Life in the land down under: November 2010

Back at work at Parks Victoria

I started back in the City Office on Bourke Street at Parks Victoria on November 29th, 2010. It is nice to be back to the same desk and now familiar faces on the 9th floor. I really like my workspace here at PV in the open concept space with no cubicle walls. The bonus for me is that I have a great big window at my desk that gives lots of daylight. A huge contrast from my tiny cubicle space with a big column and no window light back home.
Being back at the office has been exciting with so many upcoming changes. A new State Government was elected days after we arrived, a new CEO starts January10th and Parks Victoria is under a review period and a time of change. It is motivating and a great time to continue to work on the heritage management strategy and also has presented some challenges to our timeline and initial approach, but nothing we can't work through.

My desk is exactly as I had left it 6months ago! An amazing occurence that is awesome is that monarch butterflies have been flying up to my window!! I love butterflies and knew of the abundance of them this year in the city but did not think they would fly this high up!!! At least once a day I see once outside the window. My desk is to the right of the sculpture in front of the window.

A big part of any strategy or plan review at Parks Victoria is internal and external consultation. I just completed the Communication and Engagement Strategy for our review which will be interesting to implement as we follow a new method of engaging both staff and the public that has been applied recently in management planning and strategy reviews. The internet will be a key component with a WePlan site and blog for consultation. Currently I am working on some discussion papers to post for feedback. Specific to internal consultation I also just completed drafting a staff survey to seek opinion and create awareness on heritage issues and are hoping to circulate as soon as we get approval. We will also be working with staff and senior management to develop a long-term vision for heritage management across the organization.

I am back working with Chris Smith who has just finished his second rotation in Canada where he was working in the Eastern Ontario field unit at the Rideau Canal as a heritage planner. It is great to be back and to be part of the branch and division again and catching up on Parks Victoria news and with colleagues.

Yarra Mud Man sculpture from the Parks Victoria Art Collection and keeping his eye on us in the office! Sculpture is made from mud obtained from the Yarra River by artist Francois Mezapelle during an artist and residency with Parks Victoria.

Our lunch room on the 9th Floor

Morning Tea - this lovely event occurs every Wednesday with each branch taking turns to organize tea and treats! It is such a good way to meet people who work on the floor find out what others are working on and there is always great fresh fruit!!!!

View from a bench I was sitting on in the food court across from our work building. It is fabulous with great take-away food, sit down restaurants and coffee shops.

My favorite litte cupcake shop - once a week I treat myself to a mini cupcake and coffee from here..they are soooo good!

Arriving in Melbourne!

We landed safe and sound to a rainy day in Melbourne after a long 16hour flight with V Australia. Left LA at 8pm on Nov. 16th and arrived in MEL at 8am on the 19th. Caught up on a lot of missed episodes of TV shows and watched a few movies...my favorite was Inception. One thing we noticed when looking out of the window during landing was how green the landscape looked. Last time it was more brown and dry looking, but all the rain in Australia over the last few months really changed the landscape.

Over the next few weeks we would learn of lakes and rivers overflowing, some lakes had been dry for decades and now filled to the brim. With this rain brought lots of flooding to many parts of the country and people's homes and crops were in jeopardy.

Once at the airport and successfully going through customs and immigration, we grabbed a taxi and headed to St. Kilda, where we decided to stay while looking for a place to live. Virtually every hotel in Melbourne was booked due to the Metallica concert in town. The first night we stayed at the Cosmopolitan on Carlisle street and then moved over to the Quest on Eildon and Acland as it was more affordable and came with a kitchette in the room.

View of the Palais Theatre from our room at the Cosmopolitan

View of Sunset

It was nice staying in St. Kilda. Virtually everyday from day 1 we were on the internet and phone trying to arrange viewing of apartments and going to see them. It was nice to do this and be able to take breaks and go for strolls on the beach, or take the laptop to a local cafe to use the free wireless! At cafes, we met many travellers from all over the world. Some of whom, like us were working temporarily in Melbourne.

It took 10 days to find an apartment and move in. During the 10 days, we spent a lot of time walking around St. Kilda, enjoying the food and watching all the partyers who were full force as school had just let out for the summer.

St.Kilda Beach

The Famous Esplannade Hotel - Espy Nightclub home to live

Rock n Roll in Melbourne

St. Kilda is known for its beach culture and nightlife, as well as its streets of restaurants and cake shops. There is a rich history to this part of Melbourne as this area is a place that was and is still known as an escape from the city with its wide laned Esplannade hugging the beach which also boasts the iconic Esplannade Rock Bar and Luna Park, a historic amusement park that still runs and exists today.

The historic amusement park - Luna Park

Catani Clock Tower with Carlos Catani Bust - designed by Carlos Catani who was a young engineer from Florence who ventured to Melbourne and was hired as a land surveyor and then later in 1886 for the Department of Public works. He planned and designed many of Melbourne's harbours, gardens, jetties and bridges. This tower stands on the Esplannade and is domed in copper.

View along the Esplannade of the Palais Theatre - Home to many concerts. We saw The Cult at the theatre last April and are looking forward to seeing the Doobie Brothers in March at this historic and intimate venue.

St. Kilda Beach - in the distance is the St. Kilda Pier and Boathouse

View of the city from our room at the Quest Hotel in St. Kilda

office bldg. overlooking the beach

A memorial to Captain Cook in St. Kilda's Catani Gardens in Australia. Unveiled in 1914

(excerpt from A History Resource on St. Kilda http://home.vicnet.net.au/~hsosk/downloads/HISTORY_KIT.pdf

The name of St. Kilda is romantically linked with a legendary picnic held in the beautiful ti-tree scrub which surrounded the beach towards theend of 1841, attended by Charles Joseph La Trobe, Superintendent of Port PhillipSettlement and other notable Melbourne residents. Governor La Trobe is reported to have
pointed to the schooner Lady of St Kilda anchored offshore and suggested that the village be named St. Kilda.

St. Kilda soon became popular as an escape from the dirty, dusty, unmade streets of Melbourne town, which had the added disadvantage of sewage collecting in the lower parts of the city. The St.Kilda ‘Hill’ offered good drainage, clean air and attractive views of the sea.By the 1840’s, St.Kildawas a thriving settlement,with excellent hotels catering to the needs of the holiday-makers, and some fine houses side by sidewithmore humble dwellings. The road connecting St. Kilda withMelbourne (St. Kilda Road)was certainly rough and at times dangerous, with the possibility of bushrangers ready to rob and ill-treat travellers. A rough
and sandy track had been worn to Brighton from what is now St. Kilda Junction.

By the 1860’s and 1870’s, St. Kilda had become a sought after area, particularly amongst
merchants and professional men, who built magnificent homes which eventually stretchedacross St. Kilda Road and High Street to the Chapel Street and Alma Road area.

View of the city at night from our room at the Quest Hotel St. Kilda

View of St. Kilda from the Cosmopolitan Hotel on Carlisle Street

Leaving Canada again..quick stop in LA

Quick Stop in Los Angeles, Venice Beach

We left Ottawa at 5pm on Monday, Nov. 15th with a destination of Los Angeles, where we would stopover for the night and fly out to the land down under the next evening. We arrived in LA shortly after 10pm which was really midnight for us with the time difference. We stayed at Venice Beach which is not too far from the airport at the Hotel Erwin, a great hotel right on Venice Beach. We saw it last time when we visited Los Angeles on our way back home and knew we wanted to spend time there.

The hotel is boutique contemporary and offers the Venice beach culture atmosphere with style. They even offer packages where you can learn how to scratch vinyl with their resident DJ and another package which includes a tattoo from their local resident tattoo artist! Local contemporary art and installations were located througout the hotel.

Our room was decorated with lamps made of weights as a tribute to Muscle Beach, graffiti painted on our closet doors, a display of sunglasses (that you could purchase) on the wall and flourescent green surf themed bath robes. The hallway leading to our room resembled a gallery with black and white portraits of famous body builders who frequented Muscle Beach, including the Schwarchenager himself!

Not much to do so late so we just rested and looked forward to the next day of hanging around Venice Beach until having to make our way back to the airport.

Children's Trashcan's (community art project and public art installation) and Graffiti Murals - Venice

The next morning we headed out to Venice Beach and explored the beach and boardwalk. The boardwalk is as you'd expected to be, lined with shops of t-shirts, memorabilia, headshops, surf shops and local arts and crafts, street performers and panhandlers. Oh and not to foget the food venues, where a corn dog is a must try despite all the grease and breading!!