Melbourne PS: St. Kilda

On the day we left Melbourne, we decided to flee the crowds of the central business district and head down to a residential area called St. Kilda (NB: heaven knows who St. Kilda was, but he or she also lent his/her name to the local football team, recently caught up in a scandal involving a teenage girl and nude photos of some sort).

Situated 4 miles south of the city center, St. Kilda has long been the most popular seaside suburb of Melbourne and is accessible by tram.  During the boomtown era of the 1880’s, it was inhabited by wealthy families, and St. Kilda Pier was a popular spot.

The Palais Theatre survives as a reminder of the area's past splendor, although it now appears to cater to second-tier performers.

Today the area is very lively and offbeat.

There are small shops and cafes along Acland Street, featuring Malaysian and Japanese cuisine, and just about any other sort of ethnic cuisine you can think of, all side by side with fish ‘n chips and burger joints.

(Note the linen store at the of the block called Holy Sheet.)

This was our last mainland stop before departing from the Port of Melbourne on the overnight ferry Spirit of Tasmania.

      

The crossing of the Bass Strait has a bad reputation—we were prepared to be seasick: we had pills—Sea Legs, recommended last year by a pharmacist for our crossing to the South Island in New Zealand: we had crackers that we would eat if we got the dry heaves (David’s time in the Royal Navy, when the whole crew of his frigate was sick for days on end, provided this remedy) and we waited with some concern as we left Philip Bay and started the open sea crossing, when we each popped a pill. 

The ship rolled a bit, we got into our bunks, we fell asleep almost immediately, and the next thing we knew was at 6.00 am the ship was quietly gliding into the wharf in Devonport.