years ago, I explored it with a family member and was fascinated.  I still have a pair of ear rings I bought on that visit.

This time these brooches caught my eye.

The Market advertises itself as a “Makers’ Market Place”.  That is the stall holders must be directly involved in the production of the items they are selling.  This makes for an interesting mix.

There is Jena Bedson’s pottery that she describes as ‘comic art’.

Much of the merchandise is familiar to me,  in that some of the stalls have been there for years.  Obviously the ones that stay the distance are quality and offer something the customers want.   Calypsoflash who sell pewter jewelery tell me they have been there for 38 years.  They now have their own website to display their creative pieces.

These architectural cards are stylish and beautiful.

There is a huge tourist-browsing population and many stall holders cater for them.   For example Matt Irwin’s photographs are there and have been since my first visit in the 1990’s.  Then I sent my mother a post card depicting a striking black and white  photo of one of Melbourne’s  trams.  She still has it and they are still on sale.

These magnets were doing good business – I bought 3 for $10.00.  They were delighting children who were spending $3.50 to go home with something cute and useful.   The stall holder creates the whole magnet from the painted design to the finished article.

The market is vibrant and most of the stall holders friendly.  They  will talk about their crafts and discuss in detail how they make the items.  If you are a craft person you can find inspiration – a sort of  “Wow, I could do that!”  But many crafts are time-consuming and for these people making and selling their wares a way of life.

Getting there:-

Trams 16, 3A and 79 to stop 31

Tram 96 to stop 138

Times:-

Sundays ( all year round) 10.00am to 5.00pm.

Related posts:

1. St Kilda Beach Night Market – Thursdays
2. St Kilda Night Market Thursday 10th March 2011 -O’Donnell Gardens
3. St Kilda and Sunday with the Busking Festival at the Sea Baths

The Carlisle Street Bazaar opened just before Christmas adding another retail experience to shopping in the piece of Carlisle Street around the Balaclava Rail Station.
This Carlisle Street Bazaar replaces a store where I often browsed.  It was one of those stores that covered an eclectic range merchandise – clothes, furniture, home ware, jewelery, gifts.    All this appeared to be individually chosen to give a cohesion to the store.  This space has now morphed into the Carlisle Street Bazaar.  It is as if the original store has re-invented itself and presented a new face to the world, the cohesion has gone but the atmosphere has livened up.

To me it is an improvement.  For one thing the space is lighter and brighter.   I found the old space rather gloomy.  The variety is better and it is more fun to browse.

Stock moves too.  There was a hand created metal pig and sheep when I first walked into the Bazaar and a few days later they had gone.  “Snapped up,” I was told.  They still have smaller roosters from the same artist.  They are the sort of patio/garden object that lift your spirits and cause you to smile.

So far the Carlisle Street Bazaar have been a constantly changing visual feast – new clothes, new displays, new bric-a-brac.

At this point the venture looks successful and it will be interesting to watch it evolve. I like the original art and would like to see more creative works for sale.

To discuss hiring space: – phone   0411598411.
Opening hours: -

Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 6.00pm.  The Bazaar closes at 5.00pm on Sunday.

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.

Train – Sandringham line to Balaclava Stration

Related posts:

1. Salvos move to Carlisle Street, St Kilda and take on a new look.
2. Sacred Heart Mission’s Inkerman Street Op Shop adds new interest to East St Kilda
3. Eastern European Flavours in East St Kilda