The Good, the Bad, and the Pinchbeck

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So... here we are once again, my friends, and I promised a little bit of culture last time, or at least something about the city. And I have managed a little bit!

Last weekend saw me out and about, having a wander throught the little lanes and even visiting the aquarium which I've been meaning to do since I got here. Despite being a little small, the aquarium wasn't too bad, with a good penguin section and a frozen hammerhead shark as highlights. As I walked amongst the various displays, I found myself pondering on penguins and how they managed to put up with the various people standing beneath the signs stating 'Do not use flash photography' and 'Do not bang on glass', who were quite happily banging on the glass to get the penguin's attention to take pictures with the flash on their cameras... It made me wish that Danny DeVito would appear in a huge yellow duck and take care of business.

(And on that Batman note, did I mention that I live near Batman Street?! Seriously, I'll put a picture up next time... There is also a Batman park that I have been meaning to visit, but I feel I should at least buy these awesome BatBoxers I have seen and be wearing them when I go - obviously with other clothes on top, that is...)

I also was on the look out for a suggestions box after an hour or so to plant the idea of a kids free day. As much as I like small children, I would have been happy to see a couple of them fed to the grey nurse shark, who I'm pretty sure we were told in a talk was called Lester.

After the aquarium I walked via Flinders Street station, which I'm pretty sure is the oldest station in Australia, stretching back to 1854 or thereabouts. It's next to Federation Square which is a central meeting point and has a few galleries and museums, so I am told, and next to one of the many bridges across the Yarra river which is browner than a brown bear covered in mud and wrapped in brown paper - not the most appealing river in the world but nevertheless still enticing enough for one drunken idiot to try swimming across it a few days ago... he didn't make it...

I then went in search of a bit of street art, which is all over the place here. Street art, unlike graffiti, normally requires a permit to paint the bit of wall you want to. As a result, some of the art is pretty amazing, so I took just a couple of snaps to show you. You'll see the detail in some of them is awesome, for instance the girl in the white top - just look at the detail of her, erm, eyes. Truly something to behold! 😉

Anyways, I had better run as Tux is on a flight from Sydney and should be arriving fairly shortly. This weekend we are celebrating his birthday from a couple of weeks ago, so I thought I'd better get this written while I can still type. Tonight, china town and a rock bar! Tomorrow, an asian market, the best potato wedges in the world from a bar called The Lounge, possibly a trip to The Pancake Parlour (as good as it sounds), then maybe a couple of bars in the evening.

Thirteen days until I am back on English soil again. Send out the invites; get the roast spuds on; warn Haywards Heath that the Pinchbeck is coming and the Fosters better not run out...

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